I truly appreciate the responses I got here. I will try cutting on the treats specially the chicken scratch in which we even mix with sunflower seeds. I wasn't aware that it causes excessive fats on my layers.The liquid looks a lot like yolk, so maybe egg peritonitis. The thick layer of fat is an issue. Fat birds are more prone to all kinds of health problems, fatty liver disease, cancers, reproductive problems. While some birds can be genetically prone to building fat deposits, diet is often a contributor. A lot of fat can often look like ascites, the feel is a little different, a fat layer generally feels a bit softer and squishier than ascites, but it can be pretty similar. The penguin stance often indicates a reproductive problem. Look at what you are feeding, and if treats (anything other than feed) is common for them, then I would cut back on that or stop. Scratch grains, corn, sunflower seeds, etc, which they all love, can all contribute to fat deposits. Try to limit those to only occasionally, and in small amounts. An unhealthy liver can look enlarged, pale, spotted, mottled, or harder/firmer/brittler than it should be. Fatty liver disease can cause them to hemorrhage inside and die. If you do a search for fatty liver disease in chickens and look for images, you will find pictures that you can compare with what you saw. Reproductive problems, unfortunately, are not uncommon in birds over the age of two, particularly breeds bred for heavy egg production. I'm very sorry for your losses, it's good that you took a look to try to find out what's going on.
The liver of the hen in photos were a little large than ordinary but the color was normal. Not pale nor even spots are seen. It looks a healthy liver but larger.
They use to be inside their coops due to hawks, before we decided to let them free range. I lost quite a few from hawks and a lot from my neighbor's dogs that attacked them inside their coops and slaughter the chickens, that's why I had been traumatized.
I'll stick to their feed and will just give them treats once in a while and let them scratch for bugs when they're out. I guess I spoiled them a lot not knowing it will harm them the way I treated them. My bad
I sincerely appreciate the help and learned a lot from you and the others who responded. Thank you so much!
