- Aug 10, 2014
- 6
- 0
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Hello. I'm a new member, but have read the BYC forum for years to answer questions I've had. My 3 year old Black Australorp had been seemingly depressed for several months. She often stood in the corner with her back to me and the other hens. She ate, drank and free ranged as normal. About 2 weeks ago, I noticed she was waddling and her abdomen felt like a water balloon. I checked her vent and noticed there was yellow "poop" on her feathers, but vent looked good. I didn't feel an egg, which didn't surprise me. She hadn't laid since late fall.Prior to that, she was an egg a day layer. I figured she must have ascites from heart/liver failure and would keep my eye on her, realizing it would be a matter of time. The swollen abdomen disappeared, but she remained depressed and lethargic. All this time she had good color, weight,and kept her beautiful full tail up. The last couple days she hardly ate or drank, and seemed like she was weak. She really hid her illness well. Other than laying around a lot, she looked normal and beautiful. Yesterday she was pooping what looked like egg yolk and smelled odd. I also noticed she lost weight.When I let my hens out to free range today, she had lost her color. She stumbled out of the hen house. (There is a step down) She went straight for the house where she hid under the porch facing the wall. Later she sat under a bush. When my daughter tried to visit her, she hid under a pumpkin plant. My husband thought she was dead, so I picked her up to hold her. She vomited yellow liquid which smelled bad. I forgot to mention this morning her crop was full and squishy. I thought I might try to vomit her, maybe it would help if her crop soured. Lots of yellow liquid poured out along with one fat, white worm! I set her down. She seemed okay for a few minutes then took a seazure (sorry; can't spell it) and died. I knew it was coming, but is NEVER easy. So many different symptoms, I just couldn't figure out what to do to help. What could've been wrong? Heart or liver? Reproductive cancer?
