Distended abdomen, not egg bound UPDATE: passed, necropsy photos added

[AinaWGSD]

Well, we had a good 5 week run of her being 100% normal. She even laid her first egg on December 12 (so she hadn't actually been laying when she first started acting sick).

She's still doing okay, but I did notice she started looking at little dumpy this morning. I went ahead and gave her a calcium tablet this morning. At that time her abdomen was slightly larger than usual and firm but not hard. She did lay an egg today.

So now my question is do I keep giving her calcium for the next few days? She's obviously not egg bound and is eating and drinking normally as far as I can tell. She just has a very slightly hunched stance and is moving a little more slowly. Or at least she was this morning.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Well, we had a good 5 week run of her being 100% normal. She even laid her first egg on December 12 (so she hadn't actually been laying when she first started acting sick).

She's still doing okay, but I did notice she started looking at little dumpy this morning. I went ahead and gave her a calcium tablet this morning. At that time her abdomen was slightly larger than usual and firm but not hard. She did lay an egg today.

So now my question is do I keep giving her calcium for the next few days? She's obviously not egg bound and is eating and drinking normally as far as I can tell. She just has a very slightly hunched stance and is moving a little more slowly. Or at least she was this morning.

If she were mine and it seemed giving the Calcium helped, I'd give it for a total of 3 days and see how it goes.

 

[AinaWGSD]

She passed this morning. When we went out to give her a calcium pill she was hiding behind the logs in the run. When we picked her up she started coughing up clear fluid and struggling for breath. In the 1-2 minutes I took to run inside to grab a needle/syringe to drain some of the fluid she completely collapsed. We did cull her but she passed so quickly, she was probably already passing when we started.

I did a quick necropsy after she passed. The most noticeable issue was a giant fluid filled membrane that I think was her oviduct. Her liver looked a little off, but not bad enough I would think that was primary (probably from her not eating much). Her heart looked okay. Left kidney (i think, not certain) looked small.

When I cut the fluid filled membrane there were two tiny chunks that resemble cooked egg yolk (lash material?)

Liver

Egg follicles

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry you lost her.

I agree, to me it looks like Cystic Right Oviduct.
Usually only the Left Oviduct is functional, the Right one regresses before hatching, but sometimes the tissue of the Right can form a cyst.

 

[Sally PB]

I'm sorry you lost her. Fly high and free, lovely girl.

Hugs for you.


Thank you for following up on this thread and doing the necropsy. The information may be useful to someone in the future.

 

[Eggcessive]

So sorry for your loss. Those are very good pictures of cystic right oviduct. The fluid is clear and colorless, while ascites fluid sometimes found inside the abdomen after death, is yellow to dark amber. Cystic right oviduct can be common in chickens exposed to infectious bronchitis early in life.