Fat/lumpy hen

[Mak24456]

Hello! We have a small flock of three very well loved hens. The sapphire gem seems to have developed a protruding belly/butt over time.

This hen has also had problems with poop getting stuck on her feathers. We've trimmed away some of her butt fluff but it's still an issue. We were examining her today for this reason when we also noticed how fat her hind belly is. Only in this area, forming almost a lump of soft tissue. I don't actually know if it's fat under there, only that it's very soft when pressed. If I reach under her while she stands, I can cup this lump in my hand. It is not spread out or laid flush with the rest of her underside. The rest of her body seems normal, not extra fat, and her breast muscle seems normal sized.

The hens have an almost 2000 sq ft backyard to range in during the day. They are all active. This hen has no trouble walking, foraging, digging, and occasionally running. She is a frequent layer of large eggs. They get free choice 16% layer pellets and sometimes veggie/fruit scraps, peels etc if we have them. They eat a fair amount of grass and bugs and such while outside. Dried mealworms are the only other treat they get on occasion.
They are all around 2 years old and only this hen seems to have the fat issue, though another hen has a poopy butt to a lesser extent. All poop found in the yard looks regular. Overall all three seem normal and happy.

We have 2 questions:

1. The poopy area on her butt seems a little red and inflamed. No smell, all dry. We're not sure how to deal with this, short of straight up cutting away all of her butt feathers, but even the base of the feathers are dirty, and aren't there blood vessels there that we shouldn't cut?

2. What is this fat lump? Could it be fatty liver?

I've attached some pictures and attempted to outline her belly, though it's a little hard to see under the feathers. These were taken after she'd already laid her egg for today.



I very much appreciate any help!

 

[igorsMistress]

Bumping this

 

[Eggcessive]

It could be fat, a hernia, fluid from ascites, or internal laying. Is it soft, firm, or feel like a water balloon. Most of the time we cnnot tell what is going on until we do a necropsy after death. I have seen normal weight or slender hens with large amounts of fat in the abdomen and in between organs. Limiting her diet to layer feed for 90% percent of her diet would be good. I would just keep a check on her vent area and clean off any gunk. Some hens just have bottoms that collect droppings.

 

[coach723]

If she is still laying eggs then that kind of leans it towards fat in the abdomen or a hernia. If it was a hernia it would most likely feel like it was a protruding part, rather than just a smooth roundness. Most birds that develop ascites or have reproductive problems will stop laying. Some birds are genetically predisposed to fat deposits in the abdomen, so making sure that you don't over feed treats is particularly important for those ones. I bought one batch of chicks a couple of years ago that have really fatty abdomens, first birds I've ever had where this was an issue, so genetics really can play a role. You can trim the feathers below the vent if you wish, to help keep her clean. The feathers only have a blood supply when they are new feathers coming in, mature feathers won't bleed when cut. I have trimmed feathers on some hens that seemed to always have dirty vent feathers, to reduce the risk of fly strike. If by chance you do have a feather bleed (this would be most common during molt when new feathers are coming in), just grip it with some pliers and pluck it, then put pressure on the spot until it stops. Some birds just have 'lazy' cloaca's and don't push droppings out as hard, resulting in dirty feathers.

 

[Mak24456]

Thanks guys! Yes, it does feel quite soft and water balloony. Today we gave her a warm wash and did a tiny bit of trimming. She was nice and calm during, then went back to foraging. We were able to see the bulge much more clearly and it isn't pretty...

I've read up on ascites and hernias. I'm leaning towards hernia because of how singularly protruding it is, though I'm not sure.
I think I'll email my local poultry extension and see if they have any advice as well. I'm guessing there's not much to do. There's a couple avian vets in the area we might consider.

 

[Onyxflock]

If she is still laying eggs then that kind of leans it towards fat in the abdomen or a hernia. If it was a hernia it would most likely feel like it was a protruding part, rather than just a smooth roundness. Most birds that develop ascites or have reproductive problems will stop laying. Some birds are genetically predisposed to fat deposits in the abdomen, so making sure that you don't over feed treats is particularly important for those ones. I bought one batch of chicks a couple of years ago that have really fatty abdomens, first birds I've ever had where this was an issue, so genetics really can play a role. You can trim the feathers below the vent if you wish, to help keep her clean. The feathers only have a blood supply when they are new feathers coming in, mature feathers won't bleed when cut. I have trimmed feathers on some hens that seemed to always have dirty vent feathers, to reduce the risk of fly strike. If by chance you do have a feather bleed (this would be most common during molt when new feathers are coming in), just grip it with some pliers and pluck it, then put pressure on the spot until it stops. Some birds just have 'lazy' cloaca's and don't push droppings out as hard, resulting in dirty feathers.

One of my hens is having this problem, even dragging pieces of straw that got stuck to her. It seems to eventually fall off as the feathers let go.
They don't like to be caught, so I just kept an eye on the first blob, which fell off no problem. Now looks like she still got runny poop.
My question is if there's something to feed, that would help her. I've regularly added small amounts of Cider vinegar to their water, but recently changed to electrolytes due to our sudden 100 + degree heat. Could that affect her stools?

 

[coach723]

One of my hens is having this problem

Do you mean runny droppings? If it's very hot where you are then they will be drinking a lot more water which can make the droppings runny. Depending on the age of the hen, reproductive problems can make it harder to push droppings out, which can result in dirty butt feathers. Another possibility is internal parasites, which can cause runny droppings. A fecal float test would ID whether parasites are an issue or not. Biggest risk is from flystrike, which can happen if there are a lot of droppings stuck in feathers.

 

[Onyxflock]

Do you mean runny droppings? If it's very hot where you are then they will be drinking a lot more water which can make the droppings runny. Depending on the age of the hen, reproductive problems can make it harder to push droppings out, which can result in dirty butt feathers. Another possibility is internal parasites, which can cause runny droppings. A fecal float test would ID whether parasites are an issue or not. Biggest risk is from flystrike, which can happen if there are a lot of droppings stuck in feathers.

I'm going to catch her and look closely at her. Not seeing lumps or anything, but sounds like I need to find out for sure.
I wondered if she was getting too much of something - so I'm cutting back on scratch grains and mealworms they get as treats evenings. They get plenty of bugs and raid the birdseed under those feeders as they free range, but that's regular for them and hasn't caused any issues in the past.

 

[Mak24456]

For anyone reading - we took her to the vet a few weeks ago and it was determined to be a hernia. The vet said it can be common in hens that lay frequently, with all the straining back there that thins out the abdominal muscle. Or genetic. It doesn't appear to be an immediately life threatening hernia - the gap in the abdomen is apparently quite large to cause such a large lump, so it's not a tiny hole where organs are being squeezed through. They are just sitting there in a "pouch."
He said there's not much to do besides surgery, which would be in the upper hundreds to a thousand. He's done it on pet parrots before.
We brought her home and have been keeping an eye on her, she's happy and active as always, with a big bum

 

[Onyxflock]

For anyone reading - we took her to the vet a few weeks ago and it was determined to be a hernia. The vet said it can be common in hens that lay frequently, with all the straining back there that thins out the abdominal muscle. Or genetic. It doesn't appear to be an immediately life threatening hernia - the gap in the abdomen is apparently quite large to cause such a large lump, so it's not a tiny hole where organs are being squeezed through. They are just sitting there in a "pouch."
He said there's not much to do besides surgery, which would be in the upper hundreds to a thousand. He's done it on pet parrots before.
We brought her home and have been keeping an eye on her, she's happy and active as always, with a big bum

Nothing better than the Vet! Guesswork & a chicken community can only resolve so much.
I wonder how old is your girl? Is this something we need to watch for at a certain age? Being a newbie, I'm getting so much intel from this site. Thanks!