here we go again: Venus's sister Elvira 'leaking' clear fluid, help??

[seven possums]

Elvira has been flooding the poop board nightly with a viscous, clear liquid -- albumen? for several weeks. I didn't have a way to figure out who of the four it was until I saw her also launch fountains of it from her vent while going about her day; sometimes with feces/urates, often not.
Her undercarriage fluff isn't wet/nasty - no yolk, feces, pus - so it's not an uncontrolled dribble, but there's a lot of it.

Elvira is a ~2.5 y/o australorp; same details as the first thread about Venus. They were both rescues from the same abuse/neglect case taken-by-MSPCA flock, same age, so it's not a stretch to assume they're related.

Back in Feb/March they simultaneously began petering out with irregular laying, then rubber eggs (or fart eggs when I started boosting their calcium), then stopped laying at all. Then Venus presented with her EYP bloated abdomen...

Oddly, my one non-adoptee red leghorn(?) hen, Sarge, also stopped laying when they did, but has recently started again albeit irregularly. At the time I suspected age and Vit D deficiency & treated as such.
Elvira has not resumed laying; her remaining rescue companion, white leghorn Magnolia, never stops.

Elvira isn't acting any differently than usual overall, other than it's obvious she's mourning Venus so a little withdrawn.
She is eating, active, feisty, curious, mouthy as always (lol she's the whiniest hen I've ever heard, her main call is a loud, drawn-out "mwaaaaaAAAAAAAAaaaaaaawwrrrrr"). Venus was perma-broody - now I know why, due to the ovarian cancer hormones; Elvira isn't. No bare-belly plucking, no hogging the nesting boxes for hours. Venus also had 'bubbly breathing' from the day we adopted her - not mycoplasma. None of the others do, neither her fellow adoptees nor Sarge, whom I raised from 5 weeks.

Elvira's belly hasn't been ballooning...yet. Giving same cal-cit+D tabs daily as I had done with Venus. I haven't felt anything when palping her vent for blockage, bound eggs etc. Early stage of the same cancer? Something else?

I don't want her to suffer through the same drawn-out ordeal Venus did, but with 3 cats I don't have hundred$$$ for "exotic" veterinary services; my beloved country vet, who did treat chickens & kept the bill low, passed away unexpectedly in February, and the few other 'farm vets' in the area tend to shrug and suggest a .22

I don't know what to do, or if there's even anything I can do besides spoil her til she tells me it's time, as Venus did.
Any voices of experience or expertise are most welcome.
Thank you all.

@azygous @Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock @nuthatched @LaFleche @Debbie292d

 

[azygous]

The watery liquid she's ejecting could be from a virus or tumors, but more likely it's a blockage of some sort, not necessarily an egg. Also, no need to poke around inside her cloaca. If there was an egg to feel, it would be obvious looking at the vent.

The blockage could be tissue or tumors or a shell-less egg from an isolated ovulation. Treat her with calcium citrate tablets. Give one per day directly in her beak. This is what I recommend.

 

[seven possums]

That's what I've been giving her since March, (Walgreens brand). Appreciate that this is what would be advised, means I didn't go wrong there.

Giving same cal-cit+D tabs daily as I had done with Venus.

Thank you for advising of other issues to consider, I appreciate it very much! Inclined to suspect a tumor at this point after what I found in Venus's necropsy but hoping for something I can help her with somehow.

 

[LaFleche]

By your description I assume that she is still having issues with shell-less eggs which you find on the poop board and the additional calcium treatment does not work for her.

At this point I would just let her be and live her life until it becomes obvious that she is in pain. Then help her out of her misery to not prolong the suffering

Sadly, there is not much one can do when reproductive problems occur rather regularly.
And it is only when the bird is deceased and we perform a necropsy (or have it perforned by a state vet laboratory) that we might know or get an idea of what the cause for the decline was. Sometimes even the professionals are left clueless.

 

[seven possums]

By your description I assume that she is still having issues with shell-less eggs which you find on the poop board

I believe you're correct there - a few times I have found a small, leftover bit of membrane elsewhere in the coop first thing in the morning while the PDZ in the poop board is turned to gooey mud every night.

What's weirding me out is when I'm out in the run with them and she loudly squirts a fifteen inch gout of thick, clear fluid with no fecal matter or white urate present... no yolk, shell or membrane, no squatting as if to lay, just forcefully passing it like poop -- it's happened as I was watching her, so there was nothing else for any of them to eat before discovery.
Sorry if this seems thick-headed of me to keep asking about... overnight laying, I understand, but clear uncontained fountains of it from her behind while she's foraging??

Thank you all for taking time to read and reply, I'm very grateful.
I still can't get used to Venus being gone so fast, and I guess Elvira will soon follow at this rate. My poor babies and I can't help them, it hurts, but if I can keep *them* from hurting at least, I'll do anything I possibly can.

(aside, I was an EMT/ER tech for 16 years so am familiar with urgent/acute human medical issues, and a vet 'tech assistant' for several of those years as well, but I didn't see many avian cases.)

 

[azygous]

Watery poop can be caused by parasites, bacterial or viral infection, stress, or yeast. The chicken usually is showing some signs of not feeling well.

Two common and benign causes of watery poop are drinking large amounts of water or consuming high water content foods and an imbalance of healthy gut microbes in the intestines. The chicken in these cases is acting normal. Try giving probiotic tablets for a week. Unless there's a pathological cause, the probiotics work wonders to firm up poop.

The last cause of a heavy watery discharge is blockage in the oviduct. The blockage causes the ceca to stop distributing water to bodily tissues and it's pooped out instead. It can cause dehydration. Replacing fluids is essential, and treating the blockage is the other step. Calcium will help push out the blockage. If this goes on for any length, the hen usually begins to act weak and lethargic. If left unresolved, the hen could die.

 

[Primchick88]

Watery poop can be caused by parasites, bacterial or viral infection, stress, or yeast. The chicken usually is showing some signs of not feeling well.

Two common and benign causes of watery poop are drinking large amounts of water or consuming high water content foods and an imbalance of healthy gut microbes in the intestines. The chicken in these cases is acting normal. Try giving probiotic tablets for a week. Unless there's a pathological cause, the probiotics work wonders to firm up poop.

The last cause of a heavy watery discharge is blockage in the oviduct. The blockage causes the ceca to stop distributing water to bodily tissues and it's pooped out instead. It can cause dehydration. Replacing fluids is essential, and treating the blockage is the other step. Calcium will help push out the blockage. If this goes on for any length, the hen usually begins to act weak and lethargic. If left unresolved, the hen could die.

Hen drinking a lot of water that creates this problem…possibly from kidney malfunction? Alternatively, if due to bacterial infection, how about activated charcoal tablets?

 

[Primchick88]

Any experience with activated charcoal in the case of bacterial gut?
I thought also of the possibility of excessive drinking due to kidney malfunction? I have one like this currently.

 

[azygous]

How is she behaving? Activated charcoal wouldn't do anything for a bacterial infection, as far as I know.

 

[Primchick88]

She just turned four so she has slowed down just a little bit. She’s tail up. Active and alert. She doesn’t eat as well as she used to, but she does have some interest in food and treats, not like before.
Drinks. A lot. Probably six months plus.