Swollen abdomen on chicken

[5starfarmsllc]

Hello!

My chicken has a swollen lower abdomen. She is walking like a penguin. He back end is wet like with some poo on it. I have tried to clean her up. Her lower abdominal area seems to be swollen. I palpated her for a bound egg but feel nothing. I also did an internal palpation. Does anyone have any thoughts?

 

[MysteryChicken]

Sounds/looks like she has water belly.

 

[Eggcessive]

Her sitting position looks like a hen with a reproductive disorder, and ascites or water belly is a common occurrence. Cancer is also common. Usually, we cannot know exactly what is going on for sure until after we lose one and get a necropsy. Those can be done by your state vet or at home by yourself. The state vets can do testing and diagnose tissue samples. If a local or avian vet is possible, they may help to diagnose.

Water belly can cause pain, pressure, and labored breathing. The internal organs may be under increased pressure which can affect how well the crop and digestive system are working. Fluid can be drained by you or a vet occasionally to help ease pressure.

 

[5starfarmsllc]

Her sitting position looks like a hen with a reproductive disorder, and ascites or water belly is a common occurrence. Cancer is also common. Usually, we cannot know exactly what is going on for sure until after we lose one and get a necropsy. Those can be done by your state vet or at home by yourself. The state vets can do testing and diagnose tissue samples. If a local or avian vet is possible, they may help to diagnose.

Water belly can cause pain, pressure, and labored breathing. The internal organs may be under increased pressure which can affect how well the crop and digestive system are working. Fluid can be drained by you or a vet occasionally to help ease pressure.

Thank you so much for your reply! I am just trying to do what is best for her. I did aspirate her abdomen. No fluid but did get some purulent discharge.

 

[Shezadandy]

Thank you so much for your reply! I am just trying to do what is best for her. I did aspirate her abdomen. No fluid but did get some purulent discharge.

Yep, that's not good. When it's plain fluid that drains like a water balloon there's generally some hope of giving the hen quality time. Once it's down to the pus/thicker stuff, unfortunately whatever the cause, it's advanced. Just had one of these today. We drained her with a 14 gauge needle and got off about 120 mls of delightfulness. It did make her more comfortable and eased her breathing, but she did die this afternoon. If they don't perk right up after being drained, generally they were on their way down either way-- I choose to drain in every case because even if it's just to ease their last hours, it's worth it.

 

[5starfarmsllc]

Yep, that's not good. When it's plain fluid that drains like a water balloon there's generally some hope of giving the hen quality time. Once it's down to the pus/thicker stuff, unfortunately whatever the cause, it's advanced. Just had one of these today. We drained her with a 14 gauge needle and got off about 120 mls of delightfulness. It did make her more comfortable and eased her breathing, but she did die this afternoon. If they don't perk right up after being drained, generally they were on their way down either way-- I choose to drain in every case because even if it's just to ease their last hours, it's worth it.

Would it make sense that her abdomen is hard on one side? I didn’t get any fluid from the softer side. If she should be humanly euthanized so she’s not suffering I want to do that but I don’t want to make a rash decision. Thank you for your input

 

[Eggcessive]

When they have fluid or pus in the abdomen, there is probably something else solid inside, such as lash egg material, an enlarged oviduct, or cancerous tumors. The pus is egg yolk peritonitis probably. It might be good to consider putting her out of her misery.

 

[Shezadandy]

Would it make sense that her abdomen is hard on one side? I didn’t get any fluid from the softer side. If she should be humanly euthanized so she’s not suffering I want to do that but I don’t want to make a rash decision. Thank you for your input

I agree with eggcessive, especially when one side is hardened and won't drain, that's a mass of something. I only drain from the right side of the abdomen because that's the safest spot. It's one thing when you can stay on top of keeping the fluid drained if the comb color comes back to normal and they bounce back following draining. This scenario is my least favorite thing about keeping chickens.