The Poultry Keeper

Squidge · Joined: 17 Dec 2007 Posts: 269 Location: Folkestone, Kent

Any advice would be very welcome. One of my ex batts has become listless and on examining her to see if she was egg bound (she's not) I found her abdomen very tight but palpable like there's fluid in there. I have done the internal exam, nothing in there. Have given Baytril (fourth day today). Second day of worming with Flubenvet. Worming was done last May. Has had some bio yogurt and have given Olive oil in case something needs moving but from what I've seen on here it looks as though it's probably something serious like a liver or other tumor or heart. I don't want her suffering to go on and on because it must be very uncomfortable having that pressure pressing on everything. She is still eating but not a lot and she has a dirty back end and not much coming out the other end but mucous and sticky bits and pieces of poop. All the birds were recently treated with Tylan for respiratory probs so it doesn't look like an infection. I'll probably take her to the vets today or tomorrow but would appreciate any info from more experienced peeps. Thanks

Henwife · Joined: 31 Jan 2006 Posts: 3540 Location: Monmouthshire

Ascites - not good news. In an ex-battery it is all to likely, and culling is the kind option I'm afraid.

Autumn · Joined: 27 Jun 2008 Posts: 494 Location: Suffolk

Squidge · Joined: 17 Dec 2007 Posts: 269 Location: Folkestone, Kent

Have been to the vets this evening for the inevitable...he said he could feel a mass. Poor little soul.

Henwife · Joined: 31 Jan 2006 Posts: 3540 Location: Monmouthshire

A mass sounds more like internal laying rather than ascites. Since batteries are bred to lay, then it is not really surprising that when things go wrong they do it big time.

Squidge · Joined: 17 Dec 2007 Posts: 269 Location: Folkestone, Kent

Hi Henwife. Never heard of internal laying before. He said he could feel something really hard in her abdomen that didn't feel like it should be there. He's not a poultry vet unfortunately and I didn't (couldn't) do a postmortem so I guess we'll never know. She's now buried under a newly planted tree near the hen house where she spent many happy hours free ranging with her little mates.

Pekinout · Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 1219 Location: Cornwall

Ex batts are prone to cancer, sorry to hear about your loss, but she's out of pain now.

Henwife · Joined: 31 Jan 2006 Posts: 3540 Location: Monmouthshire

Internal laying is when something goes wrong in the production process so that partially formed eggs (shelless still) get dumped into the Abdomen instead of continuing down the pipeline. The occasional error is reabsorbed, but with some birds, it is too frequent for this to happen, and a hard mass results.
When you realise that for the first laying period of their lives, battery hens are virtually static, it is only surprising that more of them don't have internal problems once they start exercising.

Squidge · Joined: 17 Dec 2007 Posts: 269 Location: Folkestone, Kent

It's true what you say, I have had more losses from the ex batts than my pure breeds. It's such a shameful way to treat a living creature. Thanks pekinout and thanks henwife for the explanation.

Pekinout · Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 1219 Location: Cornwall

You're welcome.

I think the ex batt rescue centres should give more detailed information about caring for ex batts and the things they are more prone to than pure breeds.

The poor things are bred purely as laying machines with little thought or care into how they survive.

Kitsune · Joined: 13 Mar 2008 Posts: 1410 Location: Manchester

one of my ex batts had ascites, I tried draining the fluid which made her a little more comfortable in the short term but within days it was as bad as before so I culled her and did a PM, she had a huge mass of tumours on her ovary and her heart was enlarged and pale. Much longer and she would have had a heart attack I'm sure.

It's hard to see them just decline like that, but it's worth it to know they had a taste of something better than a cage.

Squidge · Joined: 17 Dec 2007 Posts: 269 Location: Folkestone, Kent

I have joined a battery rescue charity called North London Hen Rescue to help with transportation because the more helpers they have the more hens can be rescued. I got mine from Battery Hen Welfare Trust and have been unable to get more because they have a huge waiting list. I will pass on the information that they should inform new owners in a bit more detail.

Pekinout · Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 1219 Location: Cornwall

i could get you 250k ex batts regularly if you had the transport and volunteers, there's loads of battery farms near me that clear out the hens regularly. They all go to Shipphams paste factory at the moment.

Squidge · Joined: 17 Dec 2007 Posts: 269 Location: Folkestone, Kent

What a terrible shame. I see that you're in Cornwall, we have a lot of homes waiting here in Kent but it's a long long way. Not impossible though. The first thing is the battery farmers have to be approached, very carefully as they can be rather touchy( I wonder why). Also you would need to find out if any other charity is already involved, or I can do that. Once contact is set up and arrangements have been made (50p per bird!) then local volunteers can be organized for transportation and temporary housing before being delivered to their new homes. I have found that the local freecycle cafe forum (don't know if you have one there) can be a really good source of help and assistance as lots of people would like to be involved in re-homing and helping to re-home ex batts.