Swollen abdomen - feels like a balloon

[Emwilliams12]

Good evening!

I need some guidance for my 3 year old chicken "Gilly."

She's eating and drinking water but I noticed she had a messy butt. I washed her underside and noticed she has an inflated abdomen.

Her poop was a yellowish white creamy texture.

I took her up to the house and soaked her in a warm bath for about 25 minutes. During this time I checked to see if she was egg bound. I don't feel anything.

I saw on another post a thing called Ascites.

I'm a realist with my flock. I love them like crazy but I don't want to my chicken to suffer.

I made her some scrambled eggs, yogurt, and gave her a little antibiotic powder. She was more than interested and ate some.

I've attached a picture for you guys to see. If it is indeed Ascites does anyone in the Ramona ca area had experience using a syringe? Where do I buy one? I know it's a silly question but I know some places have them on lockdown.

I'm keeping Gilly in a pet carrier in my garage tonight. If she is egg bound maybe it'll help. She's alert, curiously walking the garage as I type.

Thanks for any feedback

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

If it is Ascites I'm sorry to say there is no cure. In Ohio we have Tractor Supply were you can buy needles and syringes in different sizes. You can also buy those things online. KVsupply sells them. I recently went through an attempt to prolong life by draining the hens belly. I also did a round of penicillin for good measure.
I used a scalp vein set that I had around. (You can buy those from KVsupply) With that set up I could leave the needle in and hook up the syringe to pull fluid without having to stick her repeatedly. If you use a larger gauge needle and her belly is under pressure you won't need a syringe. It will drain on its own.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...est-in-peace-olivia-11-5-10/170#post_17098972

I found this thread helpful. And watched videos on YouTube to see how people drained the belly. In the end I felt my girl was to uncomfortable to quickly. I would have had to drain her belly every 2 weeks to keep her comfortable. To me that wasn't a quality life.

Good luck with your girl. Keep us posted.

 

[TWK777]

I have seen a few cases of this with some friends birds. You say her feces is abnormal? Is there blood coming from her vent? Have you seen any soft shelled eggs or shell-less eggs recently?

 

[Emwilliams12]

I haven't seen any blood. Also no shell-less or soft shelled eggs.

 

[TWK777]

Well that is often indicative of egg bound so you can probably rule that out. I would keep and eye on the poop but the "balloon butt" as my friends call it does not harm their birds. This is not to say that what you have is definitely not serious, but my friends flock has functioned for a while now with no problems. Sorry i couldn't be of more help

 

[Emwilliams12]

I went ahead and drained her abdomen today. I used both alcohol and iodine to sterilize. I was able to draw about 60cc before I stopped. The color was very brown. Any ideas what that might indicate? She's eating and walking around. I'm keeping her in a pet carrier overnight. I looked online but it seems most fluid is either clear or yellow. It didn't smell.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

It can be brown as well. Once you drain her belly she will feel better. All the pressure from the fluid is relieved. If she seems comfortable with it you can put her back with the others. Now you wait and watch. Her belly will most likely refill. How quickly is the question.