I noticed one of my girls was being a bit slow. She has not laid for many months and went through a mould about 3 months ago.
I felt her belly and it was clearly distended so decided to try to drain her.
I withdrew about 30ml of fluid and then let it drain naturally, which it did for a good few hours. The belly reduced and she was a lot more perky.
However, the fluid was cloudy - which I've not had before with previous hens. More than that, what I left in the syringe overnight has solidified into a jelly like substance.
This is the solidified liquid - you can just see that it has retained the shape of the hole that goes to the syringe. It is a solid jelly like lump.
It's bank holiday weekend here in the UK so I can't get to a vet until Tuesday. I've tried giving her protein (scrambled egg) and mash with some electrolyte in it, however all she really wants to do is drink water. Today she is quite withdrawn.
I've separated her for the time being so she is in a quiet place and can sit down. There's food and water in the cage.
In the absence of being able to get to the vet, what is the best that I can do? I presume that the cloudy liquid means that there must be an infection, however, I could be wrong.
I did contemplate giving her a little bit of aspirin and some vitamin B but I just don't know what is the best thing to do to maintain her until I can get her to the vet, which I presume will result in some form of antibiotic.
Any advice? Gratefully received as I think time is not on my side.
Thank you
I felt her belly and it was clearly distended so decided to try to drain her.
I withdrew about 30ml of fluid and then let it drain naturally, which it did for a good few hours. The belly reduced and she was a lot more perky.
However, the fluid was cloudy - which I've not had before with previous hens. More than that, what I left in the syringe overnight has solidified into a jelly like substance.
This is the solidified liquid - you can just see that it has retained the shape of the hole that goes to the syringe. It is a solid jelly like lump.
It's bank holiday weekend here in the UK so I can't get to a vet until Tuesday. I've tried giving her protein (scrambled egg) and mash with some electrolyte in it, however all she really wants to do is drink water. Today she is quite withdrawn.
I've separated her for the time being so she is in a quiet place and can sit down. There's food and water in the cage.
In the absence of being able to get to the vet, what is the best that I can do? I presume that the cloudy liquid means that there must be an infection, however, I could be wrong.
I did contemplate giving her a little bit of aspirin and some vitamin B but I just don't know what is the best thing to do to maintain her until I can get her to the vet, which I presume will result in some form of antibiotic.
Any advice? Gratefully received as I think time is not on my side.
Thank you