4 year old with big butt!

[Eddie12109]

Hi everyone,
I have a black sex link who is four years old. She is still laying but I haven’t noticed her laying in the past two weeks. Her eggs in the past have been normal... never has she laid a weird egg. Lately she has slowed down on eating her food but she still eats a decent amount... not being lethargic or not eating. And she moves around normally.
The main thing that I noticed was that she was having a bit of a big butt. She has always had respiratory problems that I have been able to manage but she still has heavy breathing when she is stressed like when I pick her up. When I squeeze her abdomen it gets really hard when she breathes in but when she breaths out I can squeeze it and it isn’t particularly liquid but then again I can’t feel it that well since I can only really feel it in between her breathes... I am leaning towards ascites. I now I can see if it is if I drain it but that is a last resort since I have treatments that work on my other ascites hen that I have started giving to this one now.
the main reason why I am posting is to ask for your opinions... could it be ascites in an egg laying hen or could it be an egg problem?

 

[Shezadandy]

Ascities can be caused by organ failure. Personally I drain it when I find a hen that has it, especially if they're in respiratory stress. I use a 14 or 16 gauge needle, 3/4" to 1" long without a syringe attached which is how the video ends up- I've found that without a helper to draw back on a syringe and empty it, skipping the syringe is better. Here's a video on the how-to:

You won't believe what came out of this hen "How to drain Waterbelly" ascites - YouTube

 

[theoldchick]

https://farminence.com/water-belly-in-chickens/