Ascites Draining

[Wyorp Rock]

If she's not ready, then I would let her be with her flock mates where she's most comfortable and see how she does.

 

[Eddie12109]

Well, she wasn’t that interested in rice, she usually doesn’t eat that much food, I think she may have the bully syndrome but then again, there is only one other hen in her coop so I don’t think isolating her is going to make a big difference. They are becoming friends but there is still a pecking order and just like it had been her whole life, she is on the bottom of the two.

Her keel bone is a little prominent but her ascites treatment fills her up.

She seems uncomfortable with the ascites, very hard decision for me. I will reassess tomorrow.

 

[Eddie12109]

So a little update. Today I checked up on them and dev was laying an egg and my ascites hen was up in the same coop bothering her, just waiting for her to lay that egg so she can eat it
I let them out and left for 5 minutes and dev was scratching around but ascites girl was still in the coop just standing around.

I felt her abdomen, it’s still fill but some jiggle. A little more fluid than yesterday. I know I keep saying this but tomorrow I am going to tube electrolytes into her and then later I will drain if needed.
She isn’t eating a lot. But I don’t think she ever has. She used to be small because of the pecking order not letting her get food as much as the others.
Oh so the last four hens, including her, to get ascites has had this hard lump on the lower side of the abdomen on the left. It doesn’t really move and it’s under the skin. Any ideas?

 

[Eddie12109]

Well, I’m going to drain. So first I am going to tube feed. Should I just tube feed water? Or add chicken electrolytes?
And I am going in on my left, her right side to tube feed and avoid trachea?

 

[Eddie12109]

Ok another, hopefully, successful drain. I took out more than last time but I think it needed to happen. She is lively right now and getting ready for bed. I couldn’t find the point where I drained her so I put neosporin over the area where I think it was.

 

[Eggcessive]

That probably made her more comfortable for the time being.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I hope she's more comfortable now

 

[Eddie12109]

This is what her poop looks like this morning

 

[Wyorp Rock]

That's similar to what I have seen when I have a hen with reproductive problems.

 

[Eddie12109]

You may be right...
I have been monitoring her poops all day. At first I thought they were similar to the first time I drained. Both times she got a lot of water and barely any food. The first time I drained, they were watery and white until she got her ascites treatment which consists of baby bird food so it fills her up and then her poops returned to normal for the most part. She had consistent, good poops until she started to fill up again and they have been wet for the past three days now. I thought the same thing would happen. Yesterday she didn’t get her ascites treatment so she didn’t get as much food so her poops were watery. During the day today, I gave her her treatment so I assumed they would go back to normal. She is in bed and she had some normal looking poops. A tiny bit watery but looking better. But then, the last two poops have been watery and when I pick them up, they have a yellow hue that doesn’t look good. This didn’t happen last time. Any thoughts?