Ascites Draining

[Eddie12109]

Thank you for reading through this whole thread by the way, it means a lot

 

[micstrachan]

You can keep trying different foods. I had a very sick hen who would eat sardines and brown rice for awhile. Blueberries, sprouts, kale, tomatoes, beef liver, etc. are all favorites around here. Oh, and raw, hulled sunflower seeds, but they might not be great for a slow crop. Do you think her heart is failing?

I have to go to bed now, but it sounds like things are under control for the time being. Hang in there, and try to get some rest for yourself.

 

[Eddie12109]

I do think her heart is failing, I can’t stand to leave her out here but I guess I have to, she is hanging her head a lot in an unnatural way, she is still standing too

 

[Eddie12109]

I don’t know if she will make it through the night and even if she does I don’t think tomorrow will be good.

 

[Eddie12109]

She just had a splattery green/yellow poop

 

[Eddie12109]

How long can it take to go into cardiac arrest? I drained her almost 9 hours ago

 

[speckledhen]

Hi, Eddie. Since you tagged me, I'll put in my two cents. I have not had this issue in years, but I know after draining several hens repeatedly that the issue is not the fluid, but the underlying cause of the fluid. That is not going away. She has some reproductive or other issue, usually it's internal laying, that is causing the fluid to build up in her body, including her lungs. Draining only alleviates the pressure temporarily and stresses her out in and of itself.
I no longer drain hens. I've even had one or two bloat up and then, the fluid dissipate, but yours sounds like she is in the final stages. My thread on Olivia shows how much I drained that sweet little hen, but she was laying internally. In fact, I have a thread on a hen who was bloating for literally 3 years or her less than 4 years of life and all her yolks were being deposited into her liver, we found those postmortem, verified by a vet I consulted.
I know you care deeply about this hen as I did mine, but you should brace yourself for the inevitable here. I have not read all the posts, but at this point, I would make her a warm bed in low light(she should not have to fight the cold in her condition), give her warm food like scrambled eggs, fresh water with some apple cider vinegar with "the mother" (cuts phlegm and has vitamins and minerals) in it and let her rest. I've held many a hen as she passed away to comfort her. Sometimes, all you can do is care. She feels it, I believe that with all my heart. They do know.
Here are two threads of mine, two different hen's histories:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/drained-a-hens-abdomen-rest-in-peace-olivia-11-5-10.362422/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...w-fluid-rip-hope-graphic-photos-added.924895/

 

[Wyorp Rock]

How is she doing?

 

[Eddie12109]

Thank you for that @speckledhen
I was looking through old threads and saw that you seemed to now this stuff so that’s why I tagged you.

So I drained her and I may have taken too much out. I really don’t know because I didn’t feel her that much. Her abdomen was smaller obviously due to the draining. Then later in the night, maybe a few hours after the draining, she started to do the gurgling and couldn’t get a good breathe in. She did that the whole night. In the morning my dad took her out to her hospital cage until I give her a butt bath and he said she walked into the cage so he left her and took care of Eddie and Dev, then he heard flapping and she was dead.

Man, she was a fighter. She had this since the end of September. I’m really happy to have had the extra time with her. We are taking her off for cremation soon.

Why was she able to walk and then just... die?
What was it going on with her breathing? Even though I removed a lot of fluid it still pushed up on her?

She was in the nest box two or three times during this whole thing. A few...? week before she developed the fluid in the abdomen she had been constantly laying normal eggs. Then she only went to the next box those two or three times, could this have showing me a reproductive illness?

 

[speckledhen]

I have had hens suffer with this for 8 months to 3 years. The 3 year one was a huge breeder quality Buff Orp who, if she was a lesser bird, would not have made it that long.
Chickens are very strong and stoic animals; they do not show weakness until they just cannot stand any more. Her lungs were filling with fluid, not that fluid was only pushing on her lungs, but the lungs themselves were fluid-filled. It's how this happens at times.
Yes to your last question. Going to the nests and not laying repeatedly usually shows an issue. You did all you could for her so just know that.