One of my hens developed ascites / water belly. I attempted to drain with a 20 gauge needle today. The needle only barely needed to go in and fluid dripped out at a rate of 1-2 drops per second. This lasted for about 2min and then it seemed to stop, but I clearly misjudged the degree of drainage, since it resumed dripping as soon as I removed the needle. It has now been draining through the puncture at a rate of one drop every few seconds for about 6 hours now. I have seen various other post and sources saying post-drain leaking is somewhat normal and can last for vague lengths like "a while" - but I don't know what that means in actual time ranges that are safe for chickens. Hours? A day? Her abdomen is still slowly shrinking with the post-needle drainage and she seems to have some relief. I just don't know if the puncture leaking for this long means I screwed up and if I should be trying to use medical superglue at this point.
I am aware the condition is ultimately terminal and all I can do is buy time. Right now I'm hoping I bought some weeks and not just hours, but it's also my first time seeing this in one of my birds so I'm trying not to get my hopes up.
I am aware the condition is ultimately terminal and all I can do is buy time. Right now I'm hoping I bought some weeks and not just hours, but it's also my first time seeing this in one of my birds so I'm trying not to get my hopes up.
