Ascites?? Swollen, squishy abdomen - WITH PICS & VIDEO (page 9)

[ejctm]

tamtam84 - this thread has really helped me, thank you for sharing your experience, and the other contributors too.

I recently started a thread on a very similar thing https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-laying-sharing-my-experience-benedicts-story and have just read through all of your thread. It has given me hope that my Bene might have a chance at a few more months of quality life, rather than only a few days. For Bene, I think the ascites was there for a long time before the internal laying, but the 2 together is just bad luck.

I am so glad that Buttercup is still going strong. I would really really appreciate if you could do the needle draining video asap, as this is exactly what I need to help me. I am considering draining Bene myself, as the vet did not get much fluid and she is still very bulging. Or maybe should I wait until her breathing looks laboured before I drain, but with my other chickens this would have been far too late. When I was at the vet, I was busy holding Bene and could not see what the vet was doing underneath, so did not learn how to do it myself. I am sure it would help a lot of others too!!

 

[tamtam84]

ejctm - I'm so glad this thread has helped you out. That's the only good that can come of such an unfortunate situation! I read your thread and it sounds like you are doing everything you can for your girl and you obviously care a great deal about her. Buttercup is a pet, just like your Bene, so I want to do everything I can for her.

Where exactly did the vet drain her from? Or could you tell? If she drained from her bottom where her fluff is, she should have just drained out through the needle holes on her own.

Fortunately Buttercup is still doing well and her fluid has not returned, so I don't need to drain her again. If it would help, I may be able to do a video just showing where I drain her and the procedure I use.

 

[ejctm]

tamtam, thanks for your kind words.

The vet put the needle in on her underside into the bulging area below her vent, but quite low down. Forgive my drawing!



The vet had to prick her several times to get anything out, even though it feels like a water balloon. She finally got yellow fluid which must have been from the soft-shell egg inside her. If I pricked her now, I don't know if there would be another egg or just ascites fluid. She did not drip fluid at all afterwards, only a few drops of blood. The bulge was bigger than the pic but now is maybe the same as she has passed the shell-less egg yesterday.

 

[tamtam84]

That's a perfect drawing! Shows exactly where to drain.

It's kind of puzzling to me that she is full like a water balloon but no fluid came out when she was pricked. With Buttercup, it works every time I drain her. I guess no two cases are the same, and maybe you're dealing with something totally different.

Maybe someone else has experienced something similar? When I drain Buttercup I always get a straw-colored fluid, never any yellow or egg-like material at all. Hopefully someone else knows more and can shed some light on this for you!

 

[arkansaschicks]

Now you two have we wondering if I should try draining to see if I get fluid and what color. Maybe Bene has the Fatty Liver like my girls.
I never drained Gracie, who was the mom that eventually died of what I think was Fatty Liver. Mine sure appears to be hereditary, whatever it is!! Maybe between the 3 of us we can figure something out for these girls. It is worth a try!

Is Buttercup still doing ok?

 

[tamtam84]

arkansaschicks - I think it would be worth it to try and drain your girls. I don't think it would do any harm if you didn't get any fluid out, so it may be a worth a try just to see what happens.

Buttercup is ok, but seems to be filling back up again. Over the past two days she seems to be walking more like a penguin and has a little of fluid retained. I may have to drain her in the next few days, and if I do, I will make a video and post it on here. Another issue with Buttercup right now is that she has bumblefoot. Poor thing can't catch a break! I've been keeping my eye on it for the past few weeks and it wasn't an issue, but now it's getting more swollen so I may have to do something about it soon. I just don't want to stress her out too much. She isn't having trouble walking and it doesn't seem to bother her too much, so I may just wait a little while longer.

On top of that, another one of my girls (a white leghorn named Chickabod) is having laying issues now too. I started another thread about here over here - https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/675582/leghorn-only-laying-fart-eggs-or-soft-shelled-eggs. She's only laying soft shelled eggs right now so I don't know what's going on with her. Let me tell you, when it rains, it pours!!!

 

[arkansaschicks]

I know this sounds crazy but I promise I did it and it made a difference with my Gracie that was laying soft shelled eggs. Get Tums or a cheap off brand and crush them up real fine and put it in yogurt or cottage cheese. I even would get small pieces of bread and soak them in buttermilk and then dip them in the Tums powder. It is like giving them a good shot of calcium. I gave her a little bit everyday for a week and then a couple times a week after that. Now if there is some bigger problem then it might not help. It could be she just isn't getting as much as the others and needs an extra boost. Between all the buttermilk/Tums/yogurt she should get a good boost.

Dealing with the bumblefoot might be too much for her right now since fluid is coming back. Maybe deal with it after you drain her.

 

[speckledhen]

If you have a hen with an internal infection, be careful not to do bumblefoot surgery unless 100% absolutely necessary. I had a hen whose foot wasn't really bad-we're very experienced with bumblefoot, having done many surgeries over the years. It was a small plug, nothing serious. Her foot went necrotic and we had to put her down.
During one of the exams, she squirted out egg yolk and we realized she had peritonitis so her body was already ravaged with infection we had not been aware of and we could do nothing except euthanize her.

 

[tamtam84]

arkansaschicks - Thanks soooo much for the advice! I'm thinking she may need an extra boost of calcium, like you said. Still no egg from her today, so tomorrow I'll pick up some tums, cottage cheese, and buttermilk. I'm sure she'll love it

speckledhen - Thanks so much for your words of wisdom. I will definitely wait on any intervention with the bumblefoot. It's not 100% necessary at this point. It's just getting more swollen in between her toes and stretching the skin out pretty far. But she's not limping and still getting around ok so I'm going to just keep an eye on it. Sorry about your hen. That must have been a very tough situation

 

[arkansaschicks]

You can buy an off brand just make sure the main active ingredient is calcium carbonate. So sorry you are dealing with the bumblefoot too!!

Speckledhen- Is there anything you can do without opening it up? Would antibiotic ointment with a bandage on it help until she can remove the plug? Maybe a temporary fix of
some sort?