Sorry tamtam, I didn't see your post until now.@redhen - How is your girl doing? I found that often times when I poked Buttercup a couple times with the needle she would just drain out completely on her own after that. I hope your hen is feeling better!
I actually think my hen is in liver failure. I'm not sure but think she might have eaten someting toxic. DH isn't very thoughtful when it comes to spraying pesticides around, and he knows I "freak out" about him spraying the stuff all over, so he tries to do it when i'm not home.
Anyway I haven't kept records of what I've done when, but I have drained her once more a week or two ago. Today she seemed to be really uncomfortable, and she's blown up like a water balloon again. So I stuck her 4 times, pulling 40 ml of straw colored fluid out. It's a few hours later and she has a constant drip from the holes. She seems more comfortable after the fluid is removed.