...we could have done more but she started to squirm and I told DH to stop. There was more in her, poor Hope, but this was only to make her more comfortable. Mind you, this will NOT save her because it's a chronic condition. She is a breeder quality Buff Orpington, first ever true breeder bird I've had this issue with. She is a huge framed hen, 3 1/2 years old, from the same stock my 6 year old Nugget came from. Haven't drained a hen since the days of Olivia and Ivy.
Hope only laid eggs for a couple of months and never laid again, then she began the cycle of bloating up, then it would subside, then it would be worse and I'd dig a grave for her, then she'd rally. This has been going on since she was a year and a half old. I've never seen anything like it, never seen a hen survive this long in this condition. I determined, from all my experience, not to give her antibiotics (did it the first time, but never again), not to drain her. But her body always took care of it until this last time. She has ZERO meat on her keel, but her abdomen was the size of a bowling ball and she could barely drag it around, but she's never lost her appetite, one reason we haven't put her down-she's still strong for some unknown reason. She is all bones, feathers and abdomen, yet keeps going and going and going.
Bought a 60 cc syringe and set out to give her some relief. She is not one to like to be held, but she leaned against my chest and closed her eyes and let us do it, only flinching when the needle broke the skin.Note, we leave the needle in place, removing the full syringe each time to squirt out the liquid into a jar, then reattach.
We drained 660 cc, 11 syringes full of this gunk, and only stopped when she began to stir a bit. This jar weighs 28 ounces. Poor Hope. She's trying to get her legs back under her after having them spread apart for so long. When she dies, I will do a necropsy to see why she has never laid more than a handful of eggs in her life, to see what's really in there. What a strong constitution this hen has to keep going this long, amazing. Any lesser bird would have died two years ago.
Hope only laid eggs for a couple of months and never laid again, then she began the cycle of bloating up, then it would subside, then it would be worse and I'd dig a grave for her, then she'd rally. This has been going on since she was a year and a half old. I've never seen anything like it, never seen a hen survive this long in this condition. I determined, from all my experience, not to give her antibiotics (did it the first time, but never again), not to drain her. But her body always took care of it until this last time. She has ZERO meat on her keel, but her abdomen was the size of a bowling ball and she could barely drag it around, but she's never lost her appetite, one reason we haven't put her down-she's still strong for some unknown reason. She is all bones, feathers and abdomen, yet keeps going and going and going.
Bought a 60 cc syringe and set out to give her some relief. She is not one to like to be held, but she leaned against my chest and closed her eyes and let us do it, only flinching when the needle broke the skin.Note, we leave the needle in place, removing the full syringe each time to squirt out the liquid into a jar, then reattach.
We drained 660 cc, 11 syringes full of this gunk, and only stopped when she began to stir a bit. This jar weighs 28 ounces. Poor Hope. She's trying to get her legs back under her after having them spread apart for so long. When she dies, I will do a necropsy to see why she has never laid more than a handful of eggs in her life, to see what's really in there. What a strong constitution this hen has to keep going this long, amazing. Any lesser bird would have died two years ago.
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