Early water belly or something else? Early treatment?

[porokelle]

We've been noticing our older (maybe 3-6 years, indian game bantam) has looked...wider ... Starting at least two weeks ago.

We attributed it to spring abundance, high egg laying, and some broodiness. But we checked today and the weight appears to be somewhat squishy keel to vent. She looks wider in the wings/ area between the wings from above, but I swear her hips look wider though her feet stance is normal. Her skin is not red in the area.
Her pantaloons look almost like a diaper. I doubt she's managed to get fat in two weeks, so it feels more like fluid retention.

We'll keep monitoring, but I don't know what to do for treatment at this point.
Is there by early treatment for water belly? Food changes?
Or if she has a reproductive issue she would show more signs of distress?

She is usually svelte. Our Orpingtons only have a small layer of soft tissue in the same area. She has not laid for three days but neither have the other girls and they look red enough that they will soon.

She is active and happy and no signs of distress or lack of eating.
She does get possibly too much food and treats as her four girls are more than 3x her size, and she fights to get her equal share.
She gets layer feed and some wheat, is free range and gets loads of greens/weeds. She dislikes mealworms but won't pass up any seeds or a peanut.

Poos are normal. Urate is white.
She's been standoffish to me for a few months, but I was away for a few weeks and have been informed she missed me and acting like she does if one of the other girls have been out of the run for a night. She hangs out with the other girls at times, and other times does not. She's always been the mom and unbelievably strong, so we're a bit afraid she could be hiding whatever. But she's still interacting with her girls and in charge.

Photos from yesterday attached. Compared to previous years, the feathers on her hips protrude further from her wings, like there's something around her bottom.
I'll try to find some videos from this and last year to compare as the photos really don't demonstrate.

 

[ChickNanny13]

water belly in chickens

 

[Eggcessive]

Is her crop full, squishy soft, and pendulous? Does it hang down more than the others? Can you check to see if her crop is empty by early morning? Does her lower belly feel like fluid or fat? Does her belly appear bluish? Is she having any distress, or is she active and acting normal? She might be overweight, which could make her lower back appear more poofy. Fatty liver disease can happen with overweight chickens. But ascites could be possible. Most hens that I have had with ascites (water belly) had yellow urates in the droppings from excess bile. I would stop offering wheat or any treats, and keep her on her layer feed.

 

[Lillith37]

The whole swollen belly thing can be so stressful and it can be hard to tell if there is a serious issue or not. This is what I have learned.

A good way to monitor body condition is to do a weekly weight of each bird and then physically check their body condition. This means feeling around their keel bone and abdomen.

Numbers on a scale don’t mean much if a hen is losing muscle and gaining fluid.

https://blog.meyerhatchery.com/2023/06/chicken-body-condition/

Laying birds will be naturally bigger and squishier in the abdominal area which is why it’s important to know each chicken’s individual “normal” so you can pre-empt issues.

Ascites is fluid build up secondary to an underlying condition. Commonly pulmonary hypertension which affects the liver which then starts leaking the fluid. Warning signs are comb changes, laboured breathing, messy bottoms, and feather loss and redness of the belly. The belly will feel tauter.

Fluid in the form of egg yolk can also build up from internal laying.

Treatments for each involve draining the fluid and potential antibiotics if yolk material has led to infection. If a hen is internally laying then it would be best to put them on the contraceptive implant. For ascites, there may be medication to support the organs but most people say it will eventually be fatal.

Cancer/tumours is also a possibility for distended abdomens.

If the abdomen is distended and hard, the internal yolks may be hardening up. The hen may also have egg material/infected material binding up the salpinx/oviduct. The contraceptive implant and then surgery to remove the hardened material and salpinx is the best course of treatment.

Warning signs for internal laying and salpingitis are a sudden stopping in laying (unrelated to moult & daylight hours), nesting behaviour without producing any eggs, producing lash material, and a history of abnormal eggs, e.g. soft shelled eggs, eggs with stress lines. And of course any indication of internal infection — high temperature, lethargy, going off food and water, abnormal droppings.

A vet can tell by ultrasound if the abdomen contents is likely to be fluid, in which case draining is an option, or soft tissue, in which case the cause can remain unclear. A lot of people opt to try draining fluid from the abdomen as supportive care at home to make afflicted birds more comfortable and buy them some time.

If she’s just fat and is fat because of treats and competing for food, then bringing the diet back to basics as suggested is a good move. Have multiple feeding stations and free access to food helps chickens feel food-secure and they will be less likely to gorge themselves.

 

[porokelle]

Is her crop full, squishy soft, and pendulous? Does it hang down more than the others? Can you check to see if her crop is empty by early morning? Does her lower belly feel like fluid or fat? Does her belly appear bluish? Is she having any distress, or is she active and acting normal? She might be overweight, which could make her lower back appear more poofy. Fatty liver disease can happen with overweight chickens. But ascites could be possible. Most hens that I have had with ascites (water belly) had yellow urates in the droppings from excess bile. I would stop offering wheat or any treats, and keep her on her layer feed.

Crop is fine. Hangs higher than our big girls. Empty in morning. The squishy area is in between fluid and fat like the thick layers on pork.
Belly is white/light pink. No distress whatsoever, we just noticed her appearance changing this past two-three weeks, which seems quick for fat to build up.
We're limiting treats and wheat for everyone so we can monitor for a few weeks.

 

[porokelle]

The whole swollen belly thing can be so stressful and it can be hard to tell if there is a serious issue or not. This is what I have learned.

A good way to monitor body condition is to do a weekly weight of each bird and then physically check their body condition. This means feeling around their keel bone and abdomen.

Numbers on a scale don’t mean much if a hen is losing muscle and gaining fluid.

https://blog.meyerhatchery.com/2023/06/chicken-body-condition/

Laying birds will be naturally bigger and squishier in the abdominal area which is why it’s important to know each chicken’s individual “normal” so you can pre-empt issues.

Ascites is fluid build up secondary to an underlying condition. Commonly pulmonary hypertension which affects the liver which then starts leaking the fluid. Warning signs are comb changes, laboured breathing, messy bottoms, and feather loss and redness of the belly. The belly will feel tauter.

Fluid in the form of egg yolk can also build up from internal laying.

Treatments for each involve draining the fluid and potential antibiotics if yolk material has led to infection. If a hen is internally laying then it would be best to put them on the contraceptive implant. For ascites, there may be medication to support the organs but most people say it will eventually be fatal.

Cancer/tumours is also a possibility for distended abdomens.

If the abdomen is distended and hard, the internal yolks may be hardening up. The hen may also have egg material/infected material binding up the salpinx/oviduct. The contraceptive implant and then surgery to remove the hardened material and salpinx is the best course of treatment.

Warning signs for internal laying and salpingitis are a sudden stopping in laying (unrelated to moult & daylight hours), nesting behaviour without producing any eggs, producing lash material, and a history of abnormal eggs, e.g. soft shelled eggs, eggs with stress lines. And of course any indication of internal infection — high temperature, lethargy, going off food and water, abnormal droppings.

A vet can tell by ultrasound if the abdomen contents is likely to be fluid, in which case draining is an option, or soft tissue, in which case the cause can remain unclear. A lot of people opt to try draining fluid from the abdomen as supportive care at home to make afflicted birds more comfortable and buy them some time.

If she’s just fat and is fat because of treats and competing for food, then bringing the diet back to basics as suggested is a good move. Have multiple feeding stations and free access to food helps chickens feel food-secure and they will be less likely to gorge themselves.

Thanks very much for so much information.

We're going to go back to basics for food and monitor closely, along with keeping weigh records and checks. And escalate to a vet if she ends up distressed at all. This gives us a good basis of what we can check for.

We're starting to suspect that the lack of laying at least is due to being broody and us bringing her out of it rather quickly. But I can't find anything about weight gain before hens become broody.

 

[Lillith37]

We're starting to suspect that the lack of laying at least is due to being broody and us bringing her out of it rather quickly. But I can't find anything about weight gain before hens become broody.

I would assume that instinctually they try to bulk up as much as possible before sitting… as they lose so much condition over the weeks on the nest. But I haven’t heard anything concrete on the matter either.

Best of luck to you and your hen!

 

[porokelle]

Just in case someone finds this thread and wants to know how we've gone so far - our girl's squishy booty seemed to be getting a bit bigger and I didn't want to take the chance of it being something we could deal with early but not once it progresses.

We've gone to the vet today, had an ultrasound and pulled some of the liquid. It's not conclusive that it's EYP but the vet thinks its most likely. We've got antibiotics and metacam for the inflammation.
Additionally - there's a very large fat pad exactly expected for a girl going into a brood and that's making her appear much larger lying under the other inflammation.

Fingers crossed that's all it is and the EYP doesn't get worse.

 

[Bigbluefrog]

Is her crop full, squishy soft, and pendulous? Does it hang down more than the others? Can you check to see if her crop is empty by early morning? Does her lower belly feel like fluid or fat? Does her belly appear bluish? Is she having any distress, or is she active and acting normal? She might be overweight, which could make her lower back appear more poofy. Fatty liver disease can happen with overweight chickens. But ascites could be possible. Most hens that I have had with ascites (water belly) had yellow urates in the droppings from excess bile. I would stop offering wheat or any treats, and keep her on her layer feed.

Tell me more, please.
I have a hen with a squishy belly, drooping tail, pale comb, lethargic, yellow wet discharge on the vent.
Wet belly?
I have her separated. Noticed it yesterday. Suspect my husband didn't notice so day 3 of this.