hen has heavy full soft belly

[Darrie]

I have a hen that has a full and soft belly, her crop is empty and she walks with her legs far apart and low to the ground. She is eating but not the right stuff. She eating bird seed. Any ides what I should do?

 

[azygous]

Those are the classic sign of acites, acute liver disease. There are treatments but no cure. Treatment involves removal of the abdominal fluid to make the hen more comfortable. You can do it yourself. There are lots of directions on our search pages.

 

[Darrie]

should I search here on BYC or someplace else? Not having any luck yet

 

[seminolewind]

I agree with azygous. How full is she?

 

[Darrie]

pretty big , bigger than the palm of my hand. Still looking for how to drain her and make her more comfortable.

 

[azygous]

Here's my experience removing fluid from a hen with acites. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/633037/acites-operation-a-huge-success

It was successful, but She died of infection from too many sticks. If I had started her on antibiotics prior to the operation and continued them afterward, I'm pretty sure she would have been fine, and maybe lived another six months or so.

I read about an operation where only one stick had to be done, and a tube drained the fluid, but I can't find that one. The less sticks, the less chance of introducing bacteria.

It's not a cure, but it can extend the life of the chicken. Nancy went off bug hunting right after her operation, none the worse for wear, but developed an infection overnight, and it was too late then for antibiotics to do any good.

 

[hannah8]

how does the liver disease start and can it spread to other chickens? does it stop laying production?