of my hen's abdomen. Can anyone give me an idea on the placement of the needle or does anyone have pictures of where the needle should be placed? What size needle should I use? I know that chances are the fluid will return, however, for now, I'd like to make her as comfortable as possible. Thank you.
My hen has a similar problem-my needle was too small but I managed to get 50 cc or so. I am going to get an 18 guage needle tomorrow and do some more draining-but not all of it-I understand they can go into shock. My hen's skin was drawn tight and was red and shiny. I inserted the needle easily about an inch below the vent =go just deep enough to get fluid when drawing back with the syringe She was lying on her side-I gently massaged and squeezed to fill the syringe. I also moved the needle to the right and got more fluid-clear odorless. I think with a larger syringe it will drain more easily. I am a nurse and tried to be as sterile as possible. Afterward I bathed her bottom with warm water and dried her with a hair dryer-she had a nice fluffy bottom whrn she returned to the flock!! Good luck!! I will do this as long as it takes! She seems heavy today so needs some relief tomorrow!!
