NOT EMERGENCY (Good news!) Hen water belly recovery

[kfsilver]

I have a hen (black Sumatra) who a couple months ago had all the signs of water belly, including her advancing age. The vet was unavailable for a couple weeks, and as I waited for the appointment she got better. Her abdomen reduced, and she once again became her active and angry happy self.

Since then, I have had numerous normal eggs from her and one recent jelly egg (required a bath and olive oil in her cloaca to pass). Any thoughts on what might present as water belly but not be?

Her information:

Breed - Black Sumatra

Age: Will be 6 in June 2021

Home: Pasture free range

Coop: Enclosed, shut up at night, with alternating straw and shaving bedding.

Prior Symptoms: eating and drinking but lethargic and tail down, walking somewhat awkwardly. Swollen, gushy abdomen. Able to lay eggs and defecate. Crop normal.

Would love any information as to what might have happened!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Could have been internal laying and she was able to successfully absorb most of the material. Fluid in the abdomen (aka water belly/Ascites) is a symptom. There can be many causes. Fluid can sometimes be absorbed and/or expelled by the body and the bird can get better.
Hard to know what's causing the fluid - some common things would be organ dysfunction, fatty liver disease and reproductive disorders.

Glad to hear that she has improved. Hopefully she will remain happy for a good while longer.

fwiw - I quickly skimmed your other thread and the concerns you had about her a month ago. Generally with Ascites (water belly) the abdomen will be fluid filled, so it's not soft, it would be swollen and tight like a drum - so she may not have had much fluid and was just having some reproductive issues - Peritonitis, cancer, etc. would be some other things that come to mind.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-with-swollen-but-soft-belly.1459459/

 

[kfsilver]

Thanks for the information! It makes sense that sometimes fluid can be successfully reabsorbed, although I wouldn't have thought that on my own.

It's good to know about the firmness of water belly, too, and some other options it could have been.

Again, thank you, and I am also hoping to enjoy her calling out to me and running up for a long while yet.