PLEASE HELP ME!

[Skipper Carnes]

Thank you Beloved Turkey for understanding my situation . Kiki may have good intentions, but she is not making things better. Squirting vinegar in their vents has saved many of my chickens from dying, and if I didn't drain Dixie, she would eventually get so big she would die in pain. Letting her rest would be letting her die. I am fighting hard to help her live, and now that I know what is going on, I know how to treat it. I am not playing a "guessing game."

Please don’t worry about Kiki I support that you’re fighting for your chicken, and your doing the right thing your doing research not just doing random things.

 

[Beloved Turkey]

What I mean is you are playing a guessing game and you are probably making her worse.
First you squirt vinegar up her vent then you poke holes in her.
Let her rest.

Sorry if I was harsh Kiki, it is a good Idsa to let her calm down and not do to many things at once so that you don’t shock her or stress her out because that will kill her faster but you should still try to help

 

[Skipper Carnes]

What I mean is you are playing a guessing game and you are probably making her worse.
First you squirt vinegar up her vent then you poke holes in her.
Let her rest.

I know exactly what is wrong with her, and giving vinegar enemas has saved many of my hens from dying. And no, I am not poking holes in her, I am draining fluids that could cause her to die in pain and am giving her relief of pain and a chance to live. No doing anything to help would be cruel. My birds are pets, friends, and family, and letting them die in pain is the last thing I want. I am in no way harming her, I am giving her a chance at life.

 

[Kiki]

I know exactly what is wrong with her, and giving vinegar enemas has saved many of my hens from dying. And no, I am not poking holes in her, I am draining fluids that could cause her to die in pain and am giving her relief of pain and a chance to live. No doing anything to help would be cruel. My birds are pets, friends, and family, and letting them die in pain is the last thing I want. I am in no way harming her, I am giving her a chance at life.

 

[Skipper Carnes]

Sorry if I was harsh Kiki, it is a good Idsa to let her calm down and not do to many things at once so that you don’t shock her or stress her out because that will kill her faster

Treatment has been done slowly through out the day. Right now she is resting in her kennel with water always available. Now that I have done all I can, I agree that rest is crucial, but first treatment must be given before you do nothing. I don't me at all to be harsh to Kiki either. I am sure her intentions are nothing but good.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry, but squirting vinegar up a hen’s vent can push E.coli bacteria up into her oviduct and abdomen. Not good. E.coli can get climb the repro tract normally, but giving enemas will be a risk. I have done necropsies on hens with ascites, and they have a cause for getting it. Many times it is a reproductive infection, liver or oviduct cancer, heart failure, or fatty liver disease. They usually don’t live long. I usually don’t drain mine, only one that had labored breathing. Risks of draining are infection or death. Many times fluid will continue to drain about at the injection site.

 

[Skipper Carnes]

Her is what I picked up online.

What is chicken water belly? A condition that affects chickens, causing them to accumulate fluid from a damaged liver in their abdomen. It is not a fun condition, and it can kill your chicken if left unattended. However, if you detect ascites in your chickens before it gets too bad and treat it effectively, your birds will go on to live long and healthy lives.

 

[KRack]

Sorry for your sweet hen!! You’re doing the best you can, and that’s all we can do. Most of us aren’t vets, we just learn from experience and praying in to situations. I’m proud of you for trying and researching the best you can. I pray you discovered what was wrong, and have a unique case where things are cleared up from this point forward, no matter how unlikely that outcome seems. God doesn’t care about statistics.

 

[FunClucks]

Her is what I picked up online.

What is chicken water belly? A condition that affects chickens, causing them to accumulate fluid from a damaged liver in their abdomen. It is not a fun condition, and it can kill your chicken if left unattended. However, if you detect ascites in your chickens before it gets too bad and treat it effectively, your birds will go on to live long and healthy lives.

Actually, most water belly hens die within a year or less, based on what I've read from folks who have had them personally and posted on this site for help. Ascites is pretty much an indication that the chicken has a non-fixable health condition that is going to eventually take their life no matter what you do. Draining ascites gives you an opportunity to spend another few months at most with your chicken, and prepare to say goodbye to them.

When you're looking at stuff online, it's important to question the source of the information you are finding -there is a lot of stuff out there about chickens and chicken health that simply is not true. One of my favorite resources is the MERCK veterinary manual. It is written for commercial chicken keepers, and takes a bit sometimes to understand the technical language, but to me it's worth the effort because I know the information is accurate.

https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poul...try/ascites-syndrome-in-poultry?query=ascites

Kiki is a Project Manager and Eggcessive is a BYC Educator (see the badges under their profile pics for each of their posts). Both have years of chicken keeping experience, and I have followed along as they have given highly accurate and helpful advice for over a year to hundreds of people. If you're going to follow advice, theirs is good advice to follow.

Sorry your hen has water belly. It's pretty much a death sentence. You can lengthen out her life for a few months by draining her belly a time or two, with the risks previous posters have outlined, or you can cull her quickly, and save her some pain and suffering. Chickens are really good at hiding when they're in pain. But she's not going to get better, because the underlying conditions that caused her water belly will not heal. If I recall correctly, enlarged liver, heart disease, and reproductive disease are some of the most common causes, and these are not fixable. This is the hard part of chicken keeping.

Sending you supportive thoughts and prayers as you work your way through the loss of your hen.

 

[Eggcessive]

Most of the findings online about ascites (water belly) are about right sided heart failure in broiler/meat chickens. But in laying hens it seems to be more associated with egg yolk peritonitis and cancer. I also found it in my hen with Cathy liver hemorrhagic syndrome on necropsy. There are not too many scholarly articles about that type. Beware of what blog or pseudo-official site that you are getting information from. There is a lot of partially incorrect info, even on sites that claim to be DVM or whatever. Merck Manual is good, the Poultry Site, and many articles published by Veterinary schools. We all want to help on here, but most of us are not vets.