Something similar to Water Belly?

[BroomshawHill]

hi everyone. I thought my Red Sussex had water belly. I watched all the video's, ensured I had the right equipment and then tried to drain her, but I couldn't find/remove any liquid. I went on the right hand side, nicely below her vent and kept away from blood vessels, but nothing. Could I be doing something wrong or could there be another reason. Julia (my hen) laid an egg this morning, she's eating and drinking and is rather annoyed at being kept away from her mates. She is no older than 3 yrs of age. Fairly bright and spritely. But she wobbles and falls over due to the mass. Do you have any advice / suggestions please?

 

[Eggcessive]

She could just be fat or laying internally. Egg masses which can be from reproductive infection can be found on necropsy. Many times we don’t know exactly what is going on with our hens until we can do a necropsy after death. Do you have any pictures of her or her belly?

 

[BroomshawHill]

She could just be fat or laying internally. Egg masses which can be from reproductive infection can be found on necropsy. Many times we don’t know exactly what is going on with our hens until we can do a necropsy after death. Do you have any pictures of her or her belly?

Hi Eggcessive. I've attached a photo. From the videos I've seen, her 'belly' doesn't seem as large as those that the owners draw fluid off. It's predominantly the area under her vent that is large and 'watery' to feel. I've attached a photo. I've kept her separate from her mates as she properly falls over and is very wobbly. Any suggestions would really help. Could it be a vitamin deficiency? She hasn't laid an egg today, but has eaten and drunk as normal.

 

[Eggcessive]

You can give some human super B complex 1/4 to 1/2 tablet daily crushed into food or a spoonful of water, in case of a riboflavin deficiency. But her swollen belly which is most likely a reproductive problem is probably affecting her walking. I would just try to keep her eating and drinking. When she seems to be suffering, that may be the time to consider putting her down. If your coop is large enough for a wired dog crate, she might enjoy being around the others for company.

It looks like she might have some lice eggs at the base of her feathers. Do you see any crawling around under her belly? Permethrin 10 spray or garden dust is very good to treat those, at 10 days apart to get the lice and newly hatched ones before they reproduce.

 

[BroomshawHill]

Good Morning Eggcessive
Thank you so much for your advice. I have sourced the equivalent of Permethrin 10 spray as I'm based in the UK and I can't get the exact same product here, but I've researched what I need and it's on its way. I did think the 'eggs' were an unusual shape but had not connected the two. I will treat all my hens, ducks and geese! I've also got some super B complex sorted. Hopefully this will do the trick and keep Julia happy for a while longer, until such a time as I have to act differently.

Once again, thank you very much for your help and advice.