Stumped - clear fluid, ascites?

[Heres2U_MrsR]

I am clueless as to what’s next with this hen!

Who - Three year old Golden Buff from Meyer. She’s fed organic layer feed, oats once a week as a treat(very small amount), and leftover veggies as I have them. I’ve learned the hard way to limit treats.

What - slightly lethargic, hiding out, closing eyes on and off, not pooping or eating much, slightly swollen abdomen. No mites/lice.

What I’ve done and current status - isolated, tried Epsom soak just in case, noticed some possible abdominal swelling, and thought were looking at Ascites. Tried to drain on right side as per the video recommended here. In the process she started fighting and flapping hard, shot clear fluid out of all orifices, acted like she had aspirated(I did have her tilted slightly head down), she started showing major signs of distress, purple comb…I was getting ready to EU her and then after about ten minutes she stood up and started looking around. So wild. Tried three times and got no fluid, but wonder if the needle needs to be larger. We could hardly get the plunger to move.

Today, she’s up eating scrambled eggs(not very interested in feed), drinking tons of water with oregano, garlic, rooster booster, and pooping frequently. Eyes closed on and off, but color is okay. When fluid shot out of her I did smell something slightly sour and thought sour crop because everything backed up due to water belly. Now though….I’m stumped.

 

[Razzlefrazzle]

She doesn't look like she needs to be drained. Even with sure cases of ascites I only drain when the bird has trouble getting around and her belly is low to the ground.

How does her crop feel now? Does her breath smell bad? Is she currently laying?

Unfortunately there are a lot of things that can wrong and it can be hard to pinpoint the issue. Some treatable issues include eating something bad, heavy worm load, or an infection. She doesn't look too bad in the pics... I'd give her some TLC for a couple days and monitor her. Try to tempt her with some wet mash pellets and start her on a antifungal like monistat if you think her crop has gone sour.

 

[Heres2U_MrsR]

She doesn't look like she needs to be drained. Even with sure cases of ascites I only drain when the bird has trouble getting around and her belly is low to the ground.

How does her crop feel now? Does her breath smell bad? Is she currently laying?

Unfortunately there are a lot of things that can wrong and it can be hard to pinpoint the issue. Some treatable issues include eating something bad, heavy worm load, or an infection. She doesn't look too bad in the pics... I'd give her some TLC for a couple days and monitor her. Try to tempt her with some wet mash pellets and start her on a antifungal like monistat if you think her crop has gone sour.

Thank you! She started being very vocal about getting out of confinement, so I tried her outside. She’s eating, drinking, and being a fairly normal chicken. I do wonder about the sour crop/mild infection. I’m going to pull her into the crate again tonight out of precaution. She’s not 100%. Good to know about the Ascites. It’s so hard when you can’t quite pinpoint what’s going on. My kids told me that all of my birds are drama queens !