Suspected water belly in 4-year-old female Muscovy

[Duck_Duck_Goose]

We suspect our 4-year-old female Muscovy may have water belly. Over the last year her egg laying has become sporadic and less frequent. About 4 days ago we noticed she’d developed a squishy, tennis ball or so size sac that hangs down behind her legs, under her vent. This development seems to correspond with the egg lay about that same timeframe. We were concerned she was egg bound but this morning she did finally lay a normal egg and had a giant poop. We’d hoped that would have resolved the swelling but our sweet girl is still swollen, which is why we suspect water belly. Otherwise, so far she’s her happy little self and wondering what all the fuss is about. We are going to attempt to have her seen by our vet, but the days available to see farm birds is limited and we may have to attempt to drain her ourselves should her breathing become an issue or she seems uncomfortable.
We’ve read many articles and watched an array of YouTube videos but what we’ve yet to find is how deep to go after inserting the needle (we’ve opted for an 18 gauge but understand we may need to switch to a 14 or 16)? Do we need to pinch the flesh while inserting the needle? Also what constitutes not taking “too much” fluid to avoid shock? We’ve seen as much as 60ml drawn at one sitting and have heard that even as little as 3ml may be too much.
Thanks in advance.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

@Wyorp Rock , do you know anything about draining ascites in ducks?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

This how it's done with Chickens. Hope this helps.