Swollen Vent Area

Coturnix Quail

Songster
5 Years
Jul 3, 2016
673
301
201
My 4 year old hen has been kind of swollen around her vent area. It feels tight. What’s strange to me is that i can feel her stomach bone very easily, and although it feels like she’s gaining weight, the bone is still sticking out. I see her eat all the time. Anyone have any clue what’s been going on? It’s been like this for a few months now. She still acts normally, except for last night, when i went to close the coop i saw her standing on a box, and she wouldn’t even sit.
 
From your description of her swollen vent area and that she's standing, it could be she's eggbound. Is there any watery discahrge from her vent? Is the vent pulsating? If you push against the vent with your hand, does she then try to squat and strain as if she needs to poop? Has she had any egg issues lately?
 
From your description of her swollen vent area and that she's standing, it could be she's eggbound. Is there any watery discahrge from her vent? Is the vent pulsating? If you push against the vent with your hand, does she then try to squat and strain as if she needs to poop? Has she had any egg issues lately?

She’s been like this for months if she was egg bound wouldn’t she have died by now? I haven’t seen any discharge, i think the vent isn’t pulsating, I haven’t seen her squat like she needs to poop, she just stands with her legs farther apart than the other hens. She hasn’t laid in egg in a while, as in more than a few months.
 
She’s been like this for months if she was egg bound wouldn’t she have died by now? I haven’t seen any discharge, i think the vent isn’t pulsating, I haven’t seen her squat like she needs to poop, she just stands with her legs farther apart than the other hens. She hasn’t laid in egg in a while, as in more than a few months.

If it's been going on for a long time it's probably ascities, which is fluid in the abdomen. It could also be infected yolk material filling up her abdominal cavity. If it's nasty egg gunk filled, you won't be able to do much.

If it's fluid, it can be drained. You'll need a 14 or 16 gauge, 3/4" to 1" long needle. Farm supply stores stock them by the cattle vaccines. I usually don't use a syringe. Towards the end of the video, they just let the fluid run out of the needle instead of taking the syringe on and off the needle, and the fluid just runs out of the needle. If you want to know how much fluid, do it over a bowl then measure later.

Draining is not a cure. If it helps her, she'll show marked improvement, sometimes almost immediately, but usually within a day. As with any other time one pokes a needle into anything, there's a chance for infection. This is a quality of life and relief procedure, not "treatment". Removing the fluid is to make her more comfortable and take the strain off her organs.

Here's the video that explains how to do this - where to poke and all that good stuff:

You won't believe what came out of this hen "How to drain Waterbelly" ascites - YouTube
 

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