Swollen water balloon on lower chest

[fat brown hen]

Has anyone seen anything like this before?

2 years old brown hen, behaving normally. Eating and drinking well, seems to have healthy muscle tone.

There's a giant swollen water balloon on the lower left side of her chest, extending to between her legs (see photo). It's heavy and feels squishy just like a water balloon. It doesn't seem to bother her, except she sometimes loses her balance due to the lopsided weight.

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
Maybe a week or more? She's fluffy, so I didn't notice until she was absolutely massive.

4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
Nope

5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
Nope

6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
No idea!

7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
Layer crumble and water.

8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Totally normal.

She's acting fine, is vocal and keeps trying to get out of the cage. The water sac seems to bother me more than it bothers her.

 

[Eggcessive]

Does it definitely feel like liquid or air?Can you feel of her crop? I have heard of chickens having crops on the left side instead of the right side. How does her lower belly between her legs feel?

 

[fat brown hen]

Does it definitely feel like liquid or air?Can you feel of her crop? I have heard of chickens having crops on the left side instead of the right side. How does her lower belly between her legs feel?

Definitely liquid (feels heavy when I lift it). I can feel her crop on the other side (when I squish the real crop, she opens and closes her mouth like she's swallowing).

When she is standing up, her lower belly feels like any other chicken, and the water balloon remains on the left front chest. But when I pick her up and put pressure on the swelling, the water balloon spreads back nearly to her tail. Bizarre, huh?

 

[fat brown hen]

Bump. anybody?

The water balloon keeps getting bigger. I tipped her upside down and massaged the water bag, to see if I could get her to barf it out. No luck, even after an hour of trying. She pooped water on me several times while I was squeezing, so I think it might be related to the gizzard or part of the guts.

 

[Eggcessive]

It could be ascites or water belly from a number of possible causes. Some people disinfect the skin on the lower belly and withdraw fluid with an 18 gauge needle or needle and large syringe. If the fluid is yellow or amber, that is definitely ascites. Here in post 42 are some good pictures of a hen being drained:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/laying-hens-with-water-belly-or-ascites.68731/page-5

 

[fat brown hen]

I don't think that's it. I tried to suction with a syringe, and only got air.
She passed a pile of live worms in her droppings, so I gave her a bit of ivermectin (Equimax) that I had in stock for, uhm, Reasons. Do birds get roundworm bloat the same way mammals do?

So far no change, though.

 

[casportpony]

How's your hen doing?