Very sick turkey pet. Any help would be appreciated.

[Wyorp Rock]

Do you believe this fluid to be water belly? Or egg perotinitus?

I would say Ascites is a symptom of Egg Yolk Peritonitis if that's what your vet thinks she's suffering from. Reproductive disorders like EYP, cancer, tumors and Internal Laying can all have very similar symptoms and be accompanied by fluid in the abdomen (Ascites/water belly). Ascites can also be seen with organ dysfunction/failure. Often times it is not known exactly what to "name" the condition until the bird has expired and a necropsy is performed.
It's good that they were able to drain the fluid and give you antibiotics, that probably made her feel better. There's less pressure on the internal organs and respiratory system.
Draining is not a cure, but sometimes it does help prolong life and give relief. Sometimes draining may need to be done again after a while.

 

[cottagecheese]

Leaving aside the semantics, here is the bottom line:

A number of disease processes can result in the accumulation of fluid in the abdomen. The prognosis would be very poor if this is congestive heart failure, other major organ failure, cancer and such.

If this is egg yolk peritonitis though, there is a ray of hope, as you can see from the link, but there are many variables. How well is she going to respond to the treatment, how far do you want to go? You could even find someone to do a 'hen hysterectomy' and have her back free of her troubles if you want to go as far as that. But almost nobody does that...

 

[blackspanish]

Well, you didn't mention the vet's suspicion in your post, but you did say that she needed prompting from you to examine the bird's abdomen, so that sent me on a wild turkey chase. And I don't know turkey breeds , apparently meat turkeys are those more prone to cardiovascular disease, 'preventing the right heart valve from closing. This results in the accumulation of blood within the liver, which eventually leaks into the body cavity, causing ascites.' And you did say 'breathing open mouth.'

Egg yolk peritonitis can result in fluid in the abdomen and is diagnosed with blood work, so the vet could likely be on the right track. Prognosis a little better.

http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/egg-peritonitis

But why the difficulty in breathing?

Editing after seeing the vials: Don't know the answer to your question.

Thank you for the link with that information. After reading, we are pretty sure it is egg peritonitis. Her open mouth breathing would be due to the excessive amounts of fluid in her abdomen pushing on her lungs. Her breathing has gotten much better and she is starting to regain strength. We are seringe feeding her and she is on pain meds and antibiotics. Drinking electrolight infused water. Waiting on the lab results still.

 

[blackspanish]

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and your time. Much appreciated. Yolkie is a very loved pet and we will continue to do out best to save her. We will keep updating here on how she's coming along.
Her food mash contains a blend of her turkey feed, carrots, peas, beans, lentils, spinach, boiled egg, wheat bran als cooked seel cut oats.
We are going to see if she will go for some meal worms today.

As you can see in the pictures, she is very much part of our family. She is such a magificant intelligent bird.

 

[memphis]

Good luck! Keep us posted. Love a hen with a beard!