Water belly...maybe?

[TheShamily]

Hi all, curious you opinions.

I have a nearly 9 month old buff orpington pullet that maybe has water belly? Isn't that uncommon for a bird of that age? I know it is all a mystery what is happening inside until a necropsy...

Here is the background- about 2 months ago I brought her in for a rear end rinse, as she had quite a bit of poop feathers. She is a big fluffy girl, so this didn't seem that out of place. She is also my sweetest girl- so she didn't mind the extra loves and bath time. In any regard, rinsed her rear, trimmed a few feathers and away she went. Abdomen felt full at the time, but honestly didn't think anything of it, other than she is a fatty pants.

Since then I have rinsed her rear a couple more times, nothing eventful. Abdomen felt the same.

Didn't think anything of it, until I ran across someones thread that discussed water belly...now I am wondering.

She eats and drinks completely normally, activity level is normal, forages and free ranges with the rest of the flock, comb looks normal, respiration normal, and lays an eggs about 5-6 out of every 7 days.

Flock has unlimited access to an organic all-flock crumble (I have chicks and a cockerel as well) oyster shell on the side. They get fermented all-flock crumble in the morning, spend half the day ranging around the yard for bugs, lizards and greens, and get a couple handfuls of an organic scratch (for 15 birds) to come back into the run in the evening for a head count. Occasionally they get kitchen scraps, or a head of cabbage on their kabob stick. Access to clean fresh water throughout the day. Her droppings all look pretty normal, minus the occasional feather mess. Her area of the roost/poop board looks pretty normal in the morning, though all the birds have had some looser overnight poop, that I attribute to the couple day heatwave we are on the way out of.

Am I over thinking this? I'm thinking I shouldn't meddle with draining unless she develops symptoms of discomfort? Thoughts or experiences?

 

[Chicken_Obsesser]

Would you be able to upload a picture of the problem?

 

[TheShamily]

Would you be able to upload a picture of the problem?

She is currently laying an egg. I'll snap a picture shortly

 

[townchicks]

It's possible that she has water belly, or it may just be a fat pad. With everything else being normal, I wouldn't mess with her. Water belly should only be drained if and when the chicken is so uncomfortable she has trouble with everyday behavior, and even then, it is a risk of infection or other complications. Likely, IMO, she's fine.

 

[TheShamily]

It's possible that she has water belly, or it may just be a fat pad. With everything else being normal, I wouldn't mess with her. Water belly should only be drained if and when the chicken is so uncomfortable she has trouble with everyday behavior, and even then, it is a risk of infection or other complications. Likely, IMO, she's fine.

That's my hunch as well...but since she is my favorite chicken, naturally I worry more than I should LOL

 

[Eggcessive]

She might be overweight. I would limit treats such as the scratch. I once used fermented feed for 7-8 months once, and it just did not work for my flock. I could see that she could be overeating that, and they will really eat scratch like candy. I went back to crumbles or pellets, and I usually didn’t see overweight hens. As long as she is healthy and active, and laying well, I doubt if she is sick or has water belly. You might try adding a probiotic to her food 2-3 days a week. When the hens I have had with water belly from reproductive disorders, they had yellow urates in their droppings. In post 1 of the thread below are pictures of yellow urates:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/strange-yellow-urate-and-undigested-feed.1633756/