water belly?

[coach723]

Sorry for the delay in responding, yesterday I was not able to get on the forum for a while, and then had to leave home.
Ascites fluid is usually yellow to amber in color. Usually clear, but sometimes will be cloudy. So it does sound like that's what it is. The draining will often make them feel better for a while since it relieves the pressure. The slow leaking after draining some fluid is common, and can actually be helpful in draining more fluid out at a slow rate, that reduces the likelyhood of shock. As long as it stays clean until it stops to reduce risk of infection, it will close up when the pressure is reduced enough. If it's still dripping you can keep her on clean bath towels, change them out as needed, until it stops. Some birds will live for a fair amount of time, some won't, it just depends on what the underlying condition is and how advanced it is. The fluid will eventually recur, sometimes quickly, sometimes it takes a while. You can drain again, or not, based on what you are seeing with her. I'm glad she's more comfortable now.

 

[Jackie-83]

Thank you for the response. I had to leave early this morning (before daylight) so I didn't see her getting off the roost or her behavior until just a little while ago. I did check to make sure she was still alive this morning, as morbid as that is. She is much improved this evening. Mostly back to her old self. I did see a slight discoloration at the very tips of her comb and its still flopped over. With great difficulty I was able to catch her. Her belly is still squishy, so I think there is some fluid left in there. I'm not sure if I should give her a couple of days and then try to get the rest out, or leave it alone. So if anyone has some advice, please share. But over all I'm excited at the prospect of her surviving with a good quality of life. So, hopefully this will hold and I will be able to get some weight back on her. On a side note, do chickens lose weight at an alarming rate, or do they just hide illness that well? I mean chickens are a hard animal to see weight loss in due to the feathers. So this is a genuine question, maybe someone with more "tame" chickens will have the experience to know something like that. Because the only time I can really get my hands on my girls is when they don't feel well enough to illude me. Thanks everyone for the guidance and support!

 

[coach723]

I would drain again when it looks like she's not comfortable. As far as weight, the best way is to weigh them regularly, though with fluid accumulation you are going to get a number that is heavier due to the fluid and her body condition may actually be thin. Yes, you can't really see it due to their feathers, so if you aren't keeping track it can seem like they lose a lot all the sudden, when it may actually be gradual. They also are very, very good at hiding illness, that is a survival instinct. If they act unwell, then you can be sure they are very unwell. Feel the keel bone and breast for body condition. If the keel is very prominent and the breast is not well muscled or sunken, they are thin. It can vary by breed, EE's will naturally be leaner than orpingtons or brahma's for example. The easiest and least stressful way to handle and weigh them is to go out after dark and take them off the roosts and get a weight. You don't have to chase and catch them and they are usually calmer. An inexpensive digital kitchen scale works well to get a weight. Put a lightweight tray or plate on it, zero it, and then the bird can stand on it and you can get a weight. I do this with any bird I want to monitor weight on, and how often depends on the bird and the situation.
A general body condition chart:

 

[Jackie-83]

Thanks! Wait until I inform my husband he needs to cut another door in the coop so I can grab them off the roost. He'll do it, but he's also going to roll his eyes and grumble a bit. Scales are a non-issue for me. As bass fishing tournament directors we have those. They are even certified. I'd say little girl is currently at a 1 per the image. Any tips on additional feed to help her gain her weight back, other than the layer pellets they have all the time and the handful of scratch I give them once a day, and fruit and veg scraps. More protein, veg, or carbs?

 

[coach723]

An all flock/flock raiser in the 18-20% protein range might be good, and she doesn't need the extra calcium that is in layer if she's not laying. A scrambled or chopped up cooked egg every day or two might help. Depending on what is actually going on inside, she may lose weight regardless. If it's a cancer they tend to slowly waste away unless they pass. Some canned tuna, some will feed cat food. See what she will eat.

 

[Jackie-83]

Hey y'all. So todays update. The only obvious sign that Little Girl is not in perfect health is her comb is still flopped over. Her poop has returned to normal. She still has some fluid in her abdomen because we didn't drain it all to start with. And she's still under weight. But honestly, if she wasn't my chicken, I would not know that she had been through this ordeal. She's back to eating properly, and energy levels are back on even keel. I allowed them to free range today, which is more "normal" for them. I had keep them in their run through out this event. I spent a massive part of the day following them around to see how they would behave. They wonder to the neighbors yards, and one of the neighbors asked why they hadn't seen the chickens for a few days. When I told them what had happened, He mentioned that the day before I suspected eggbound that they had saved some cornbread for the chickens and she wasn't as excited about it as normal. So I'm guessing that she was really becoming uncomfortable at that point. For now we are going to keep on monitoring her, as long as she seems happy, pain free, and relatively healthy, we are going to leave well enough alone and just let her live her life. If she fills back up quickly, we will take that as a signal that her organs are failing at an unacceptable and cull her. But fingers crossed she keeps improving, and we can have her for a few more years. Thanks again to everyone here sharing your wealth of knowledge and experience. It means the world to me!

 

[Sherry68lynn]

Also, she was laying nearly daily until this happened. And has shown some gaping type breathing the past 2 days.

I have a chicken that had water belly, she was so big her belly was purple and she couldn’t lay down. I drained the yellow liquid out of her stomach and got it to about 75% and left about 25%, because I read if you drain it all they might go into shock. The next day I drained most of the rest out. She was fine. And actually started laying down again. I have been giving her kicken chicken and an herb that helps heal her, (I’ll have to get back to you on the name of it) i took a vitamin b and smashed it up in water, and I give her fire cider, for immune system. I’ve been giving her 3 ml of each one 2 x a day morning and bed time. Except the b vitiman I give her 1 ml 2x a day. I have her in a bin we call the chicken hospital.. lol so I can give it to her easily. We got her some worms because she wouldn’t eat the regular food. She ate them up so fast but won’t touch her food. Now that she is walking around better I go out and over turn rocks and she has a smorgasbord. She follows me around waiting for me to turn a rock over. Lol she seems to almost be fully recovered except for a gimpy left leg. I think one of the roosters caused that. She is even pooping normal now..she hasn’t laid an egg yet but I am not expecting that for awhile. I drained her On Monday last week so in a week she looks so much better.

 

[Jackie-83]

Ok, we are nearly a month out from from first noticing something was off. After the drainage procedure she bounced back fast. I intended a second drain to get the rest out, but I don't have a door to be able to get them off the roost, and she wouldn't let me catch her. So that hasn't happened. When my husband makes the "roost hatch" I will check her to try and figure out if she's filling back up or holding steady. She stopped laying prior to me noticing other behavioral symptoms and has not gone back to being a daily layer, but I think she may have played an egg the day before yesterday. My other chicken lays randomly so its possible it was Sittin's egg. But the size was more typical of Little Girl. I don't care about egg production as a food source, but I look at it as a positive sign that she's recovering. I was very concerned about the weight loss she had experienced through this, and then I worried about how huge her craw seemed to be in the days following. But she's bouncing back better than I could have ever expected. Once the hatch is installed I will plan a weekly weigh in for both girls. I don't know if it would have been super useful in this instance for diagnosis because the weight loss could have been covered by the gain of the water belly fluid. But it would be handy to have a "normal" weight as a gage. In the mean time, Sittin must have decided she wasn't getting enough attention and decided to develop humble foot, and swelling in her comb. Her foot is almost fully healed, so now I need to figure out the comb thing. Always something to learn! Thanks again. Y'all have been amazing!

 

[Jackie-83]

So the day before yesterday it was determined that another drain session was required. Went to get the supplies and of course the needles are gone. Best guess is they were thrown away. So off to the co-op my husband goes. All they have is 16 gage, short needles. So everything is ready. A chicken is caught. Wrapped in a towel we maneuver her info position and insert the needle. We get a little dribble and then nothing. Of course, now she wants to flop. As soon as she flinched needle out. Ok, reset and try again. Still the fluid isn't flowing out like it did the first time (14 gage). So on goes the syringe and we start drawing off the fluid. Pro tip if you have do to this use the biggest one the store has! So, again she's sick of our crap, and because we are now aware of the issue, she's not as ill as the first time and so her full level of sassyness is in effect. Needle out again and back in, because we haven't gotten anywhere near enough fluid off. So by this time she's becoming stressed, gasping for breath, she's been stuck several times, and we have decided we have the wrong equipment for the job. Its better to leave her alone, get the proper stuff and try again in a day or two. Today with 14 gage needles at the ready, we go get the chicken. She seems sicker than she was on Tuesday, but she's not fluid bound. I suppose from the multiple times we had to poke her the fluid leaked out. But she's clearly not doing well. So, from the first go around when I thought she was egg bound I decided a bath might make her feel better. So into a Luke warm bath she goes. 15 minutes later, brand new chicken! Her comb is still flopped over, but like some kind of magic this has instantly put the pep back in her step.

So, what is this voodoo bath that suddenly makes my chicken feel better?

Also, she has retained most of the weight she had lost before we treated her for water belly the first time. And obviously, now knowing the signs and that this will be an ongoing situation, we will be draining her on an as needed basis but before it is as severe as it was the first time.

I will continue to update as things happen so hopefully someone else can avoid the mistakes I've made. I feel like for more experienced people a lot of this is second nature to just "know" things, but for those of us on our first flock... We a dumb as dirt and this is a trial by fire.

Best advice I could give to a new chicken owner is to spend time with your chickens. Try to "tame" them as much as possible. Get to know them, so that WHEN something happens, because it will. You notice that something is off as soon as possible. Do not be afraid to use this resource and ask questions. People here will help you, and if you are willing to learn, they will teach you how to keep your chickens happy and healthy.