Year old hen with swollen abdomen-what is wrong?

[blueberrychickens]

I just went thru this with my hen of about 18 months. It's ascites. There is a build up of fluid in her abdomen. I took my girl to the vet & he was able to drain alot of fluid from her abdomen. There is some people who treat for this at home & if you have a needle & syringe, you can too. I unfortunately can not buy a neele & syringe in MA so I had no choice but to take her to the vet. My hen was panting too when I first brought her in to the vet & the Dr had put her on antibiotics for 2 weeks, suspecting it was something respiratory related. when that didn't help, I was the one who came up w/ the ascities diagnosis & he agreed w/ me when I brought her in last week. If you google it, it mainly comes up as a broiler/meat bird issue, but it can happen in any bird. My vet says he has a parakeet that comes in every 2 weeks to be drained.
Hope this helps you out. Good luck w/ your hen.

 

[speckledhen]

It's not always just fluid, trust me. I've been here too many times and drained hens over and over again. You can drain fluid, but you can't drain the solid pieces of infection in the abdomen or oviducts. And the fluid comes back again.

 

[1 hen and 1 roo]

a breeder told us today that it could be cocciditis and that it causes swelling as well. She looks just fine and is getting around just fine although her abdomen is huge and hard full of fluid. She is still eating and drinking. She is drinking quite well actually and will take grapes, apples and letttuce from me quickly and eat them in addition to her regular feed. She is on her second day of antibiotic water. Gonna give her something for coccidiitis. She is not acting sick at all. Very strange.