Water Belly (Ascites) in Chickens
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Ascites, also called Water Belly, is a common problem with fast-growing meat chickens. It can also be seen in older laying hens. Water Belly is not a disease, so it is not contagious to the rest of your flock. It is a symptom of a deeper problem, and unfortunately, the underlying cause is eventually fatal.
Symptoms
A hen with water belly will usually have the following symptoms:
- swollen & distended abdomen that is soft, squishy, and feels full of liquid
- red skin along their abdomen, likely missing feathers
- waddling when walking
- blue/purple tint to her comb & wattles
- labored breathing
- lethargy & lack of appetite
Causes
A chicken with water belly is usually suffering from heart disease and/or hypertension. The strain of heart disease causes their liver to stop functioning properly. When the liver isn’t functioning properly, fluid begins leaking from the liver into the abdominal cavity causing a fluid filled pocket, “water belly”.
Occasionally in very old (5+ years) chickens, the cause of the liver failure is a tumor in their reproductive system. In any event, if your chicken has water belly, it is definitely not a good sign. There is likely a serious issue with your chicken’s health.
Risk Factors
Water belly is most often seen in fast growing meat chickens. Their bodies sometimes grow too fast, putting too much stress on their hearts. In meat chickens, this can often happen around 4-6 weeks when they go through a growth spurt.
Older laying hens (5 years or older) have a higher risk just because of their advanced age and the natural deterioration of their systems as they age.
Genetics – premature heart failure and developing water belly can both be hereditary. A chicken with water belly should not be used in breeding programs.
High altitudes – less oxygen in the air can put stress on the chicken’s heart
Extreme temperatures – stress the chicken’s system, especially when they are chicks, make sure they don’t get chilly. Extended heat waves can also stress their heart.
Diet issues – too much feed can lead to obesity and stress on the heart & liver. Too much protein & too much sodium can also cause premature heart failure.
Ventilation issues – not enough ventilation in the coop can lead to excessive ammonia fumes which causes issues with several organs
How to help a chicken with water belly
Unfortunately, there is no cure for water belly, but you can help relieve her pain. A similar situation can happen in humans with certain cancers. In humans, the fluid build up can be very painful as it stretches the skin and pushes against internal organs. So I would assume this condition is also painful for chickens.
You can help relieve the pain by draining the fluid build-up with a syringe. It is a temporary fix. It will make your chicken more comfortable in the short term but will not “cure” the problem. The cavity will fill back up and you will have to keep draining it to relieve the pressure. In the early stages it could take months before you have to drain it again, in later stages of heart failure it could fill back up in days.
Draining the fluid
Use a sterile medium gauge needle with a syringe. 18 or 20 gauge needle with a 30 ml syringe works well. Wear gloves and clean the area with rubbing alcohol before & after draining. The chicken could go into shock if you drain too much fluid too fast. I recommend not draining more than 30 ml in one sitting and going slow.
It is easiest if you have someone to help you hold the chicken while draining. If you are alone, try holding the chicken in a football hold to your side, with the chicken facing backward. Keep the chicken upright, chickens should never be placed on their backs, it can cause heart & lung distress. Now you can steady the chicken with your arm leaving both hands to work the syringe & needle. You only need to insert the needle a little bit. Insert at a slight angle and use the syringe to slowly draw fluid out. It should not be bloody. The fluid drained from the cavity should be yellow in color which confirms it is indeed leaking from the liver. It could be clear or cloudy.
Having a chicken with Water Belly is not an immediate death sentence. As I mentioned, the fluid-filled cavity is a symptom, not the disease. Draining the cavity will not “cure” your chicken but it will ease her symptoms, making her much more comfortable. She could live another year or more before the heart disease becomes fatal. The cavity will continue to fill up and you will have to continue to drain it periodically.
Not draining the cavity will be painful for your chicken to live with. Sadly, the only other option, if you do not want to drain the cavity, is to cull the bird to end their suffering.
Click here to read about assembling a chicken first aid kit
Preventing Water Belly
While many of the risk factors for developing water belly are out of your control, there are a few things you can do to raise healthy hearted hens. Just like human hearts, chicken hearts respond best to a balanced, nutritious diet, plenty of fresh air & exercise, and a low stress lifestyle. Regularly cleaning your chicken’s living quarters, giving them quality feed and fresh, clean water will go a long way in raising healthy, long lived hens.
I have had two seperate incidences where a hen had an accumulation of fluid more towards the crop. It would become lethargic etc.. I could tilt the chicken forward and liquid would be relieved through the beak. do you know what this is, if it is preventable/curable? My birds died.
Hi Cindy, that sounds like it could be sour crop. If the crop doesn’t empty entirely of food, the remnants in the crop can begin to ferment and cause a yeast infection. Emptying the crop manually like you had done will help relieve the pressure, but as a preventive measure many people add apple cider vinegar or probiotics to the water, limiting starchy treats in birds prone to sour crop (like bread & crackers) and making sure grit is always available to aid in digestion
For liquid in the crop, no need to empty it, give proper dewormer. Vinegar does nothing for it. It’s worms. I cured several hens with this condition with fenbendazole or levamizole for several days at the right dosage.
thank you for sharing your experiences!
Liquid in the crop is not commonly caused by worms. I’ve had chickens with sour crop or impacted crop and they definitely did not have worms. Some birds even develop a pendulous crop, which prevents food from draining into the stomach. So much misinformation spread online about chicken health, diet and worming 🥺🙄
That definitely sounds like sour crop which is a fungal infection in the crop. You can treat it with oregano oil, garlic oil, and a vaginal yeast infection cream. I don’t remember which are best or how much to use, but if you google it you can find people explaining how to treat. I have had two hens develop sour crop and successfully treated both. One has pendulous crop, so she needs to wear a crop bra to support her crop so it can function normally. There is a seller on Etsy who has the best crop bra design. It slips over the chicken’s head and fastens behind the wings with velcro. It’s made from a stretchy fabric like swimsuit material.
@Marli, Do you by chance have a link or know what seller to lookup to find this crop bra your explaining? I too have one gal who suffers repeated impacted and more often sour crop. Which I too use the monistat for successful treatment. But would love to be able to help my lil gal in prevention rather than treatment! Thank you.
Just in case Marli doesn’t see this – I have seen them on Etsy if you search there!
Hi Cindy, I wanted to know how much Apple cider vinegar I should add to say like a 5 gallon watering can? I have a small so far healthy flock would just like to keep it that way! Great info thanks!
1 tablespoon per gallon of water a few times per week is a great health booster for your birds. If you can find raw apple cider vinegar with the mother that is best. Be careful using the vinegar if you have metal waterers though as the acidity can corrode the metal.
Hello,
Thank you for posting this blog. I have a hen who is about 2 1/2 yrs old and she has appears to be water belly as well. I got a size 18 needle and drained her below her vent on the correct side and got about 1 1/2 cups of fluid and she has (for the time being) been acting normal. I realize this isn’t a permanent fix, but I at least wanted to try it before I just decided to cull her since she is a favorite 🙂 But, when I did drain her I noticed that the fluid was completely clear. As clear as normal water and everywhere I have read they say the substance will be yellower in color. do you think this is something else or can it vary in color?
Hmm that is unusual, the liquid is generally yellow as it’s a sign of the liver deteriorating with water belly. I wish I could be more help, but I would only be guessing about what the clear liquid could be. Some sort of cyst or infection? In the absence of a vet to consult with, I would continue on the same treatment of draining it and perhaps where it isn’t yellow this is something your hen can overcome! I would recommend adding some probiotics or vitamins to her water too to try and help her body fight whatever the issue is
Hi Joshua,
Did you ever find out what the clear fluid was? Did your hen survive?
Our hen has the same thing, and we drain about 120 mL of completely clear fluid every couple weeks. Her energy is very good.
Please let me know if you have any answers.
@Danielle VonLehe, how fo you drain her exactly. I have. Hen who’s my favorite and yes she is showing signs of this.
Have you ever used or heard of giving colloidal silver to your chickens?
Hi Brenda, it is not something that I have tried with my chickens, but I have definitely heard of farmers that do. It’s suppose to be great for antibacterial properties & general health
Is the syringing with a needle described in detail anywhere as Lulu had this problem and I would like to help relieve the pressure if I can.
Hi Michaela, it’s best to watch the process being done. If you search “water belly chicken” on youtube there are several really helpful videos showing how it’s done
Our old hen had this! We even took her to the vet. They said it was stuck egg, and we tried everything to cure that with no success. It just got worse over time, but she lived a long time with it. And she was still the boss of the flock. Poor dear – I never knew what it was until now. She stood upright she was so swollen. I wish I knew I could have drained it to make her more comfortable.
It’s hard to find vets that are knowledgeable about chickens unless you live in a rural setting, but you did what you could for her! Our old head girl is just about 7 years old and has had it for well over a year, she is slowing down, but still moving around the best she can.
My 5 year old bantam recently developed this water belly. We had her examined, diagnosed, and drained ~ 2 months ago and she seems ready to go back in for more…. Does this act help her live longer or does it just make her time more comfy? Also she’s having labored breathing; no cyanosis, though so maybe we’re still in the early stages? She seems fine except for breathing & bloat – it’s not slowing her down any (yet). Sometimes I think maybe it bothers me more than her…. I’m kind of scared to attempt draining her myself. She’s going back in soon so maybe I’ll have him show me/walk me through it. Ugh. I love my Peepers.
aww so sad. It definitely makes them more comfortable. It is unclear if it helps them live longer. I have a hen that has had water belly for a little over a year though and she is still going strong, walks a little funny but gets around and eats and free ranges like everyone else (and she is 7!). So it isn’t always an immediate death sentence. I hope your little one is as lucky!
I work in the medical field. I wonder if they could leave a catheter in for draining the fluid out? My dog had catheters in a wound to drain it.. I just lost my hen to water belly. If I had known she had it ..I would have attempted to drain her or take her to the vet. A site mentions it can be due to heart problems….guess just like people.
I would be worried about infection leaving it in, especially if they are still living outside. They can live for a year or more before passing so that would be very difficult to keep a catheter in that long on a chicken. Unfortunately draining it doesn’t cure the underlying condition, it really just makes them more comfortable
This has happened to three of my older chickens. Two have since passed, but one is hanging in there. The denseness in the abdomen feels like a sandbag and not squishy like water is this the same condition?
It could definitely be the same thing. It’s not uncommon for it to feel grainy
Thank you so much for posting this information. Our first Barred Rock “Ziva” is evidently experiencing Water Belly. Her vent area looks just like the picture you posted except she has diarrhea as well. We have cleaned her off and she is missing a lot of feathers back there. We have her isolated right now trying to stop the diarrhea. She eats, drinks, free ranges and acts normal except for the waddling, bloatness, and diarrhea.
I am sorry she is going through that. The Barred Rock in this picture still has Water Belly (and it’s been nearly a year and half), she goes through bouts occasionally with diarrhea and we have to help clean her up but for the most part is still hanging in there and is out free ranging with the flock every day
Can a chicken survive if you drain it
The chicken will be more comfortable when you drain it, but it will fill back up again. How quickly that happens depends a lot on how advanced the water belly is. In early stages it might take months, in later stages it might only take a week. Unfortunately while it will make her more comfortable draining her does not treat the underlying cause of the water belly (usually heart failure). Many chickens can still live a year or longer with the condition though, so it is still worthwhile in making her more comfortable for whatever time she has remaining
Sadly, we realized what was wrong too late and she died this morning. It was very upsetting in that she died in my husband’s arms. She was one of the four first chicks we purchased and raised 5 years ago and our favorite due to her “boss of the flock” attitude and sweet nature. She was the only one of those first chicks that would eat out of our hands. Thank you for your advice and reply.
I am so sorry to hear that, it is never easy to lose one 🙁
Treating chickens is extremely important when raising chickens. Your article shared a lot of experiences for me, I will always support you.
madam some of my chickens have a kind of bulging below their feet. can you suggest a remedy for this pls 🙂
They have a bulging below their feet? Like on the underside of their feet? That could be bumblefoot – an infection that will need to be tended to
I think my chicken has water belly has it’s pretty swollen I drained her and it was clear so only took 2 lots of needle fluid just in case can you tell me if it will be water belly
Usually the liquid from water belly would not be clear, it would be murky and yellowish. If you need to drain her again, I would save the fluid to take to your vet for testing
Thanks so much for this info. We drained our chicken’s belly, but the liquid was blackish. Smelled fine, but black. Any idea why?
Hi Kris, blackish fluid would indicate she has an infection and will need some antibiotics. Next time you drain her, I would save some of the fluid in a sterile container and bring it to your vet. They should be able to help get her the right kind of medicine
Thx Liz my name is Robert from Kampala Uganda good ideas for me it’s with layer in cages having this problem.
One of my hens has a really big and hard abdominal area. She fundamentally it hard to walk and yesterday found it hard to poo but today had diarrhoea. She is breathing heavily and is waddling when she walks. Can anyone help as she means the world to me.
Hi Jess, it is really hard to say. If the lump is more on her chest area it could be an impacted crop. If it is lower down it could be tumor or she could be egg bound. Chickens with water belly usually have a squishy lump, not a hard one. Do you have a chicken vet nearby? Your best bet would be to have her looked at by a professional
I just lost my hen yesterday to water belly. It says it can be from heart disease or hypertension in chickens. She was purple beak and waddles. I tried to save her but she succumbs to it. They mention treatment is draining the abdomen with a needle syringe. But, most cases are fatal. Sorry about your hen. I hope she gets better.. Prayers for your feathered friend.
Sorry to hear about your hen! It unfortunately is pretty much always fatal due to the underlying health issues
We have a chicken with water belly. My son and his girlfriend have taken the chicken to the vet several times to drain fluid. They are giving her furosemide liquid to keep her from retaining fluid but it’s obviously not helping. She has recently laid an egg that was pliable and see-through. The vet suggested that this was caused from a virus because we have standing water in our back yard following a hard rain and Daisy, our chicken will stand in and drink the water occasionally. There’s nothing we can do about the water as it is technically on a city easement and is the result of a faulty aquifer. My question to you is….can this be cause by a virus? I’m concerned about the amount of money my son has spent at the vet….over $600 at this point. We enjoy having the chickens but they are farm birds with a purpose, laying eggs. I also don’t want to see her suffer. And I really think she is….help???
Yikes that is a horrible situation. That is so much money. Water belly is not something that the chicken will ever recover from, draining the liquid is just making her more comfortable. The hen I had in the photos of this article lived a little over two years with water belly so it isn’t necessarily going to kill her right away. With drainings she didn’t seem unhappy or in pain. So unless your son is prepared to continue bringing the chicken to vet for drainings, he should see if the vet can show him how to do it himself. I have never heard of water belly causing shell-less eggs, but I am also not a vet. I have seen a couple shell less eggs from my girls, it isn’t usually caused by a virus. during the egg making process the shell is not added so it is just the membrane holding the egg together. It is not even uncommon, most chicken keepers will run into a shell less egg now and then. It is usually caused by not enough calcium in the diet, but can also be caused by stress or illness which could certainly be the case with your hen. One shell less egg isn’t concerning, but if it happens regularly it’s something to look into. I can’t tell you if it’s worthwhile to continue treating her, that is a personal call. Not draining her fluid would be painful for her so the humane thing is to either continue draining her fluid for the remainder of her life or put her to sleep.
I just lost a hen to water belly last night. I didn’t even know what it was before then. She deteriorated quickly and after 24 hrs she was extremely lethargic and had no interest in doing anything other than standing up in the sun with her eyes closed. Her comb was droopy and had started turning purple too.
We put her out of her misery last night and as soon as she passed fluid started coming out of her. And there was A LOT of it. Poor thing.
Awww poor little thing. I am sorry for your loss, sometimes the most humane option is to help them pass
Fantastic article! Thank you so much! I have a Cayuga duck named Cayu. She is 3 and a few weeks ago we noticed her belly getting lower and lower. I did some research and here I am. I used an #18 needle (1 1/2 inch) and a 60 ml syringe. I took out 120 ml of fluid, exactly as you described. I didn’t want to stress her so I stopped and will do this again in two days. Keeping my fingers crossed that she is a happier duck soon. I found a great video on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIoQ2sc-p3s Thought I’d share as I prefer the visual. Good luck to anyone that is willing to try this. You can do this!! You just need the passion and drive to make your pet more comfortable.
Great job Michele! I am sure that will make her much more comfortable 🙂
Liz, I wanted to follow up! Cayu is still with us and thriving, May 2021. Throughout the summer, 2020, we continued to remove fluid. At one point, maybe 10 times of fluid suction, she didn’t need it anymore! She now happily manages the duck pool and keeping up with her sisters. Thank you again for your post. It was a life saver for her!
That is an amazing update!! Great job!!
Hi Liz I enjoy receving your your information on chickens. I have a two year old chicken who is paralysed defiantly in one leg. It just happened one day I taught she was laying an egg outside . Star was still there an hour later. I have taken some hens to vets who do not know enough about hens and very expencive. Here in Ireland they usually put them asleep. My hen is a house pet now after seven months.Star is strong an fit but not able to walk.
Sounds like you are doing the best you can for her! Vets here are also expensive and unless you can find a farm vet (which is rare) don’t always have experience with chickens. Unfortunately that leaves it up to us. But disabled animals can live very happy and healthy lives, I am sure Star will learn to compensate for her paralyzed leg by learning to hop about on her one good leg. One of the biggest issues with lame chickens is predators but you have that covered. Sounds like a very lucky chicken, great job! 🙂
Once water fills the belly, how long does it normally take for the chicken to pass naturally and are they in pain during this process? Thanks for answering.
The chicken I had in the main photo for this article lived about a year and half after we first discovered the water belly. Sometimes they can pass quickly, but sometimes it takes awhile, every bird will be different. They will be uncomfortable the whole time unless the liquid is drained however. My girl managed to still get up and around to free range and hang out with the flock, but you could tell was uncomfortable when it hadn’t been drained for awhile
I have a 4 year old gal. I think she has water belly. At first it was squishy. Now it seems hard. The symptoms point to this. I found her in the bushes last night not being able to walk. She can’t walk at all today. She gobbled up a scrambled egg and a little bit of water. Last week I checked to see if she was egg bound, she didn’t seem to be. Could this be something else?
Hi Deb, water belly is generally squishy because of all the fluid that is building in the cavity. If it is hard, I would suspect it is something else, possibly a tumor or a hernia. A visit to the vet might be in order to properly diagnosis her.
My sweet bantam Little Chicken passed today. She had this two weeks ago. I drained it. She was more comfortable, but I knew she was going to pass. She lived a few weeks more enjoying her flock mates. She was 10 (ten) years old, so a long life I think. I miss her. She was a great sitting Mama.
I am so sorry for your loss – 10 years is indeed a good long life but it’s always sad. I’m glad you could at least make her comfortable in the end
I have read that you should only drain 60ml at a time or you risk sending a hen into shock. I had a hen that was very swollen & it took several days to drain her at only 60 ml per time. Can you safely drain more than 60 ml at a time?
I have never tried draining that much at once. The most I have ever done is 50 ml in one sitting. Once you have diagnosed her with water belly and drained the initial amounts, as it refills it’s easier to keep up with (mostly because you are aware of it and keeping an eye on it). So after you get over this initial draining, you should find the “maintenance” ones will not be as full
Thanks so much ! Sadly, I don’t think this girl has water belly – nothing came out when we attempted to drain her. As I felt her abdomen it felt solid – I am GUESSING she either has a tumor or EYP & what I’m feeling is a mass of infection. She is still eating/drinking & doing all things chicken. As long as she is not in obvious distress we will let her be.
I have a small grey hen with water belly. She was given to me by some old neighbors, so I do not know her breed or age. We stuck our fingers up her vent trying to release some fluids and the liquid came out a yellow-ish color, but I was also very concerned with the small amount of blood that had drained out as well. We will be trying the draining method soon, but I was wondering whether blood in the live fluids is common or something to be concerned about…I cannot find an answer anywhere. Please get back to me soon, she’s weak in health so we need to know what to do with her!
Oh dear that is not good. I apologize for not seeing this sooner. If she indeed does have waterbelly there is no way you would be able to release the fluids via her vent. I would be very concerned that what you did do was break an egg that she was near to laying (the yellow liquid being the yolk). Unless she passes all of the pieces of the broken shell she could die. You definitely need to get her to vet as soon as possible. The blood could be from tiny tears in the cloaca from egg shell shards. If the liquid that came out was not from a ruptured egg then it could be an infection in her digestive tract. In any event, she should be diagnosed by a trained professional. In a case of waterbelly, there would be a softball size lump hanging on her abdomen nearly between her legs.
Okay, thank you very much. We are almost certain it is water belly by now. We live in a small town and the closest vet that takes chickens would be about 2 hours from here. We decided to grab some syringes from the local pharmacy and drain her belly. We were able to get about 25mm out, and another 10mm a few days later. After that, we tried draining her again and found some more blood. We aren’t as concerned anymore, though. She has been up and walking, (looking way better than she had looked weeks prior) eating and drinking. I have been giving her oregano oil lately through a dropper. We haven’t tried draining her for a few days now, in case we encounter more blood. As far as her behavior and physical demeanor goes, it seems to be getting better.
That is excellent news!! As she ages you might find that you need to drain her more frequently but in the early stages you might be able to go weeks in between draining her. So glad you are able to help her and make her more comfortable, great job!
Culling is not the only option. Water belly isn’t always the sign of a severe underlying condition. Other keepers drain their birds then keep an eye on them and repeat the procedure throughout their life as fluid builds up. In later stages water belly can cause heart failure but if caught before then it isn’t always a death sentence.
I am continuing to reaserch water belly as one of my young hens has it, but I already know that this is misinformation and may harm others birds, it’s incredibly concerning to see someone reccomend culling for this treatable condition. In the cases where culling is recommended water belly was left un treated too long or is a one symptom of what will lead to death. Water belly isn’t a death sentence. Drain the fluid (not all at once as it could lead to shock and that could kill the bird) and keep an eye on your bird, if they seem to be getting worse culling is likley the best option but what I’ve seen so far (excluding this article) is that usually they will get better.
Here are two of the other articles I have looked at so far. The experience of the writers directly contradicts this articles “facts” it’s concerning to me that this is one of the top results when searching water belly and it holds such devastating misinformation. I’ve seen other articles from this site that are accurate however so I hope they redact or revise this article in light of their error.
https://citygirlfarming.com/2014/08/26/jessicas-swollen-abdomen/
https://www.timbercreekfarmer.com/ascites-in-chickens-and-ducks-water-belly/
Thank you for your comment, although I must admit I am confused by it. I only mention culling in one sentence, and in no way was it intended to be presented as the first or only option. I clearly talk first about draining the cavity, and then culling is mentioned as the other alternative if you are unwilling to drain it. Water Belly is not something you should just ignore, it will not just go away. If you are unwilling to drain the cavity, then the humane thing to do is to cull the bird so it does not suffer. The full cavity is pushing on all their organs and stretching their skin, it is painful for them.
Draining the fluid is not a cure for the underlying health issue (both the articles you suggested say the same), but it will help your chicken feel more comfortable and resume normal activities temporarily. The cavity will fill back up, slowly in the early stages and quicker as the heart disease gets worse. Yes, there are other causes beyond heart failure (like toxins ingested, respiratory disease, or tumors), but heart failure is the most common cause in backyard laying hens. Water belly does not cause heart failure, it is the other way around. When the chicken’s heart is overworked from heart disease, it stresses the liver, causing it to spill fluid into the abdominal cavity. I have treated a chicken with water belly, and she was able to live comfortably for over a year after we started draining her regularly.
I am sorry to hear about your hen, I hope you are able to provide her some relief with draining
HI there,
I have a hen with water belly. Im familiar with it because I had another hen that had it but ultimately passed. I know how to drain the fluid so I tried yesterday. I was able to get some out but eventually the syringe stopped suctioning. Today I tried again and I could not get suction and what eventually came out was blood stained. She seems to have internal bleeding as I can see her skin is bluish on one side of her belly. I’m concerned she won’t make it another day. My question is do I try to drain again? If its bloody what does that mean?
Are you sure you didn’t accidentally insert the needle into a vein? It could just be the position of the needle that is causing you to draw some blood instead of fluid. A blueish color is often seen in the wattles and combs of chickens that have water belly, but not usually seen in the abdomen. I think you may be right that something else is going on, something that is causing internal bleeding. Do you have a local vet that you can consult with? Without xrays or testing the extracted fluid, it’s hard to really say what could be causing internal bleeding or blood in the fluid. I would try to drain her again but in a slightly different location. I am sorry, I hope she finds some relief soon
Hi Liz, I believe my hen has water belly and will work to drain her and see how that helps. This information and your follow up comments on an article over 5 years old are truly amazing, thanks for your time.
I hope this helps your hen!
Thank you so much for this information,i hav learnt one or two things.Stay blessed
Got a farm raised chicken everything was done when cleaning inside found 0range liquid balls in cavity is this a Mexican thing
I am sorry, I am not super experienced with chicken autopsies. I am not sure what orange liquid balls would be, sorry I can’t be more help
Thanks for the enlightenment
From uk – I have a gorgeous Millefleur Leghorn about 3 yrs old. She is waddling, off colour and breathes heavily but also stays with her 3 coopmates , eats and drinks well. I thought it was egg bound, treated for it,bathed in warm Epsom salts,checked and used canisten cream then antibiotics- her belly is solid. Everything I have researched says she should have died. Can I save her?
If she is truly egg bound and it’s been several days she would have passed so I don’t think she is egg bound. It could be a tumor, injury or other issue with her digestive or reproductive tract. The only way to know that for sure would be to have a vet xray her. I am so sorry. Its a good sign she is still eating and drinking though
I have a 12 year old blind hen who now has water belly. I’m considering draining it tomorrow. She still eats/drinks and can hop in and out of the coop. Trying to gauge her quality of life at this point. She is such a great old lady hen!!
I hope it helps her! It can be such a hard call when they get up there in age.