Is this ascites & what can I do about it?

[Icemaiden]

Bear with me while I have my first go at posting a photo in the whizzy new version of the forum...

My question is "Does Hope have ascites, & if so, what can we do about it"? She's never been underweight, but the back end of her abdomen is swollen by the size of a large orange or small grapefruit. It's not solid or mushy. She seems perfectly happy & is as active as ever. The flock completed a course of Flubenvet last week but the swelling hasn't got any smaller.

Knowledgeable suggestions welcome please!

 

[chrismahon]

Acsites is also known as 'water belly'. So she will have a swollen abdomen like egg peritonitis. We've had one who emptied her abdomen over two days flooding the coop and then went on to lay for years. Your chicken looks like she has a tumour. We've had a chicken with an internal tumour that laid what looked like a prolapse, but sadly wasn't and it twisted her vent as it came out. It looks like simple surgery will be required to remove that lump, if you want to take that route. It is possible it will grow and then cause painful complications?

 

[Shadrach]

That looks as if it could be a vent prolapse. A clear in focus picture from directly behind would be helpfull.
Acsites would show a more uniform swelling on her underbelly.
Take her to a vet.

Prolapse | Hen Health | British Hen Welfare Trust

Every time a hen lays an egg she pushes out the inner lining of the vent slightly. In 99% of cases this shiny red protruding flesh immediately pulls back inside the hen. In a small number of cases it doesn’t, resulting in a prolapse.

www.bhwt.org.uk

 

[Icemaiden]

Hi Shadrach.
Happily it's not a prolapse- her vent is fine. Unfortunately the photo showing her vent has disappeared from my phone...