I write this still in the treatment stages, however, my level of success pushes me to share.
I have a 2 year old Orpington hen who developed waterbelly. I had several die from it a while back and while I successfully drained one, they all passed. I searched for the reason and fell short of...
The boys guarding the perimeter.
About six months ago I obtained 3 Silkie roosters. Granted, when I got them I thought 2 were hens. But being close siblings and egregiously outnumbered by much larger chooks, they act as a single unit. So I kept them. The cuteness factor was very persuasive...
I'm not much of a fan of modern medicine. When they say 'the practice of medicine', they ain't kidding. I've learned of many remedies over the years that come from the earth and I'll swear by quite a few. In my time I have learned that often the symptoms can kill faster than the disease itself...