How can I STOP my hen from laying?

[chickbliss7]

Thanks, Aina; it turns out that Priscilla has ovarian cysts. The vet said we could give her Leupron to stop her ovulation, but it would entail bringing in once a week. I don't mind bringing her in once a month, but once a week I can't--we live about an hour away from our vet. We'll try it and see what happens. He's drained the cysts and she should feel better in a while (for a little while). If it becomes excessive, I'll have to think about putting her down. If anyone out there has given their chickens or other birds birth control pills, or Leupron, please let me know! Anyone who's had a hen with ovarian cysts??

 

[crtrlovr]

if it's an injection, can he just give you enough med in a syringe w/ needle, providing enough for a month at a time? most meds will keep for at least a few weeks in the refrigerator... that would save you the drive time and expense for weekly office visits if you're comfortable administering an injection yourself. (It's really not difficult at all).

 

[chickbliss7]

Back from the vet, and found out how much Leupron costs--yikes!!! $600 a dose! I'll look to see if I can get it cheaper elsewhere. I'm not particularly handy giving the shot myself, but my assistant could do it. Maybe there's a generic brand out there. If there is, I'll find it! Thanks, all!

 

[axion_lotus]

Good luck with your bird; if she's as sweet as you say, it'd be such a shame to lose her!

Hope it all turns out okay.

 

[AinaWGSD]

Yeah, leupron is expensive! I don't think there is a generic available. Cheap as my boss is I'm sure she would have switched to the generic as soon as it was available (although if we were able to get it significantly cheaper it would mean a reduction in what we charge clients as well). It also doesn't keep very long once reconstituted. After we make it up it lasts about a day in the fridge, although it does last several months in the freezer. I wonder if maybe that's why it's so expensive at your vet. Maybe they don't know it will keep longer in the freezer so they have to charge you for the whole bottle even if you only get one dose. Or maybe they don't use it often enough and it would out date even in the freezer so they have to charge for the whole bottle in order to not loose their money on it. $600 is a LOT for one dose, but it sounds fairly close to what we would have to charge for a full bottle. It is prescription only, and since it can cause spontaneous abortion it probably always will be, so if you are able to find it cheaper else where you will need a script from your vet to get it.

 

[chickbliss7]

Thanks for the additional info, Aina. Does your vet ever give it to chickens, or is it for ferrets and other animals? I wonder if a human birth control pill (downsized, of course) would work? Stopping ovulation in a chicken is not commonly done, so I'm not surprised that there isn't a remedy for hens with ovarian cysts. The vet has drained the ones she had, but unless I can find something to give her to stop the hormones from "feeding" more cysts, I'll have to give up. I don't want to put her through an endless cycle of draining cysts.

If anyone has an answer to this dilemma, please let me know!

 

[liz_s]

Can she get an ovario-hysterectomy? Seriously... do they spay chickens? I'm so sorry for your dilemma

I love my girls and can't imagine how difficult this must be. Good luck!

 

[chickbliss7]

Hello again. Thought I'd bring you up to date on my girl, Priscilla. It seems she has multiple ovarian cysts. Who knew chickens could have this? This seems to be the final diagnosis, so the vet has just drained them, and has given her a long-working antibiotic to combat any infection he might have inadvertently given her doing his procedures.

There is nothing more to do, and presently she is getting around, but with difficulty. I let them out in our pasture today, where they happily attacked the compost piles for loads of worms. Priscilla went too, but only pecked at the ground, didn't use her feet to scratch. There's a chance she's just sore and she could get better. But the problem remains that her ovaries are "polycystic," and she'll keep developing them. Wish her luck!

 

[feathersnuggles]

I am wishing that dear little girl Priscilla good luck with her recovery!

If she has been given antibiotics, please give her plain whole milk yogurt (with live cultures) for several weeks to give her a chance to recover her good gut flora. It's very important!

There's a BYC member, name is Malpower. Last year her chicken needed Lupron to stop ovulation. It was administered by her vet. Here's the thread about it:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=359503&p=1

Anyway, you may be able to PM Malpower and ask more about her experience and what the recovery was like for her hen, Lucy.

 

[AinaWGSD]

I've never seen him give leupron to chickens, but I have seen him use it in chronic egg laying parrots, mostly cockatoos but also one amazon. It was before I started working there, but I do know he has done an ovariohysterectomy on at least one chicken. And I've monitored several ovariohysterectomies on various psittacines from cockatiels to amazons to macaws. It's not a common surgery. And honestly I don't know that I would recommend it either. It used to be that most of the birds would recover from the surgery, but the last few I've helped with have not had a good outcome. Only one survived the surgery only to die a few days later during a second surgery when she failed to produce any stools post-operatively. My vet's theory on why he suddenly had such a dramatic increase in the mortality rate for this surgery is that we used to spay just about any chronic egg layer, but since we've found ways of changing the environment and diet to effectively reduce egg laying most of the avian ovariohysterectomies he's done have been on birds that were clinically not doing well. Of course, while that does mean a significant increase in the mortality rate, these birds are cases where they're going to die if we don't do the surgery so it really is a poor prognosis all around anyway. And like I said, the chicken spay was before my time, but I don't seem to remember that going very well. I hate to say it, but if it were my choice and money was not an option I think I would let Priscilla have whatever time she had left, spoil her rotten, and when she is clearly having quality of life issues I would have her euthanized. Good luck, and I hope Priscilla does well.