What are normal side effects of suprelorin injection?

[JeordieBird]

Hi! I think she’s ended up getting a secondary issue as her crop wasn’t emptying either. She’s picked up on eating but only tomatoes, lettuce and meal worms with a tiny bit of mash. We’ve given her nystam for sour crop (although not convinced it’s that). She’s obviously lost a lot of weight but seems to be pecking around at the moment. I’m still monitoring her daily (hourly!) on her quality of life, as that’s of course the most important thing. I’ll keep u posted. Love to know how yours is too, and thanks to all the others who’ve responded with their experiences, it’s really useful. Ps we’re about 4 weeks now post implant.

Hey! Thanks so much for the update. I’m glad she’s hanging in and eating a bit more. I might try to get some live mealworms as she always loved those. I am worried about a secondary issue and have a vets appt booked for Tuesday. She looks very unhappy with her tail down today.

 

[georgeg78]

Hey! Thanks so much for the update. I’m glad she’s hanging in and eating a bit more. I might try to get some live mealworms as she always loved those. I am worried about a secondary issue and have a vets appt booked for Tuesday. She looks very unhappy with her tail down today.

Sorry to hear this. It’s so hard isn’t it! I don wonder how much the molting and hormone change really affects them physically, it’s probably quite a toll. I really hope she picks up for you and yes to mealworms! We also have Sweetie metacam which I think does help with pain. She’s currently eating a bit more (although still favours veg) but think although not on any medication. She was perky this morning too.

 

[georgeg78]

Sorry to hear this. It’s so hard isn’t it! I don wonder how much the molting and hormone change really affects them physically, it’s probably quite a toll. I really hope she picks up for you and yes to mealworms! We also have Sweetie metacam which I think does help with pain. She’s currently eating a bit more (although still favours veg) but think although not on any medication. She was perky this morning too.

Sorry that message above is very poor english! Blaming my phone! It’s essentially saying that we’ve stopped pain med and she’s eating a bit more, so seeing how it goes.

 

[georgeg78]

Hi to all who might come across this thread if they’ve used the implant. I want to give a 10 week post implant update in case it helps anyone! So, sweetie went rapidly down hill in terms of weight and behaviour (lethargic) 5 days post implant. It was only around 4 weeks post implant had she returned to full quirky behaviour. But then the molting started and hasn’t really stopped! She looks a mess as is a very slow molt, but otherwise is a happy girl and putting on weight. Her comb is tiny and her abdomen flat - expected if not laying. No sign of EYP as a result. Would I do it again? I think she’d have died without it as she was starting to regularly get abdomen infections, but it took a toll on her body. She also remains very hungry, but that could be because she’s putting the weight on she lost. So yes I would, she’s a happy lady right now and that’s ultimately what matters

 

[Avfields]

I was getting more and more worried reading your thread - so glad she's doing better! We've just put one of our 2y.o. Bluebelles on the suprelorin implant (due to egg yolk peritonitis), two weeks in now and she's taking it hard. She passed two eggs in the days after the implant, not lash eggs, but the second was malformed. Then she was fine for a week, then went downhill - she stands around all day, hunched and fluffed up, preens a bit, but not very active. Will show some enthusiasm for scratch and grapes, but none for anything else really. Keeping an eye on her weight for now, and wondering whether to stock up on tube feeding kit. She was already moulting, but she's lost feathers fast since, and seems constantly chilly - the weather is turning here in the UK. Any advice/things that worked for you to keep food intake up?

 

[Lillith37]

Each hen responds differently to the implant but lethargy/sleepiness, loss of appetite and moulting are standard. @Avfields try giving your hen some extra protein foods like scrambled egg or tuna. When mine are moulting and feeling off and eating less, I usually make up a special bowl of food and very carefully pick them up and bring them in to eat in the morning/evening. Having the tube feeding kit just in case you need it isn’t a bad idea.

Did she get antibiotics for the EYP as well? If she has a lot of material inside her, she may remain slow/sluggish even once she gets used to the implant. Be prepared for that. The egg yolk hardens up inside them, there is often a lot of scar tissue and their organs end up stuck together.

I just had a hen have surgery for reproductive disease — they removed her salpinx and almost 400g of egg material and other yucky stuff. She had been on the implant for a couple of weeks prior. She’d also had medicine to address infection, but even once she was stabilised she was still pretty slow and kept to herself. Only 4 days post-surgery and with a whole bunch of stitches, she’s acting so much like her old self again.

If you can pre-empt reproductive disease with the contraceptive implant it’s better… but Bluebelle will find her new normal. Does she have enough shelter from wind and rain in the run?

 

[Avfields]

Thanks, good point with the tuna - haven't tried that yet, but she normally likes it. Will give some a go tomorrow. She was diagnosed with EYP mid Sept - vet drained 150mL fluid from her abdomen and she was on antibiotics and anti inflammatories after - but just draining the fluid made a huge difference, she went from not wanting to come out of the run to practically back to normal after that. Vet advised giving her a week or two to recover before the implant - she did warn us that it can knock them for six. When we went back in two weeks ago for the implant there wasn't much fluid to drain and what there was was clear, the vet said that's a good sign that any infection has cleared up. So all in all, she was doing pretty well when implanted, but the combo of chilly weather and moulting (plus whatever chicken menopause feels like) definitely has her off her food, and she seems to be feeling the cold. The run is fully covered, and she's been sunbathing outside the front door whenever it comes out long enough! Will keep fingers crossed that she perks up in another week or two.

 

[Lillith37]

Sounds like she’s gonna be fine and just needs a little extra TLC to get her through the transition. Are your other hens being nice to her?

 

[Pafdy]

Hi All,
One of my rescues started getting the common problem that many rescues do, EYP. Having lost most of my others this way I decided after her second round of getting it and surviving with antibiotics (tylan) to try an implant. I was expecting the side effects such as lethargy and loss of appetite but nothing. Then, 5 days post implant she went from 100% (running around chasing food, jumping up for food, dust bathing etc!) to 0% in hours. Not eating anything and complete lethargy, just sitting down. Before when she had EYP I could start to tell when things were going to go down hill, she’d sit on the nest box, be a bit slower, eat less. Even at her worst she still ate her favourite food and wandered around, now she’s doing nothing.

Could this be a side effect of the suprelorin or EYP again? I don’t want her to do antibiotics again if I don’t have too, but equally don’t want her to suffer unnecessarily.

Have others who’ve done this implant had similar time lapse before symptoms showed and/or had similar symptoms? Thanks all in advance for your advice/support!

I went through this 2 wks ago. It turns out my girl with a hard abdomen had a belly full of protein that has been building up for 12 mths. Her eye lids were yellow, her poo output was mostly water she drank, ate, stopped laying and was in excellent hlth otherwise. I have a lot of knowledge and sister is a vet. Her quality of life 2 wks ago had her not eating, withdrawn and sleeping. Water belly, reproductive hlth was my guess. I was half right.. So we decided on the implant rather than draining her tummy as required. The vet told us to weigh her daily and reduce protein in her diet. We opted to do this. Wk 1 she was in excellent condition. Wk 2 shes slowed down, not very interested in food but the vet told us this would happen wk 2. We observe but she's back with the flock doing her thing and resting. The hormones kick in approx day 5. Even though our girls stop laying their reproduction system continues to work unlike menopause. The implant basically presents as menopause. In order to know what sort of fluid you are dealing with there are options once the vet tests. If you drain at home it becomes prolonged and painful for them. Water belly (or other fluids) can present whether soft or hard. Check abdomens when you check them out. Hope this helps.