Bella recovering well from ?Infectious bronchitis? - update: new pics!

[caralouise1974]

Quote:
Thank you so much - I'm desperately hoping that she's going to make a full recovery now. She is very dearly loved and it seems I almost killed her with too much kindness. I feel awful about it

 

[caralouise1974]

Okay, so we got another soft shelled egg today. So perhaps I was too quick off the mark in saying she'd recovered.

Her bottom seems relatively clean though, so perhaps we're onto something anyway. I really hope so

 

[jjthink]

Hi Cara - I just saw and read your whole thread. Bella is very much loved

It's so hard with these things because each of our feathered friends has their unique traits.

I have Ellie, who eats everything under the sun and lays picture perfect eggs. She prefers my roo's game bird maintenance food to layer food and she self supplements with oyster shell that I keep available 24/7 in a separate bowl.

I had Annie, who did the same and would always fill up on oyster shell the night before laying an egg (I think to replenish the calcium that was used to make the egg on its way out) - she laid an egg every other day. Always perfect eggs. Sadly, I lost her to a heart attack before her second birthday - cause unknown but it could have been in trying to pass an oversized egg (that day's egg never came), though she had never had trouble before, as far as I could tell. She had such a beautiful spirit - it was heartbreaking.

I had Betty, who unfortunately did succumb to internal laying. I had a hysterectomy done on her but she was too compromised to come back from it -many do just fine if they have this surgery sooner. The vet had been treating Betty with antibiotics and antiinflammatories and that did help for awhile but in her case, it then stopped helping. I was sad to find out that there were many festering eggs inside her when he opened her up. Betty had struggled with soft shelled eggs. She also detested layer food. Chickens living a more wild existence don't get any layer food but do just fine - they figure out what to eat in nature. Betty enjoyed finding things in nature to eat. It really is hard to figure what causes this problem - we humans may have bred these poor beings to be predisposed to having the problem regardless of feed choices. Though diet is certainly important.

Try keeping the oyster shell separate from the food and see if she makes a point of eating any. My birds have always received healthy treats, including sunflower seeds and fruit and veggies. But during early morning and in the evening before their bedtime I have only the layer and the game bird maintenance available, to hopefully ensure that some of this stuff gets consumed. They have some free range time each day to choose what they want from nature. Try also perhaps adding something like Avia Charge 2000 to the drinking water. It contains various nutrients that may help bolster her. You can order it online. I use it daily but more diluted than the instructions call for, as they don't like to drink it otherwise.

I hope your sweet Bella will be okay. Keep us posted.

JJ

 

[caralouise1974]

Thanks for your kind words JJ - it's good to know that someone understands how upsetting this is and how powerless you feel when they're poorly and you can't fix it with a magic wand.

I do see Bella eating the oyster grit quite often actually - way more than Henrietta does - but she's a little like your Betty, in that she'd rather eat ANYTHING but layer's pellets. We tried making them into a mash and this seemed to make them more appealing for her, but then Henrietta got really thin because she preferred the pellets and wouldn't eat the mash (she ended up really poorly and almost dying from mycoplasma in the end actually!). It's so difficult to get the balance right.

Bella's such an egg making machine - I would love to give her a hysterectomy before these problems escalate. As a bluebelle hybrid, she's been specially bred to lay an egg every day, for the rest of her life, even in winter, and will probably die prematurely as a result. It's so unfair that Henrietta (a BO) will almost certainly outlive her by several years, if only because she's not going to be such a prolific layer.

Are these hysterectomies hideously expensive? Would it be worth it after a month of laying and god knows what already being inside Bella's abdomen? I would love this to be a magic cure!

Thanks again JJ - your support and wisdom is very very much appreciated xx

 

[caralouise1974]

And another soft shelled egg today

I think we can safely say that the calcium supplements have not been a miracle cure.

She's covered in thin watery poop now, after looking really good for a couple of days, and the coop floor is all wet with the stuff. I assume (because the poop itself is properly formed and healthy-looking, just surrounded by lots and lots of clear fluid) that it isn't diarrhoea, simply faeces and urates that she's pushed out prematurely when straining to get this soft shelled egg out.

Surely she'll either dehydrate or have a prolapse at this rate, even if the perintonitis doesn't get her?!

This is just awful

 

[caralouise1974]

Update: We've now had three normal eggs in a row! Bella's bottom looks clean and dry and although her tummy is a bit swollen, she's acting fine. So the signs are looking good.

Fingers crossed that tomorrow continues with the normal eggs...

I'm more and more convinced she's had IB for a couple of weeks (despite not showing any other symptoms). They can catch it from wild birds can't they?

 

[caralouise1974]

Okay, so now that's five normal eggs straight.

I'm getting more and more convinced that she's had IB since she started to lay, back in late February (about six weeks - which would be a reasonable time-span for a bout of IB). The eggs still have some very shallow 'creases' in them, at the pointed end, but are otherwise normal.

And she's looking great! Her abdo is still slightly swollen, so I'm unconvinced that there aren't some remnants of egg-related-fluids in there (yes, I will get her to the vet and see if he thinks it would be a good idea to put her onto antibiotics/anti-inflammatories until this fluid re-absorbs) - but mostly, she's fit and well again, with a dry bottom and no soreness.

I just wanted to share the outcome of this saga with you all, and say thanks for listening - let's hope that's now the end of it!

 

[Judy]

Thanks so much for the update.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has been following this. Very informative. Many of us who have not faced such an ordeal will no doubt have to in future.

Please let us know if there are further developments, as well.

 

[speckledhen]

 

[jjthink]

So glad things are looking up!!!

JJ