egg bound or Egg peritonitis?

[Mudbillkisses]

My ancona duck Persi was not acting herself yesterday. Her laying has been irregular since the days have become shorter (we don't use supplemental lighting in coop) and she lays every morning- every other usually. I noticed she was laying at different times and hadn't laid in a few days. She was less mobile staying in the coop and walked like she was favoring one side- her breathing seemed more labored as well. She was still eating and drinking. We brought her to our avian vet and on the way there she laid a very small (quail sized) egg (with no yolk). This has never happened before. The x-ray showed no other egg, foreign object or shell pieces. Her abdomen felt different, perhaps swollen but oviduct looks fine. The vet thinks she has egg yolk peritonitis and gave her a fluid skin injection and pain killer. Shes on meloxicam for inflammation for the next 7 days. My questions are: how do I gauge how serious this is? I saw that some recommended antibiotic use- I'm not sure why my vet didn't prescribe it and/or when it's appropriate? I need advise. My vet is only available twice a week and I want to stay on top of this. When does this become fatal- is it bacterial infection?

I saw someone mention " water belly" - what does that mean? We feel some air by her vent- like an air pocket but not sure why.

Thanks for your help

 

[Miss Lydia]

My ancona duck Persi was not acting herself yesterday. Her laying has been irregular since the days have become shorter (we don't use supplemental lighting in coop) and she lays every morning- every other usually. I noticed she was laying at different times and hadn't laid in a few days. She was less mobile staying in the coop and walked like she was favoring one side- her breathing seemed more labored as well. She was still eating and drinking. We brought her to our avian vet and on the way there she laid a very small (quail sized) egg (with no yolk). This has never happened before. The x-ray showed no other egg, foreign object or shell pieces. Her abdomen felt different, perhaps swollen but oviduct looks fine. The vet thinks she has egg yolk peritonitis and gave her a fluid skin injection and pain killer. Shes on meloxicam for inflammation for the next 7 days. My questions are: how do I gauge how serious this is? I saw that some recommended antibiotic use- I'm not sure why my vet didn't prescribe it and/or when it's appropriate? I need advise. My vet is only available twice a week and I want to stay on top of this. When does this become fatal- is it bacterial infection?

I saw someone mention " water belly" - what does that mean? We feel some air by her vent- like an air pocket but not sure why.

Thanks for your help

@Mudbillkisses I am going to refer you to someone who has been through this first hand.. @Amiga hopefully she can answer some of your questions.

 

[Mudbillkisses]

@Mudbillkisses I am going to refer you to someone who has been through this first hand.. @Amiga hopefully she can answer some of your questions.

Thank you! I'm eager to hear from people who have been through it!

 

[Amiga]

@Mudbillkisses


Egg yolk peritonitis is an infection. The duck needs to be on antibiotics.

Baytril is one that I am familiar with, because of the efforts of the very brave and determined Pet Duck. Her duck, Quackers, had EYP, and she moved heaven and earth to make sure that Q recovered, which she did, and it was touch-and-go for a while. I think I will always remember that time.

I have lost two ducks to EYP.

It is a sneaky, insidious disease and many vets think there is nothing to be done. But I know of a number of people who have helped their ducks and other birds get through it.

I would contact the vet and get antibiotics.

When Sechs recently was eggbound, we put her on Metacam anti inflammatory and Bactrim antibiotic, as it appeared that infection may have begun. I am not a vet, nor an expert on antibiotics, so I can only share what I am aware of.

 

[Mudbillkisses]

@Mudbillkisses


Egg yolk peritonitis is an infection. The duck needs to be on antibiotics.

Baytril is one that I am familiar with, because of the efforts of the very brave and determined Pet Duck. Her duck, Quackers, had EYP, and she moved heaven and earth to make sure that Q recovered, which she did, and it was touch-and-go for a while. I think I will always remember that time.

I have lost two ducks to EYP.

It is a sneaky, insidious disease and many vets think there is nothing to be done. But I know of a number of people who have helped their ducks and other birds get through it.

I would contact the vet and get antibiotics.

When Sechs recently was eggbound, we put her on Metacam anti inflammatory and Bactrim antibiotic, as it appeared that infection may have begun. I am not a vet, nor an expert on antibiotics, so I can only share what I am aware of.

Thank you, @Amiga . I'm sorry for the loss of your ducks due to this condition. I had never heard of it before. The vet didn't seem convinced that she has this...used terms like EYP and "Reproductive Disease"- that might be one in the same? I believe she mentioned the yolk would be sterile- so I didn't think to ask about infection while we were there.

Any idea what causes the infection? I'll definitely call the vet tomorrow to ask about antibiotics. It concerns me that she might not be well versed in this condition enough to know the risk of infection and treatment needed.

When your ducks were going through it- was it acute, what did it look like? For instance today she was up and around, acting like herself again more. It's hard to gauge what's happening and how aggressive to be with treatment. If she was egg bound I know what to look for and what kind of window of time we are looking at for intervention. With something like this, if EYP is truly the issue, I don't know what to expect or how to get her through it really (aside from antibiotics in case of infection)...I just know there seems to have been an improvement just with the passing of that small egg and fluids/shot at the vet. But since that egg didn't have any yolk in it- it's safe to assume the yolk is/was being absorbed in her body?

I wish vets knew more about duck health.

Thanks for your input and advise.

 

[Amiga]

@Mudbillkisses

I agree, it would be great if there were more known, more widely. I feel that there will be better knowledge as more of us adopt ducks.

Anyway . . . the egg yolk feeds bacteria in the body cavity. So, if I understand correctly, there can be the occasional random bad bacterium floating around, but without much to eat, it doesn't reproduce quickly, and the immune system gets rid of it. But if there's egg yolk floating around the body cavity, the pathogenic bacteria can reproduce, and infect the organs.

ick.

One may never see any symptoms. What I saw was increasing lethargy. The ducks started slowing down, had a far-away look in the eye. I took Shelly to a vet, knowing something was wrong, but they could find nothing wrong and six weeks later she died without having acute symptoms. That's a scary story. Neun was clearly not well when I took her in, they kept her overnight so they could rehydrate her, she died at the vet.

When Sechs was egg bound, we used the Bactrim so that infection would not get ahead of us.

One of the tricky things about looking for EYP is that if one pokes a needle into the duck to take fluid for testing, one could cause problems by perforating an organ. That's what I was told. So in the future (and I pray I don't have to), if I feel the duck is not right, and the vet cannot find anything, I am going to push for treating for EYP. Generally, my gut instincts are pretty good. But this is after nearly seven years and some sad experience.

Some vets will say that the cause of the EYP could be something that cannot be fixed, so treating with antibiotics is pointless. I respectfully disagree. Because it is at least just as likely that it is NOT something that cannot be fixed, and it's worth a try.

 

[Mudbillkisses]

@Amiga - just started Persi on antibiotic for 10 days along with anti inflammatory. The vet was agreeable- I am so glad for your input and this forum because had I not asked for the antibiotic, she wouldn't have prescribed it. While she is in better spirits and more herself today, the mass in her abdomen feels more pronounced. She hasn't laid since that really small egg at the vet. Is it safe to expect ducks wouldn't lay when dealing with EYP once it sets in? I'm hoping her body slows down with laying during this time. I really hope we have been proactive enough to get ahead of a potentially fatal infection. Thank you again for your help.

 

[Amiga]

@Mudbillkisses

Something else to be aware of - please forgive me for missing this - is that it is best to try to keep them from developing more eggs. There is a hormone shot that can be given to prevent laying for about a month.

And one can also keep the duck in a darkened area - not necessarily pitch black, just out of bright light, as that affects their laying mechanism.

I have been kinda run down this week, not always as sharp as I'd like to be, right now.

The things we gave Sechs were : antibiotics, anti inflammatory, one hormone shot, and extra calcium. Okay, I think I covered it all, now.

 

[Mudbillkisses]

@Amiga - the shot is interesting- my vet and I talked about how it would be nice if she slowed down laying and she never mentioned a shot as an option. She told me that "fixing" her would be an option but that's extreme and I'd have to travel to Cornell University to do it (don't think I wan an invasive procedure like that). A shot would be great...then I wouldn't have to worry and watch constantly for egg laying during this time. I'm paranoid when she doesn't lay that something is wrong but this time of year when the days become shorter and her body is obviously under stress, I'm hoping she just wont produce for now. She is in a dark coop from 6:30 p.m. until sunrise the next day and her laying before this happened has been more sporadic perhaps because of the shorter days. She eats layer feed and always has a supply of oyster shells available- would even more calcium be necessary? My vet wont be in again until next Wednesday- but I'll call and double check about the shot, though I don't think that's an option : ( How did you know when you were out of the woods with Sechs?

 

[Amiga]

After about five or six days, she passed the last bit of egg - wadded up shell and membrane. And though she had seemed a little better each day once on medication, after that sixth day or so, she was bouncing around again like the little Tigr she is.

I kept watch especially after the four week time period had passed - to my knowledge she still has not laid an egg, which is fine with me.

Surgery is very risky with waterfowl - if the anti inflammatory can help restore her, that would be safer. But each case is different, and I am not a vet....