Egg peritonitis? Graphic picture

[Aprilxoxo]

Hello

Lately we have had extreme tropical weather. Huge down pours followed by heat waves. She passed away on one of these hot nights. She went to the coop early and in the morning I found her passed away in the spot she went to bed in. I thought it was heat stress until I felt her belly. A little bit swollen but definately felt squishy. I cut her open to find a large amount of infection in the whole body cavity. I wanted confirmation by some people who have seen this, that it is egg peritonitis. I mostly just want to know its not something that could be given to my other chickens.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. It does look like reproductive infection in the abdominal fluid, many times from E.coli. Did you take any other pictures of the liver or other organs?

 

[Aprilxoxo]

Sorry for your loss. It does look like reproductive infection in the abdominal fluid, many times from E.coli. Did you take any other pictures of the liver or other organs?

I didn't sorry. It was really hard for me to even bring myself to cut her open. I wasnt really thinking about taking pictures but my dad snapped this shot luckily. Other than the infection liquid I didnt see anything that looked suspicious.
Do you believe the e.coli was just present in the yolks? Or do you think they could have gotten it externally?
Im taking one of my other hens to vet to see if she has anything, incase it was something contagious. But being christmas week, I have to wait until a vet is available.
Edit: I realised that my broad spectrum bird antibiotic targets ecoli. Im starting them on it until i can get to vet.

 

[Sondraa]

So sorry for loss and stress. I hope you share the outcome post vet.

 

[Eggcessive]

Reproductive disorders are very common in hens. Salpingitis and coelomitis/egg yolk peritonitis are common ones. The cloaca where the large intestinal opening and oviduct come together but are separated, make it a bit easy for bacteria to be introduced, for instance by vent pecking in the flock. Also, since the blood can be infected with certain bacteria, such as mycoplasma, E.coli and others in the environment, those can enter the abdomen and lead to infection. Here are some articles to read:
https://poultrydvm.com/condition/egg-peritonitis

https://www.bhwt.org.uk/hen-health/health-problems/egg-yolk-peritonitis/