Egg Yolk Peritonitis -- 20 month old Rhode Island Red.

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Sorry to hear you're going through this... In addition to the one with the stuck soft egg, I've also had one with a stuck shelled egg, she also lived for months before she died due to infection. She had a deformed vent, so no chance of removing it without major surgery, the hen with the soft egg was just too small for my finger to work it loose.

-Kathy
 
When I initially assessed her I did a cloaca exam and it felt empty although...I think smaller from the mass in her abdominal cavity pressing it smaller is my guess. But it was still a cavity with the feel of smooth mucosa. So I think from her ovary she is dumping yolk right into the peritoneum of her abodomen as the yolks aren't even getting into the fallopian tube. She's got classic signs from the empty cloaca, to the previous symptom of bright green poop which now has returned to a normal brown color with the antibiotic. I should maybe recheck her cloaca here this week.

My thoughts on the bright green poop and this is just in relation to what I know in human medicine...but one of the jobs of the liver is to process out dead red blood cells which give poop it's brown color. When you have poop that is not brown it is either due to the liver not functioning right or you've just ate something that has dyed it that way i.e. beets or black licorice. LOL. Since I know Rosie has not had the latter...LOL..these peritoneum infections I'm sure affect her liver or put it under stress to detoxify the body...and in the final stages of liver failure it starts dumping fluids into the body creating ascites and this is the final stage of things going south fast. Kathy...does that sound about right on that? I think that's what I've picked up through the many threads on this.... I'm also worried that her liver is maybe a fatty liver due to diet. Which makes her not set up well to fight off an infection probably anyways. But it's ultimately this mass within her of course.

Whewwww....that necrotic hen was amazing. Kudos to you Kathy on that necropsy. Wowser. I can't imagine the smell on the poor bird. What a toughie she was!
 
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I haven't noted any ascites on her yet.... So for that I'm thankful. I think we jumped in with the antibiotics before that happened. I'm sure she was headed there...the way her poop looked for a couple days. but we've curbed it for a while...until it infects again. My hope is she'll absorb some of the yolk away...but inevitably spring and longer days will come and she'll start dumping yolks again. And we'll probably have to put her down.
 
I have read about them. The hormone inserts in the skin and acts as birth control...cessating ovulation. Works for a while... but then the hormone wears off after a prescribed number of months. Cost was around the $70 mark if my memory serves me right and that doesn't include the vet fee.

Today my Dad, an old farmer, said, "That's when you butcher a chicken and get new in the spring." I know he shakes his head at me for doing this stuff for my birds LOL. But I see the tears in my kids' eyes about this...and I cry about her too. And he doesn't always see that, of course. My life would be so much easier...if I was more like him...and if I keep this as my hobby...perhaps I will find ease and peace with things like this a bit more. I told my Mom about Rose and she got teary eyed. She's spent some time at our house in the summers watching my kids and is well acquainted with my Flock and of course a Rosie Fan like everybody else--charmed by her.
 
She seems to be getting along well pwand. I've noted later this week some watery ropey poos again though, but not green. But she gets up and down off the roost and eats well yet. The article is a good one and it appears I did well chosing the Penicillin out of my cupboard (close cousin to Amoxicillin) I think we have some time yet with our Rose for which we enjoy every day with her. She makes us smile so much. We've been having lots of cold days (under 0) and are in the coop a lot. But today was about 10 and they were out in the run chickening about. I'm glad for those days for sure.

Anyways...thanks so much Pwand.
 

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