Egg yolk peritonitis after hysterectomy

[ohsassy]

My pet chicken had egg yolk peritonitis and she had a hysterectomy 3 months ago to fix it. The Dr. said the egg material she removed was the size of a cantaloupe .
Now she's filled with yolk again. I noticed she was getting bigger but denied to myself that it could be the same thing because how could that be?.

She wasn't doing well tho, so I took her to a vet (the Dr. who
did surgery is out of town) and he pulled fluid from her and it was yolk again. No sign of infection yet.
He tried to remove it using an 18 g needle but it wouldn't come out because its so thick.
He said he was tempted to open her up to get it out. He hadn't done it before and he wanted $600, which is more than the hysterectomy cost.

I called around and found a Dr to do a belly tap. I told them the other Dr hadn't been able to get it out , they thought they could . The Dr used a 16 but couldn't get it out either she said the tubing collapsed and she bruised Sassy pretty bad. All for the low low price of $160.

I just want to keep her alive and comfortable until Dr Lintner gets back on Monday. She said if Sassy can make it til then she'll try to fix her. Monday seems like a very long time from now.
Sassy's tummy is big and hard, she's not so comfortable and she's in pain at night.

I really want her to make it, I dont want her to suffer, I dont want to euthanize her if the Dr can fix her. I dont want to have my utilities shut off because I spent all my money on failed attempts at draining her belly.

I'm really in a mire here, and any advice or people rushing to her rescue or reality checking would be appreciated.

I forgot to say Dr Lintner said this happens sometimes. they dont remove the ovary just the uterus and usually that's enough. Poor sweet Sassy!
Thank you for reading.
Maggie

 

[Pyxis]

I'm not sure what surgery she had, but it wasn't a hysterectomy. That is the removal of the uterus, and chickens don't have a uterus. Maybe he meant that he removed the ovary? But then if he did that, she wouldn't be able to lay eggs any longer because she would have no eggs to lay, so she shouldn't be able to lay internally.

How did they try to drain the fluid? I'm not sure why tubing would be involved in that? Most people who drain the fluid out are just using a needle and a syringe.

Anyway, the only way to get this to stop is to either have the ovary removed via surgery, or there is an implant you can get to halt laying for a couple years but it's expensive and not permanent, and you'd have to get another one once it ran its course.

 

[momdeb]

Hello
My hen had her oviduct removed after vet found misfired egg in her peritoneal cavity.
Avian vet did say she could not remove ovary due to important blood vessels ovary entwined in.
Vet did say there is a possibility that our hen could pass yolk from her ovary.
Just this last week, our hen(6 1/2 years old), was lethargic and her comb and waggles were very pale.
Vet took X-ray - did not see fluid in abdomin but was suspicious of yolks having bed. Passed and not reabsorbed..
Our hen is taking clavamox antibiotic and anti inflammatory, metacam. Her energy has returned and she is speaking more.
I hope she continues to get better but am concerned of reoccurrence and antibiotic eventually not working.
I don’t know anything about hormone therapy I’ve been reading about. How expensive is it? I’m surprised vet didnt think passing yolk into cavity sans oviduct was going to be an issue. I was reassured that hens reabsorb back into their system with the possibility of causing infection if it does not.
I’m thankful to know her well enough that she was not acting herself before it was too advanced.
Do you have any advice/guidance re:hormone? What is the name of the hormone widely used fkrvhens to stop producing yolk?
Thank you!

 

[rebrascora]

I don't understand why a vet would remove the oviduct but not the ovary when a hen is already laying internally..... it makes no sense! The bird will be pretty much guaranteed to continue to lay internally if there is no oviduct and the ovary remains intact.....it is just a time bomb waiting to happen. The body has no means of reabsorbing the egg yolks released from the ovary. They just continue to drop into the abdominal cavity and build up and press on her digestive tract until organ failure occurs.
You would have been far better spending that money on significantly less invasive surgery to have hormone implants inserted to prevent her ovulating in the first place.
I think you have been given very poor veterinary advice. The implants are probably your best hope but this is not a young chicken and you have already spent a large sum of money (I would imagine) and there will now be a mass of yolks inside her abdomen that have no way to get out, so I think you might be better advised to accept that this chicken is coming towards the end of her life. If you do decide to go with the implants, they need to be renewed every 3-6 months. People do say that there is a noticeable improvement in abdominal swelling during the first few weeks after the implant is inserted.... this is due to the body reabsorbing fluid that has leached out of the egg yolks, but the yolks themselves solidify and remain. Often they will be inert and there is no bacterial build up to cause an infection (egg yolk peritonitis) but once an infection is introduced, then it is difficult to eradicate.

 

[momdeb]

Maggie, What happened with Sassy?

 

[momdeb]

Rebrasocra
Thank you
That was my logic as well. I asked and was concerned about how she would reabsorb the yolk & where it would go. Vet said, there’s a chance she could pass yolk but she’s seen by oviduct removal, lessens production of yolk.
This doesn’t make sense because ovaries produce eggs -hormonal.
Is the iviductvremated to hitminal stimulation it something?
My logic is what you just validated.
Oh my. My sweet hen went through this major surgery with huge area to heal from her leg up her breast area, plus discomfort after surgery.
She’s got a strong will to live and is getting better after she began antibiotic.
This is so very upsetting.
I, too, don’t understand why ovaries weren’t removed as well.
They said they don’t remove ovaries because of all the blood vessels.
They saved her life by removing the loose egg.
With the hormones - the yolk is hard? And sits in cavity? That must build up
Over time tho and out weight and pressure on intestines and organs too.
What to do?
The vet is known as the best avian vet in the area - people come from far to see them with their birds.
I’m going to inquire about hormones.
Re: ovaries of hens
Are they removed?
The vet gave me the impression it was too risky because of blood vessels.
Thank you for your insight and guidance. At this point, I’m trying to be proactive with what I’m going to do to help her.
Removing only the oviduct - is what I heard after the surgery. My question right away was where will the yolk go/wouldn’t it still be produced and what will hart yolk production..
infection waiting to happen.
My mare was it gets reabsjrbed...

 

[rebrascora]

I'm sorry, I wasn't able to follow all of your thoughts in the post above... predictive text maybe or computer glitch... I get why they didn't remove the ovaries..... it is the same with adult cock birds.... there is a large blood supply to the gonads and there is the potential for fatal haemorrhage. Caponising is done with males before the blood supply to the testes develops to any great extent. Once they are sexually mature and those organs are working, it's too risky.
The only reason you would operate to remove the oviduct is if she was suffering from salpingitis and the oviduct was impacted with "lash egg". If that was the case, then the vet should have recommended hormonal implants afterwards or at least advised you of the signs to look out for that would indicate that she had started ovulating again.

If you have ever opened up a hen that has been internally laying, it is clear that there is no where for those yolks to go once they are ripe and released from the ovary and drop into the abdominal cavity. What people don't seem to understand is that the abdominal cavity is like a bag that the intestines pass through but don't open into, so there is no exit point. The intestines are designed to allow nutrients to pass from them into the blood supply, not absorb material from the abdominal cavity.

The hormonal implant that is most commonly used in chickens is the Superlorin one and it is inserted in the back of the neck under the skin. There are two strengths.... a 3 month and a 6 month I believe. Good luck finding a vet to do the procedure at a reasonable price. Most people are very impressed with the results. It can trigger the bird to moult but they blossom after that.

 

[momdeb]

Thank you for your wealth of knowledge and guidance.
I will see if they wound do this. Maybe the thinking us that she may not lay because of her age. She was laying only sporadically prior to the surgery.
I only hope the antibiotics course will knock out infection - but if yolk is just staying there- and not get absorbed won’t infection return?
I will ask our vet about this and hormones. She’s such a good hen and we love her so.

 

[momdeb]

Her name is Guinevere and we call her, Gwenny Penny.

 

[momdeb]

I forgot to ask.. the only side effects are triggering molt?
Maybe paler comb & wattles too?
I also feed her layer pellets.
Do you k is of non laying hen pellets on market?