Egg yolk peritonitis - am I doing something wrong?

OwO

Songster
9 Years
May 26, 2014
341
237
211
UK
I think I have another hen with EYP.. I have lost several to this over the years. She is a good weight, looks healthy, has access to layer pellets, oyster shell, grit 24/7. However she was stilll laying thin shells and now she has a bloated abdomen.. How have I had so many with this illness over the last few years??? Is it something I am doing wrong or is it just bad luck???
 
I think I have another hen with EYP.. I have lost several to this over the years. She is a good weight, looks healthy, has access to layer pellets, oyster shell, grit 24/7. However she was stilll laying thin shells and now she has a bloated abdomen.. How have I had so many with this illness over the last few years??? Is it something I am doing wrong or is it just bad luck???
What treats are you feeding?
 
What treats are you feeding?
Very limited leftovers, so nothing hugely filling like big bits of bread or lots of pasta or anything, mostly just corn/small amounts of leftover cat food/mealworms/small amounts of other scraps. This is also always before they go to bed so they don't fill up on it and still eat their layer feed through the day.

Edit: When I say "always before they go to bed" I don't mean every day before they go to bed; I mean *when* they get treats like this (uncommon), they get it at the end of the day

What breed of chickens do you have? Some, especially high production birds, are more susceptible to EYP.
the ones which have had EYP have been a warren, a speckledy, and a black star



Does anyone know if EYP is reversible? Can it be caused by lack of calcium causing the egg to not form properly, so if you give the chicken a lot of calcium can it cause them to start forming shells again properly?
 
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Very limited leftovers, so nothing hugely filling like big bits of bread or lots of pasta or anything, mostly just corn/small amounts of leftover cat food/mealworms/small amounts of other scraps. This is also always before they go to bed so they don't fill up on it and still eat their layer feed through the day.


the ones which have had EYP have been a warren, a speckledy, and a black star



Does anyone know if EYP is reversible? Can it be caused by lack of calcium causing the egg to not form properly, so if you give the chicken a lot of calcium can it cause them to start forming shells again properly?
So you are feeding daily treats?

I highly recommend stopping feeding everything you've mentioned in this post and feed only a layer feed.

Everything that you feed besides the complete balanced layer feed is taking away from the bird getting a balanced diet.

The layer feed is formulated as a complete balanced feed.

If you are feeding more than a tablespoon amount, of any of the things you've mentioned, to each bird per day you are way over feeding them treats.

The corn and mealworms alone are extremely high in fat.
Overfeeding treats causes a bird to put on enough weight that will cause this exact problem that you're dealing with... Without you ever even noticing your bird is overweight.
 
So you are feeding daily treats?

I highly recommend stopping feeding everything you've mentioned in this post and feed only a layer feed.

Everything that you feed besides the complete balanced layer feed is taking away from the bird getting a balanced diet.

The layer feed is formulated as a complete balanced feed.

If you are feeding more than a tablespoon amount, of any of the things you've mentioned, to each bird per day you are way over feeding them treats.

The corn and mealworms alone are extremely high in fat.
Overfeeding treats causes a bird to put on enough weight that will cause this exact problem that you're dealing with... Without you ever even noticing your bird is overweight.
No, not every day. Very little amounts of treats. They are definitely not overweight (I feel their keel bones/crops/abdomens every day) and haven't had mealworms in a couple of months, I am just giving examples of what I give them as treats if I were to give treats. Thank you though, I will make sure I am giving treats as absolutely as little as possible
 
Very limited leftovers, so nothing hugely filling like big bits of bread or lots of pasta or anything, mostly just corn/small amounts of leftover cat food/mealworms/small amounts of other scraps. This is also always before they go to bed so they don't fill up on it and still eat their layer feed through the day.
Don’t give corn and please make sure they’re eating mainly their layer feed. If they are eating your leftovers every day they aren’t going to be getting enough layer feed and calcium. They dont need scraps anyway, it’s just filling them up.
 
No. Not every day. Very little amounts of treats. They are definitely not overweight (I feel their keel bones/crops/abdomens every day) and haven't had mealworms in a couple of months, I am just giving examples of what I give them as treats if I were to give treats.
Oh okay great... I misunderstood.
I still highly recommend not feeding any of those regularly.
 
Oh okay great... I misunderstood.
I still highly recommend not feeding any of those regularly.
Thank you, I will cut it down completely for now

Don’t give corn and please make sure they’re eating mainly their layer feed. If they are eating your leftovers every day they aren’t going to be getting enough layer feed and calcium. They dont need scraps anyway, it’s just filling them up.
Now corn I do actually give every day, when they're moulting in winter I give a large handful for them to share, but every other time of year they only get a small amount (only in the evenings so they should have filled up on layer feed through the day already right?)

Would it be best to cut corn out entirely as well?
 
Thank you, I will cut it down completely for now


Now corn I do actually give every day, when they're moulting in winter I give a large handful for them to share, but every other time of year they only get a small amount (only in the evenings so they should have filled up on layer feed through the day already right?)

Would it be best to cut corn out entirely as well?
Absolutely. Highly recommend stopping feeding daily corn. Is the problem.
 

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