Egg Yolk Peritonitis Help!!!

[HannahL]

Hi all. So I have a 4-year-old RIR hen named Ruby who I adopted about a year ago now. She’s a fantastic girl. Really really sweet. She hasn’t ever laid an egg since I’ve had her and I assumed she was just done and was too old. But, recently, when the spring rolled around, she was sat in the nesting box but didn’t lay. Now, 2 weeks later, I noticed some swelling in her abdomen. I brought her to the vet and, yep, it’s peritonitis. She’s currently acting normally and is still eating and drinking, pecking around, and jumping on the roost. She’s slower than the other hens, but she’s also two years older and her current speed is not out of the realm of normalcy for her. The vet said to just wait and see. She said that if she starts acting ill, she’ll prescribe her some antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory. She was hesitant to prescribe it now since she isn’t currently showing signs of infection and the vet doesn’t want her to build up a resistance to the medicine. The vet’s hoping that this will just be a one off since she literally has never laid an egg before. Does anyone have any experience with hens surviving peritonitis in this manner? Does anyone have any suggestions on how to maybe help her reabsorb the yolk a bit more? The vet suctioned out some of it, but her belly is still pretty swollen. Should I be bracing myself for a death, or is there a good chance she will be alright? I’ve never dealt with peritonitis, but I know it’s sort of known as a death sentence within the chicken world. Anyone who has any suggestions or insight into treatment/prognosis would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Kiki]

No doubt that it's a death sentence.
It doesn't make sense on why your vet wouldn't start antibiotics sooner rather than later.

Did he just feel the bird to diagnose this?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Hi, @HannahL. Let me flag a few folks that might help.
@azygous
@EggSighted4Life
@Wyorp Rock

 

[azygous]

EYP needs to be treated aggressively with an antibiotic, and even then, it may be too late for it to do any good. It seems your vet isn't that experienced with this. To not treat with an antibiotic for something as serious as this is, is like denying a dying cancer patent pain medication because the doctor is afraid they will become addicted.

Both are ridiculous in the face of something that is very likely to kill in spite of whatever you do. But there is a chance, however small, that an antibiotic could buy the hen a bit more time, and it sounds like you would be grateful for that.

Call around to pet stores, aquarium shops, pigeon supply shops and ask for amoxicillin 250mg in the form of fish antibiotics or pigeon antibiotics. Then give her one capsule a day for ten days.

 

[HannahL]

No doubt that it's a death sentence.
It doesn't make sense on why your vet wouldn't start antibiotics sooner rather than later.

Did he just feel the bird to diagnose thiEYP needs to be treated aggressively with an antibiotic, and even then, it may be too late for it to do

Both are ridiculous in the face of something that is very likely to kill in spite of whatever you do. But there is a chance, however small, that an antibiotic could buy the hen a bit more time, and it sounds like you would be grateful for that.

Call around to pet stores, aquarium shops, pigeon supply shops and ask for amoxicillin 250mg in the form of fish antibiotics or pigeon antibiotics. Then give her one capsule a day for ten day

EYP needs to be treated aggressively with an antibiotic, and even then, it may be too late for it to do any good. It seems your vet isn't that experienced with this. To not treat with an antibiotic for something as serious as this is, is like denying a dying cancer patent pain medication because the doctor is afraid they will become addicted.

Both are ridiculous in the face of something that is very likely to kill in spite of whatever you do. But there is a chance, however small, that an antibiotic could buy the hen a bit more time, and it sounds like you would be grateful for that.

Call around to pet stores, aquarium shops, pigeon supply shops and ask for amoxicillin 250mg in the form of fish antibiotics or pigeon antibiotics. Then give her one capsule a day for ten days.

Omg thank you so much. I’m gonna call them back tomorrow to get the antibiotic. She said that the reason she didn’t prescribe was because she doesn’t think Ruby has an infection currently and so she said she was hoping it would reabsorb. Would it still make sense to use the antibiotic even if she wasn’t infected? Do some birds ever survive this or is it almost definitely a death sentence? Ruby is such a sweet bird I would be devastated to lose her.

 

[HannahL]

No doubt that it's a death sentence.
It doesn't make sense on why your vet wouldn't start antibiotics sooner rather than later.

Did he just feel the bird to diagnose this?

No, she suctioned some of the fluid out with a needle to check. She said the reason she didn’t prescribe antibiotics was because Ruby currently isn’t showing any signs of infection and so she’s hoping that it will just reabsorb. Does it make sense to use the antibiotics even if she’s not infected? Do some hens survive/pull through or is it almost certainly a death sentence? Ruby is such a fantastic hen I would devastated if I lost her.

 

[micstrachan]

Sorry about your hen. I’ve had two die from peritonitis. One case went septic.

However, I currently have a hen, also Ruby, who has an unknown, hormone driven illness. She’s been going on hormone implants along with periodic antibiotics and anti-inflammatories for over two years! The vet has a hard time getting at the fluid when she swells up, but the last two times, the fluid was clear, like basic inflammation. The time before that, it had yolk and blood in it. I was surprised fluid could come back clear after that!

While Ruby bounces back a bit each time she gets treatment, she is definitely slowing down over time. So in my experience, just like everyone seems to say, hens typically don’t ever completely recover from these reproductive illnesses. You can treat them, make them more comfortable and sometimes prolong their lives, but complete recovery is highly unlikely.

When my first hen who got EYP seemed to bounce back, I shared her “success” story on BYC. My feelings were hurt and I was annoyed when someone shot it down, correcting me and saying they don’t recover from EYP. But now I know the poster was right.

It’s up to you to what lengths you want to go to try to “save” this hen. And it’s up to her body to respond to treatment.

Whatever happens, just know there are many people on here who feel your pain, and will applaud your efforts to help her. We will also hold your hand when and if the struggle becomes too much.

Hugs to you and your Ruby.

 

[azygous]

As a matter of course, many of us here will treat with an antibiotic if we suspect EYP, often triggered by an egg stuck and collapsing inside. Any yolk left inside the oviduct will very likely start growing bacteria. If treated early on, the hen can recover and continue to lay.

With your hen, it would very likely let her enjoy life a bit longer.

For me, it's a no brainer.

 

[micstrachan]

As a matter of course, many of us here will treat with an antibiotic if we suspect EYP, often triggered by an egg stuck and collapsing inside. Any yolk left inside the oviduct will very likely start growing bacteria. If treated early on, the hen can recover and continue to lay.

With your hen, it would very likely let her enjoy life a bit longer.

For me, it's a no brainer.

If she were mine, I’d let her live, and do everything I could to help her feel better and live longer.

 

[holisticliving]

Just curious if your hen made it?? I just saw this while searching, as we are dealing with the same thing right now with our Buckeye hen...

Our little Penny had started sleeping in the nest box at night, which at first I didn't think much of as she discovered that it's nice and warm in there when she molted in the winter, so now she sometimes sleeps there on cold nights. But after a few days, I noticed she was acting weird in the morning - not eating much, moving slowly, etc. That was when I picked her up and felt her lower belly and found it puffy and swollen. :-( I knew what that meant, as her sister died about a year ago from peritonitis, so I expected her to go quickly. (Henny died within 24 hours of acting sick, so she must have been septic.)

However, Penny hung in there, and I gave her extra vitamins and garlic for a few days while I was waiting for antibiotics (Aqua-Mox) to arrive from Tractor Supply online. She would come out and eat a little, but mostly only kitchen scraps - no feed, and while she would come out to scratch with the others for a few minutes in the evenings when we let them out of the run, she would soon retire to the nest box again.

She has now been on the antibiotics (250mg every morning) for 1 week, and is back to acting totally normal! She's eating normally, scratching, and back to roosting with the others most nights. Her stomach feels pretty much back to normal (I can't tell if it's 100% yet, and she has a VERY fluffy butt, so it's hard to feel sometimes, but it's definitely WAY less swollen than it was). I'm going to continue the antibiotics for a full 10 days based on things I have read from others on this forum, and my fingers are crossed!!

I know people have said it tends to come back, but I'm trying to be hopeful...

Also, just a tip for others trying to give antibiotics (or other meds) to chickens: I have found that mixing the contents of the capsule with a spoonful or two of cooked rice or oatmeal works amazingly well. Even when they're off their feed, they generally gobble it up in seconds like it's candy! And that way you don't have to worry about it settling in water or them not drinking it all, and it's much less traumatic for everyone than trying to cram a pill down their throat.

I hope your Ruby made it through!