Egg yolk peritonitis HELP!

[Atarii]

Hi all, I have a small flock of 14 hens and 1 rooster.
They are all coming 2 years old this spring.
They live in a large run (15x40) and free range about an hour in the evening when I can watch them. (We have so many predators).
One of my hens, a green queen, had egg yolk peritonitis 2 weeks ago.
I soaked her in Epsom salt baths every night, flushed her vent with Epsom salt water and gave her Amoxicillin 2x a day.
After 2 weeks she was totally back to normal except she started crowing in the morning.
I put her in a quarantine area in the run so she can get re-acclimated to the flock.
While I was setting her up in the run I noticed my white leghorn didn't look good.
So I brought her inside and it looks like she has the same thing.
I switched the flock to nature wise all flock 20 percent pellets and purina all flock 20 percent crumbles back in the fall when they were molting.
I alternate supplements in their water, one day they get acv and the next day they get the rooster booster vitamin electrolyte.
I've noticed my little white leghorn is laying huge eggs now and I feel bad for her.
Can this higher protein feed be causing the egg yolk peritonitis?
Any other idea what could be causing this?
Sorry for the long post

 

[nuthatched]

It's not the feed. Hatchery birds, unfortunately, aren't typically bred for health.
Don't be doing the water add ins so much, they don't need it. Skip a week or two between treatments.
Are you sure it's eyp? Are their bellies swollen,

 

[Wyorp Rock]

One of my hens, a green queen, had egg yolk peritonitis 2 weeks ago.
I soaked her in Epsom salt baths every night, flushed her vent with Epsom salt water and gave her Amoxicillin 2x a day.
After 2 weeks she was totally back to normal except she started crowing in the morning.

I alternate supplements in their water, one day they get acv and the next day they get the rooster booster vitamin electrolyte.
I've noticed my little white leghorn is laying huge eggs now and I feel bad for her.
Can this higher protein feed be causing the egg yolk peritonitis?
Any other idea what could be causing this?

What is that on the towel? Poop or something leaking from the vent or ???

How do you know the hen has EYP? Usually a hen with EYP can be lethargic, act like they are egg bound or hunched up. They may or may not have bloating or a swollen abdomen. EYP is when the yolk or egg material has reversed course and is deposited into the abdomen (Coelomic cavity). You would not see yolk or something eggy being "laid" or coming from the vent if the hen is depositing the material into the abdomen. Once in the abdomen, the material does not have a way out.

Could be from another reproductive problem. Hard to know.

I use an all flock feed that is 22% protein and have not had any issues in a long time with reproductive problems. Doubtful the change in feed is what's causing the problems. I've found that most reproductive problems come with age and sometimes with certain highly productive breeds like Leghorns, Hybrid layers, etc.

I would provide plain fresh clean drinking water daily. If you wish to add supplements/additives that's up to you, but give 2 bowls/water stations - one with plain water and one with the additional ingredients.

Provide oyster shell free choice.

 

[Atarii]

Thank you for the replies.
They also have plain water available at all times, I add the supplements to the smaller 1 gallon waterer.
They have free choice grit and oyster shell and egg shell.
Both hens were lethargic and sitting down most of the time.
They are eating and drinking, just look uncomfortable.
The one I just treated had some swelling between her legs but that's gone now, she had egg yolk leaking out of her vent.
The yellow on the towel appears to be yolk from the leghorn that I brought in today.
The only thing I have changed in the last 2 years was the feed back in the fall.
Makes sense about the hatchery birds, I'll try to get some from a local breeder next time.
I just didn't know if there's anything I can do to prevent this.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If she had egg yolk leaking from her vent, then she likely had a membrane break inside her. She may have been able to expel it or not, hard to know unless you saw her do it. A soft shelled membrane would have been quickly eaten by other hens.
IF she has yolk leaking, that's a perfect medium for infection. If she were mine, I'd give her Amoxicillin to help with infection.
I'd also give her extra Calcium daily for a week to hopefully help her expel any material/membranes. Calcium Citrate with D3 - 1 tablet daily, just pop into the beak.

If the Leghorn is having problems, I'd give her the Calcium once daily for a week too. Have her shells been nice and hard?

Little Leghorns can sure churn out the eggs, but often they start having problems. I love mine to death, she was such a quirky fun hen, but she laid SO many eggs she basically burned out

Just one more question. Is the feed "fresh"? How old is the mill date. Not trying to bad mouth feed stores, but sometimes the feed can be old(er). As feed ages, the nutrients (vitamins/minerals especially) start to degrade. So check your mill dates and try to get the freshest feed you can. That's one reason why I switched from a "large" feed store to a smaller local feed/mill, they carry different brands, but the feed is much fresher, let's put it that way. So far I've not found any indication of mold or feed degradation that I had found from those larger feed places.

 

[nuthatched]

Thank you for the replies.
They also have plain water available at all times, I add the supplements to the smaller 1 gallon waterer.
They have free choice grit and oyster shell and egg shell.
Both hens were lethargic and sitting down most of the time.
They are eating and drinking, just look uncomfortable.
The one I just treated had some swelling between her legs but that's gone now, she had egg yolk leaking out of her vent.
The yellow on the towel appears to be yolk from the leghorn that I brought in today.
The only thing I have changed in the last 2 years was the feed back in the fall.
Makes sense about the hatchery birds, I'll try to get some from a local breeder next time.
I just didn't know if there's anything I can do to prevent this.

Local breeders are often only breeding hatchery stock birds and plagued with disease. Hatchery birds are usually fine, just pick a better quality hatchery next time, cackle, Meyers, Mt Healthy, are some of the best.

 

[Atarii]

I bought them from meyer hatchery.
They have all been healthy (until now) and have good temperaments.

 

[Atarii]

If she had egg yolk leaking from her vent, then she likely had a membrane break inside her. She may have been able to expel it or not, hard to know unless you saw her do it. A soft shelled membrane would have been quickly eaten by other hens.
IF she has yolk leaking, that's a perfect medium for infection. If she were mine, I'd give her Amoxicillin to help with infection.
I'd also give her extra Calcium daily for a week to hopefully help her expel any material/membranes. Calcium Citrate with D3 - 1 tablet daily, just pop into the beak.

If the Leghorn is having problems, I'd give her the Calcium once daily for a week too. Have her shells been nice and hard?

Little Leghorns can sure churn out the eggs, but often they start having problems. I love mine to death, she was such a quirky fun hen, but she laid SO many eggs she basically burned out

Just one more question. Is the feed "fresh"? How old is the mill date. Not trying to bad mouth feed stores, but sometimes the feed can be old(er). As feed ages, the nutrients (vitamins/minerals especially) start to degrade. So check your mill dates and try to get the freshest feed you can. That's one reason why I switched from a "large" feed store to a smaller local feed/mill, they carry different brands, but the feed is much fresher, let's put it that way. So far I've not found any indication of mold or feed degradation that I had found from those larger feed places.

Okay, I will give her calcium and vitamin D.
Amoxicillin helped my other hen recover so I will give it to the leghorn as well.
Poor thing, she's the sweetest hen with so much personality, I feel so bad she lays such big eggs and she's such a little thing.
I will also check the mill date on my feed.
Thank you for the suggestions.

 

[Hhhotel]

Ive treated my 2 nd hen for eyp successfully, and she is back eating, drinking and now laying almost 4 weeks in, I used the rosemary and cinnamon stick recipe, which I syringe into her beak and fed her also, however her balance isn't good. I only realised she was poorly when she was being attacked by the flock as she isn't one of my regular cuddly chooks, so I didn't notice how thin she was, not sure if she can see

Hi all, I have a small flock of 14 hens and 1 rooster.
They are all coming 2 years old this spring.
They live in a large run (15x40) and free range about an hour in the evening when I can watch them. (We have so many predators).
One of my hens, a green queen, had egg yolk peritonitis 2 weeks ago.
I soaked her in Epsom salt baths every night, flushed her vent with Epsom salt water and gave her Amoxicillin 2x a day.
After 2 weeks she was totally back to normal except she started crowing in the morning.
I put her in a quarantine area in the run so she can get re-acclimated to the flock.
While I was setting her up in the run I noticed my white leghorn didn't look good.
So I brought her inside and it looks like she has the same thing.
I switched the flock to nature wise all flock 20 percent pellets and purina all flock 20 percent crumbles back in the fall when they were molting.
I alternate supplements in their water, one day they get acv and the next day they get the rooster booster vitamin electrolyte.
I've noticed my little white leghorn is laying huge eggs now and I feel bad for her.
Can this higher protein feed be causing the egg yolk peritonitis?
Any other idea what could be causing this?