Egg Yolk Peritonitis Prevention or Management

[Noble Rooster]

Sorry to hear about your little Stella. It's so sad to see them have to deal with this and know you can't help them. I'm glad your girl got to go in peace, surrounded by love.

Ironically I got the e-mail alert with updates to this thread this morning, after finding one of my girls had died overnight after going several rounds with EYP. She had been bloating on and off since the fall and some days would look like she was really suffering and I would wonder if I might have to take care of things, but then the next day she'd perk up and be her usual self. It was weird how the bloating would come and go; her abdomen would get quite swollen and then she'd spend a day passing what looked like water (even more watery than the usual watery EYP poos), and the bloat would go down significantly. Have any of you noticed that? After reading so many helpful things on here I knew there really wasn't a way to treat her so I just evaluated her carefully every day to see if she seemed like she was in pain, and generally she was not and was happy to forage, dust bathe, and boss everyone around, except for the odd day here and there. Then yesterday the bloating/masses suddenly turned hard and hot, her tail was drooping, and she just wanted to lie in a cool spot under a tree. She was the dominant hen and did not want to leave her flock, and when I checked on her last night she was there in the middle of them, tired but in charge, just as she wanted to be.

At least she's at peace now.

I appreciate your assistance in this. Unfortunately, Stella bloated considerably as the evening went on and was in obvious discomfort. I had brought home some chloroform about a month ago for a chick with a slipped tendon (when she started showing obvious signs of pain, we planned to put her to sleep), and we used it on Stella. She went quietly to sleep in a little box. We're heartbroken, but know we did the right thing, poor little girl.

One thing I realize in hindsight: we were getting tiny yolkless eggs in the community nesting boxes and could never figure out who was laying them. We have been getting these for over a year now, just every once in a while. Could it be that she was forming a shell around unused albumin and passing those, while the yolks were being diverted into her abdomen? I believe now, based on what I've read, even if I had realized that it was her and that she was diverting her yolks, there's not much I could do with her except try to keep her from forming yolks in the first place. It's so hard to know which bird is affected when everyone has access to the same nesting boxes. I've struggled with this question; should I confine a hen for a day to see what type of eggs she's laying, but then with these little eggs, they come so infrequently that you don't know if that's a good day for the affected chicken. I'm rambling...

Rest in peace, little Stella girl. Gosh how we loved this little chicken.

 

[Lexikan]

I am beginnning to become very discouraged by everyones unsuccessful experiences with EYP. I now have two hens with the symptoms. I didnt hink tha tit was contagious.
Both are eating and seem happy but have messy tushes and emit greenish poop that smells REALLY bad!
All of their eggs up until now had been normal and with yolks. Nothing to make me think otherwise.
Can I use my finger to pull the stuff out through her vent? Will antibiotics work?

 

[klmclain1]

I've dealt with this ONCE... You'll need to do a vinegar flush - mix 2 teaspoons of vinegar in 1 cup of warm water and gently squirt it into her vent using a large syringe (without a needle.) Repeat once a day for 3 days. Hopefully it isn't too late.

Along with that, give her penicillin, 1/2cc IM in the breast once a day for 4 days alternating sides.
Good luck!

 

[speckledhen]

First of all, it is NOT contagious, it's just very common.

Secondly, a vinegar flush into the vent will not be of benefit, IMO. You can't know that it's going into the oviduct or the intestines in the first place, and in the second, how is vinegar going to dissolve solid masses in there? It probably won't do any harm, but it isn't going to fix internal laying.

You don't know what is actually going on inside, if an ecoli infection just recently started from feces being sucked back into the oviduct from a "loose" cloaca, if there are huge masses blocking the oviducts or in the abdomen itself (you cannot always feel them and the hen doesn't always have a bloated abdomen).

The symptoms can be indicative of other issues such as ovarian carcinoma, where there is excess fluid in the abdomen, but also at the end, in the lungs and that is fatal. No antibiotic will cure cancer. The only way you know which you are dealing with is when you open up the dead hen and find either the masses or fibroid-like masses and little fatty tumor-like growths all along the intestines and oviduct, which mean carcimona.

 

[klmclain1]

EYP is an inflammation that can be due to infection...not necessarily internal laying. Egg Yolk Peritonitis by definition is:

Yolk material by itself induces a mild inflammatory response and may be reabsorbed by the peritoneum. Because yolk is an excellent growth medium for bacteria, peritonitis may result from secondary bacterial infection.

A vinegar flush has a very good chance of killing the bacteria causing the infection.

The original poster indicated they thought it was EYP - so I provided EYP treatment...not treatment for any of the other things mentioned by other posters. I hope this clarifies my post.

 

[speckledhen]

I understand that you can have an infection without the internal laying part at first. However, they do seem to go hand in hand; and, in addition to that, a chicken's body solidifies liquid infection, as it does with bumblefoot, hence the cheesy masses. If she has an infection, IMO, you're better off to go straight to the penicillin injections and nip it in the bud since you cannot be certain, unless you are very experienced in chicken anatomy and know exactly what you're doing, that vinegar is going into the oviduct or the intestines.

 

[Lexikan]

I am going to proceed on the basis that it is EYP and not a cancer. I will try what you suggested, Thank you. I have not ever given a shot. Is the penicillin only given by injection? Can I harm her if I push too hard or stick it in the incorrect spot?

 

[Lexikan]

I understand. I will get the penicillin and start there. Thank you.

 

[speckledhen]

Penicillin is injectible, yes. Feedstores should have it in their refrigerator, though you need to let it come up to room temp before using, or just get it in the syringe (we use a 22 gauge needle) and then let that come up to temp in the syringe itself. You inject in the breast muscle, just about 1/8", enough to get it into the muscle. Feel the keel bone (breast bone) then go to either side of that to the meaty part. As you may know, when you draw it into the syringe, get a bit more than you need, the push some back into the bottle to remove air bubbles. You can find all sorts of stuff on the net that tells you how to give an injection, I'm sure.

Alternate sides each day for 3-4 days. We do 3/4-1 cc per day, which is a heavy dose for this ailment. Then you wait it out to see if it helps.

 

[klmclain1]

Also, once the needle is in the breast, you should pull the plunger out just a little ways and make sure there's no blood that comes back into the syringe. If there is blood, you've hit a vein and need to reposition the needle.