egg yolk peritonitis?

[newmarch2014]

So to update anyone that may be checking in here. Yes as stated above oxyteracycline is what to look for if the D-10 is not available. My girl had a relapse about a month later, 10 more days of antibiotic water fed once a day was all it took as I caught it very early. She is doing great, grew back all her feathers and is shiny and beautiful and back up near the top of the pecking order. She is not laying eggs at all though I am sure internally laying some. She plopped a shellless egg out in the run one day while I was standing there looking on. I am not one to kill her off just because she is a little high maintenance. She is happy and carries on comfortably like a chicken so we will just keep checking her abdomen and if I feel like her tummy is swelling and warm for 2 days we will just start administering the antibiotic water for 10-12 days each time as long as it works.

 

[newmarch2014]

Update: Ali (the chicken I have been updating about) went through a total of 3 times that I had to treat her for 10 days with the antibiotic. In between she laid no fully formed eggs but did lay a couple with no shell and one with a very soft shell. I caught the 2 subsequent bouts early since I knew what to look for and at the first sign of swelling in her abdomen and lethargy I started her on the antibiotic. She recovered quickly with both bouts. About 2 weeks ago she layed her first fully formed egg with a nice hard shell! She has been laying regular eggs about 4x a week for the past 2 weeks as well!. I have have always left oyster shells available, as well as fed back their egg shells to them for calcium. I have changed a couple things since all this started....I got layer feed from a local mill (great price with great reviews) and I have given them about 8 oz of plain yogurt for 7 hens each week.

 

[Lyndy]

Although it's not contagious, Veterinary manuals say that it can still run through an entire flock. I've had three hens within weeks of each other get EYP.

"Egg peritonitis is characterized by fibrin or albumen-like material with a cooked appearance among the abdominal viscera. It is a common cause of sporadic deaths, but in some flocks may become the major cause of death and give the appearance of a contagious disease. It is diagnosed at necropsy."

 

[newmarch2014]

Although it's not contagious, Veterinary manuals say that it can still run through an entire flock. I've had three hens within weeks of each other get EYP.

"Egg peritonitis is characterized by fibrin or albumen-like material with a cooked appearance among the abdominal viscera. It is a common cause of sporadic deaths, but in some flocks may become the major cause of death and give the appearance of a contagious disease. It is diagnosed at necropsy."

Yes but I would think that if it were affecting an entire flock it would be more likely caused by the feeding practices. For instance if someone feeds a lot of citrus or spinach that impedes calcium uptake to their flock then it would make sense that over time all would be susceptible to broken or soft shelled eggs. Or stress in a flock from a overly aggressive rooster that may cause the same stress on them which would affect a number of them. Mine that was mentioned above seemed to have an internal problem with the production. She finally just had her last bout of it and passed away 2 nights ago. None of my other hens have ever had a problem but I would imagine if someone has a flock of Production Reds or some other breed that is predisposed to laying malfunctions then any dietary or stress conditions would affect more than just one chicken more easily. I only had 2 Production Reds so while one started having problems with internal laying...the other one just stopped laying all together at 2 years old.

 

[Lyndy]

That was my thought at first, that there was something causing a calcium absorption problem. However, after really going over everything, nothing really stuck out. I only have 4 pampered hens, no rooster. I actually clean their coop almost daily, and they always have fresh clean water. They have always have both grit and oyster shells available. I had their droppings tested twice and they are parasite free. The only supplimenting I've done is some dandelion greens, meal worms, crickets, mint, sorrel, and a very occasional pumpkin/squash.

After doing some brainstorming with several Veterinarians, the thought we had was that the layer feed that is most readily available to us, is the same commercial pellet feed that egg farmers use. The feed is scientifically designed to maximize egg production. In a commercial egg farm, they automatically cull hens at about 2-3 years old. It turns out the most common age for EYP is 2 - 2 1/2 years old. It is in the farmer's best interest to have a hen produce the maximum amount of eggs in the minimum amount of time. It's not advantageous for them to have hens that lay less eggs, gradually slow down, and then live another six or seven years without producing. So at the expense of the longevity of the hen, they force them to lay at a super high rate. This essentially overworks and eventually destroys their reproductive tract. Egg Peritonitis happens when the oviduct fails to catch the yolk either because of damage due to internal laying, or shrinkage of the oviduct - both factors of "aging" reproductive tracts. The yolk then travels into the peritoneum and an infection follows. This would be worse for a backyard chicken owner who can't free-range their chickens because their hens will be eating an even greater percentage of layer feed. So when we're thinking about the life span of a hen, it's only 2-3 years in a commercial or large farm, but possibly as long as 10 or more years in a small rural farm setting where the hens were more likely to be free-ranged, fed scraps, and allowed to actually sit on and hatch a clutch of eggs every once and a while. The most likely reason it seems like Egg Yolk Peritonitis runs through a flock is probably because there are many hens of the same approximate age, and they are all eating the same high egg production feed. It seems like a reasonable and logical theory, so I'm starting to do more research on alternate feed, and actually plan on doing more supplimenting with meal worms, forage greens, etc.

 

[Lyndy]

In addition to diet, I'm finding some evidence that raising a breed that is a dual purpose breed (meat and eggs) will give you a healthier hen because the bird is not bred just to be an egg laying machine. So what I'm finding out, is if you simply want to raise chickens for the purpose of getting as many eggs as possible, get a breed that is known for egg productions, feed them layer feed, and you will get a lot of eggs, but your chicken may only live 2 - 3 years. If you want a balance between eggs and a pet hen that will live long, go with a slower egg producing breed and look into alternate food sources. Your hen will not lay as many eggs, but then again, she won't suffer reproductive failure and perhaps death after a couple of years. I'm not allowed to free-range my birds in my community, so I will be growing flats of forage greens to give them, as well as making sure they have protein sources such as bugs, meal worms, crickets, grubs, etc. and I'm going to look into alternate feeds that may work better. The trick is in making sure the suppliments are healthy ones. And when I am ready to raise some new hens, I'm going to look into breeds that are not so high producing. I'm okay with getting less eggs per bird, in order to keep my bird healthy longer.

 

[newmarch2014]

Yes I agree. I like my Buff Orpingtons, they laid 4 eggs a week for the first year, and now 3 on average. They are sweet tempered and personable. I have 2 EE's that are new this year that I see having the same problem in the future as they lay at least 6 eggs a week . I have a first year Brahma that only lays 3-4 as well...to bad she eats enough for 3 regular size birds.
My P.R. that had the reoccurring peritonitis finally passed away last week. I am not sure if it was just the fact that the antibiotics were too much for her so often. She just never snapped back after the last bout like she usually does and then stopped eating completely, She made it to enjoy some roosterless time (he harassed them really bad before I found a home for him) and had a good summer at the top of the pecking order again so I feel like I endeavored to do the best for her but still sucks to have her die at just over 2 years old.

 

[Mudbillkisses]

My ancona duck Persi was not acting herself yesterday. Her laying has been irregular since the days have become shorter (we don't use supplemental lighting in coop) and she lays every morning- every other usually. I noticed she was laying at different times and hadn't laid in a few days. She was less mobile staying in the coop and walked like she was favoring one side- her breathing seemed more labored as well. She was still eating and drinking. We brought her to our avian vet and on the way there she laid a very small (quail sized) egg (with no yolk). This has never happened before. The x-ray showed no other egg, foreign object or shell pieces. Her abdomen felt different, perhaps swollen but oviduct looks fine. The vet thinks she has egg yolk peritonitis and gave her a fluid skin injection and pain killer. Shes on meloxicam for inflammation for the next 7 days. My questions are: how do I gauge how serious this is? I saw that some recommended antibiotic use- I'm not sure why my vet didn't prescribe it and/or when it's appropriate? I need advise. My vet is only available twice a week and I want to stay on top of this. When does this become fatal- is it bacterial infection? Thanks for your help

 

[micstrachan]

Thank you! This gives me hope. My girl is in this hospital with this very condition. They drained over a cup of fluid from her abdomen. She'll be getting IV fluids with antiinflammatories and antibiotics.

 

[gayleann]

Your story is from 2012, but the message is not getting through as it should.
My chicken, Poppy, was suffering from weight loss, penguin walking, wet diahrrea, standing with her tail down, laying down a lot. All of these symptoms are often attributed to egg binding. One vet even said that was what she had. He gave her calcium and a penicillin type drug. He said that sometimes eggs can set up there for a while and to wait and see what happened.
These symptoms are more likely to be egg-yolk peritonitis and should be seen to right away. Egg-yolk peritonitis, according to a second vet, is way and above more common that egg-binding.
I refer to this article: http://www.theveterinaryexpert.com/backyard-poultry/egg-yolk-peritonitis/
She is currently out of surgery where the vet removed copious fluid, 6 egg yolks, and one stuck egg yolk in her oviduct.
She may not recover from the surgery, she may have continued problems afterwards.
However, if she had been diagnosed earlier, by the first vet, and by the majority of posts on the internet, she would be standing a better chance.
I intend to post the symptoms and the possible diagnosis wherever I can as a counter to the information that might lead someone to egg binding.
Thanks for the forum.
Gayle