Egg Yolk Peritonitis!

[OCD-uk]

Hi, I wanted to see if anyone out there has successfully cured, egg yolk bound hen.

Basically I have this hen that seeping out White and yolk colour stuff from her back passage. She has a balloon below her vent and this has been going on for some time.

Firstly she is not my hen - I have taken her in to try and treat her. We have available antibiotics. But I will be interested if anyone has been able to treat a problem like this?

Remember this is different from being EGG BOUND. She is laying eggs with no shell in side her.

I have tried to see if there is anything to syringe, but no it's actually solid.
But despite everything she is still going!

Any ideas? Culling is the easy route and I am trying to do this as a way of helping other chickens rather then just necking her. Which I do all the time. So let's skip that bit out for the time being.

Thanks for reading.

Kat

 

[ChickenCanoe]

As you said, peritonitis is different from egg binding. I haven't had or treated peritonitis but I believe it is caused by a bacterial infection so antibiotics may work but normally it is damage to the reproductive tract while they were a chick.
So, the infection that caused the problem may be long gone. Once the reproductive tract goes awry, I don't think it can be fixed.

 

[chooks4life]

I have had a hen who was an internal layer, but it never escalated beyond a slight swelling of the abdomen. She was raised on a pretty natural diet, no pellets, with kelp and other herbs etc for supplements, and with raw garlic in her foods as a rule every week. The raw garlic is what I think prevented her problem from escalating to life threatening infection.

She had good quality of life which I would think is probably mostly able to be credited to a few things in her regular diet, and one thing that wasn't.

Raw garlic, kelp, fresh green grass, and raspberry leaf, but no pellets. The concentrated and cooked pellets are harmful enough in their own way when they are the only source of oils and proteins birds get, because many of the oils, vitamins etc are synthetic and over-processed, the exact diet known to cause heart disease among other problems including malnutrition in all the animals and humans that primarily live on it. The thing about heart disease is that cardiovascular disease includes the whole body, it's not separate from it, and when it's due to bad oils, it's because the whole body has weak capillaries and reduced circulation. Reduced circulation is less oxygen which is very detrimental to healing never mind normal function, and weak capillaries of course are just more bad news and the whole organism begins to fail unless the dietary fault is fixed. Olive oil (cold pressed) restores flexibility to capillaries and there's many things you can do to boost circulation (though normally it will recover unaided if the cardiovascular system is healthy) and the more circulation and oxygen her tissues get, the quicker she will recover.

Some of the oils commonly used in pet/livestock feeds (and human ones too) are actually classed as industrial lubricants and neurotoxins by the FDA. (i.e. Canola oil). If they don't kill the consumer outright, they're ok, is the general rule of thumb, but this isn't taking into account long term outcomes.

The more natural the oils the better. Canola oil and mineral oil should not be used; olive oil is a greatly beneficial oil for general health and reproductive functions as well as heart health, and is probably the reason I've never had an egg bound hen; I've read it's quoted as one of the main dietary additives that prevents egg binding and from my experience this is true. Cold pressed olive oil, of course.

Subsisting and thriving are two very different things, but malnutrition can take many years to kill, and often the diseases of incomplete or adulterated nutrition masquerade as other diseases or problems and people don't realize it's the diet doing it. Any and every problem is made worse by incorrect or incomplete nutrition.

Raw fresh garlic is antibiotic, with over 34 different antibiotics in it, and Allicin which is formed by the enzyme interaction of the juices of crushed garlic, which dissipates after a few minutes, hours or days depending on different things including the strain of garlic. Raw garlic is also antibacterial, antimicrobial, antifungal, antiparasitic, antiviral, and lots more. It's high in sulfur, which is antiparasitic, antiviral, and encourages and supports rapid tissue healing. This is one of the number one things you could do for her.

Raspberry leaf, and green grass, are both used to stop internal bleeding. Grass detoxifies the system and is a lot more beneficial than one might think. It will assist her in many ways, and she should have access to picking her own fresh green grass, for her healths' sake. Not saying she's hopeless if you can't get her onto grass, but it would help a fair bit. Some substitute with kale, but my chickens for some reason never liked kale and I suspect it may be too high in vitamin A for them, or something else. Birds that have never freeranged will eat anything though, generally speaking. In that case it's up to us to make sure we're not overdosing them on something they wouldn't know to avoid. Even a little kale is better than no grass.

Raspberry leaf has specific action on the female reproductive system, though it helps with both males and the gastrointestinal tracts of both genders as well. It's used to assist births and all female reproductive functions though it is best not given within the weeks before birth as it can induce contractions. It's antiseptic and can cure diarrhea and prevent infections in postpartum animals. It tones the female reproductive tract, and is especially useful with females with problems in that area, though it benefits all females even if they've never had problems.

Kelp's a great natural multivitamin and mineral supplement but it does encourage laying so I wouldn't give it to this hen at this point. Pellets encourage laying too and changing her diet to substitute her protein and mineral/vitamin sources with more natural alternatives would probably make a significant difference. Among more natural forms of protein are mealworms, insects in general, millets, etc and in order to give her supplementary nutrition without provoking laying it may be best to get her a prepackaged multivit/mineral mix. Polyvisol is one thing a lot of people use but I have no experience with it.

Slippery elm bark powder's expensive but you don't need much, and it's a lifesaver for many cases... But of course it depends on how much the hen, or the education you can get from her, is worth to you. It's antiseptic and a mucilage, which repairs all mucosal tissues including those in the reproductive system, and it's highly nutritious as well.

Your hen's progressed fairly far already, it can be hard to reverse some problems if the animal was raised on a diet that didn't support it properly, but I don't know if she was raised without natural oils (which is one of the most damaging things) so I don't know if you can fix it, but wish you all the best with it. As an extreme last resort, just a theory, an ovary removal might fix her problems. You may have seen caponizing done in roosters. I would think it's identical or very nearly so, though a hen with her issues would probably present a unique case because of the buildup. But the operations look pretty harsh, especially as they're done without anesthetics due to the problems with birds and anesthetics, and it would be experimental which is the same thing as illegal in most places due to ethical concerns. If someone who knew what they were doing was willing to do that with her, it would probably solve her problem, but either way you are not too likely to get a good layer out of this hen. Best case scenario is probably that she recovers but never lays again. However, my internal-layer hen never stopped laying despite her permanent slight bloat, so who knows?

Best wishes.

 

[OCD-uk]

Hi, Chooks4life,

Thanks for the quick response and taking the time to respond. I am aware about the ovarian removal, but don't see much point in this. I think I will have a go with the various natural treatments you have advised. Many of which I have known about as I have six children.
To be honest the gentleman that gave me this hen, has been feeding her pellets, but they were probably one of the worst brand I have ever come across. She had stopped eating and drinking for about four days. But is in brighter spirits today, and she is eating. We tend to use a lot of natural yogurts here in the UK, and ACV Which she has been having since I have acquired her. The one reason I believe She is still with us.

I believe that the pellet feed that she has been on has actually been starving her. She has a bony keel bone and a balloon lump in her crop. Although upon extraction there is no smell. But I do feel that she is pretty backed up and I need her to go to the toilet. She hasn't had a bowel movement since I have had her. Just seeping. So I think I will try and give her the Olive oil as well.
Anything you could think of to administer in dosage wise, let me know.

Thanks Again