egg yolk peritonitus complications...

[indicolts]

Hi, we’re hoping someone can help one of our chickens who has been in a very sickly way for the last 8 days. A bit of history here – we already lost one to egg yolk peritonitis – we discovered what she was suffering from WAY too late to save her. Unfortunately, another hen has been diagnosed and treated for the same condition. We brought her into a vet where they drained as much of the excess yolk as they could, and we left with antibiotics to be applied AM/PM. The thing is, as soon as we brought her back, she IMMEDIATELY started to exhibit a severe limp, where she could barely walk, just to get back to her coup for the night. The next day, she was not able to walk at all, and we isolated her, in order for her to recover as much as possible, we hand feed (food/water) her several times a day. Sometimes she’s interest, sometimes not. The thing is, she SEEMS to want to get up, but then falls face forward, and will lie there on her stomach, face to the ground, until we lift her up and prop her up – with straw. She isn’t getting much better, but does still eat on occasion, and then when we present “treats” like meal worms, she does seem to want to peck at them quite a bit. Could she be so weak from the peritonitis that she is having THAT much trouble getting up, much less walking? I think it was a super coincidence she started to limp as soon as we brought her back. What could be going on here? We desperately want to bring her back to good health – but she seems to be languishing, and we certainly don’t want her to be suffering. Please help!

 

[speckledhen]

If he used a needle, he didn't drain egg yolk. He drained fluid and maybe some liquid infection. There are solid masses in her abdomen, most likely. He may have hit a nerve when he did that, which is making it hard for her to walk. And it could be permanent, depending on what he did.

Was he an avian vet or just a plain vet?

You really cannot treat it other than with antibiotics, but even then, that won't dissolve any solidified masses, which is the way that a chicken's body deals with infection, as it does with bumblefoot. I hope she gets better, but I have my doubts, I'm sorry to say.

 

[Fred's Hens]

I'm sorry to say that this sort of thing rarely ends well. Putting down a hen suffering from an internal mess is never easy, but ending suffering is also important. Watch her for another day, but I suspect you'll have to do the courageous, difficult but proper thing.

 

[indicolts]

Thank you very much for your responses. It was an Avian vet, we traveled miles in order for her to be seen by a proper vet. This is the first time I have learned of "masses" that can develop inside of the chicken in the aftermath of a peritonitus condition. All the other FAQs or info I have off of the web, do indicate it is serious and can "take time" for the chicken to recover. But seeing your replies, it doesn't look good. We were going to give her until this Friday to "recover" or show some type of improvement before finally deciding to say goodbye. We've been trying our darndest to give the poor girl a chance. This is very frustrating, she has been hanging on as best she can, and then it looks like we'll have to let her go anyway.

 

[speckledhen]

EYP can, in rare cases, present without solid masses, but I have never seen that happen. You can't see when it begins to start antibiotics, so infection turns solid, blocking off the oviduct, or yolks drop into the abdomen.

If you like, I can post pictures of masses we've removed from hens after they passed on to show you what may be in there. You cannot always feel anything by palpating the outside of the abdomen, especially if they are only in the oviduct. I can't say for sure what is inside your hen, but I know from experience draining hens that yolk isn't what comes out of there.


These threads may be helpful to you.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=362422

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=195347

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ences-on-egg-reproduction-production-necropsy

 

[indicolts]

thank you for your response(s) and the informative threads. So we can pretty much assume that she has those masses in her, and even if we were to nurse her back to health (which seems to be unlikely at this point), she wouldn't be able to walk because of the masses? That may be the reason she isn't walking now? A combination of the suspected masses and she probably feels pretty weak. It doesn't look like there is much more we can do at this point, given this information. I don't know if there is any point letting her "hang on" like this. We were going to give her until this Friday to "improve", but given this latest piece of information, I don't know that there is much point. It's more than a shame really. She has been fighting as much as she possibly can, we've been hand feeding her throughout the day, and giving her antibiotics regularly. I never had any clue that chickens can be this delicate sometimes.

 

[speckledhen]

I've only had one hen not be able to walk suddenly like that and she had ovarian cancer, with a fibroid-like growth that was pushing on nerves, causing Reba to do a squat-walk.

In truth, I think the vet hit a nerve when he drained your hen.


They can go for many months with the condition, but when they begin to lose massive amounts of weight (you feel the keel bone and it feels very, very sharp, like no meat on the breast), that is when they are in the final stages of it. I've had them go 8 months without laying, then upon death, found huge masses in both oviduct and abdomen. Honestly, I find that rather tough, not delicate at all. It's amazing how they can carry on with that poison in their bodies.

 

[indicolts]

funny you should say that, I know absolutely NOTHING about chickens - (well I guess I'm learning slowly), and that was the first thing I thought of, that the vet hit a nerve when she drained our hen...

So you're saying it's 99.9% certain that she has masses inside of her? Could that prevent her from moving (apart from the theory that the vet hit a nerve)? I guess I am looking for ANY signs of hope of pulling her out of her "funk". All she does is lay in her box on top of the straw. Every now and again, she'll strain to move from one side to another. Like I said, she seems to be interested in meal worms, and other types of goodies - but mostly has that sleepy look in her eyes (eye lids closing) and she'll just lay there looking pretty forlorn. When I move her out of her box to clean it out (poop looks greenish with some white pasty stuff), she'll cluck a little like she's in pain, or maybe she's just scared - I don't know.

 

[speckledhen]

I can't really say anything for certain about exactly what is inside your hen. The only hens I've had with difficulty walking were my Olivia because of her huge bowling ball abdomen, who we had to drain fluid from several times, and Reba, who had something pressing on a nerve. Once Olivia was drained, she would proceed to walk more normally. None of the others had trouble walking from the cheesy masses inside until they were becoming very weak at the end.