Is it time?

[BuddingGardener]

I’ve been hyperfixating and spiraling a little and would like … I don’t know, some reassurance that I’m approaching this the right way ahead of our veterinary follow up on Monday evening. I have a 3.5 year old black australorp hen (named Betsy), sweet as can be. She is a true cuddle chicken. However, she has a track record of laying difficulties during the transition between going in and out of lay for molting. In her entire life she has only gone through one transition infection-free; for the rest she has needed bactrim/smz-tmp antibiotics to clear up her reproductive infections. Her symptoms would be lethargy, blood in droppings, and bleeding with egg laying. Veterinary diagnoses were assumed early salpingitis, and I had been warned with each occurrence that it is highly likely to keep happening.

A couple of weeks ago she started showing signs of funky egg laying for her transition out of lay. At first it was tiny yolkless fairy eggs with a normal shell and she was passing them just fine. This transitioned to soft shelled eggs without a yolk, then deflated membranes full of whites in the shape of her oviduct. With the last instance, I noticed that she was refusing to eat much at all and started acting a little bit sedate, so I called a vet. I wanted her checked out ASAP since I knew she had a history of infection.

At her appointment last Thursday I was informed that her oviduct was definitely inflamed and the vet could feel a possible yolk deposited in her abdomen. We were given a course of smz-tmp again for seven days twice a day along with meloxicam. She seemed to be improving and returning to her normal self, clucking happily, active, and seeking affection. That changed Wednesday morning.

In her tray I spotted dropping with off-color urates, a bit of a yellow tint. Throughout the day I noticed she was still active but a little more subdued than normal; she ate less vigorously than normal too. I contacted her vet and he suggested a recheck, so I called and made the appointment as soon as possible — Monday evening.

Here are my concerns.

I was told at our Thursday appointment that the antibiotics may stop working for her since she is a breed with a higher rate of production and these problems tend to recur. When they stop working well, my options are limited. I could perform oviduct removal surgery but I understand that is incredibly risky for a weak hen, and I’m not feeling optimistic about her chances of a full recovery if she can make it through the spay. I asked about the hormone implant to stop laying and I was told that there is no way for chickens to receive the implant anymore and it is illegal to use. I know there’s Lupron injections but those costs rack up and they are not a guarantee that her yolk release will stop.

Is it giving up on my adorable, lovely, amazing girl to consider that we may need to euthanize her if this is our only option? Am I getting ahead of myself?

Truly I’m worried that the risks of this kind of surgery outweigh the benefits and I know recovery is very difficult. I could hope that there is another, less invasive way to treat her, but for now I’m spoiling her as much as possible and trying to keep her happy over the weekend ahead of the appointment; we finished her antibiotic course and she’s not as improved at the end of them as I would have liked. She's still eating and willing to be active, but she definitely slows down for extended periods during the day, opting to rest rather than forage. Her abdomen also feels full and distended.

I’m deeply sad about this and would like to hear any opinions, thoughts, or encouragement about this case.

I’ve attached photos of my Betsy girl and her droppings from the other night — the yellow tint is subtle but there, like a mucus coating, and there’s a tiny bit of blood on the underside. This morning her droppings were scarce and greasy, quite mucusy.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

 

[coach723]

Some vets will do the implant for "pet" birds, despite the law. Just depends on the vet.
Sorry you are faced with this, it's always a hard decision. And no one wants to make a decision based on dollars, but everyone has a different capacity for what they can reasonably pay to treat a pet.
If you are questioning whether it's time, then that is part of the answer already.
What I base my decisions on is, quality of life, and what I can reasonably do for them. If they have quality of life, can do normal chicken things, are not obviously unwell, not uncomfortable with no way to ease that, or not in pain I can't fix, then I try to give them a chance to live out their lives as they can. But I won't let them suffer. I feel like I owe them that much since they don't get to choose.
When birds develop reproductive problems it is usually a slow (or not so slow sometimes) downhill slide for them. Most of the causes don't have good or very successful results. Surgery, and anesthesia is risky for birds. If that is something you want to do, and the cost is ok with you, then certainly your choice. But I would go into it knowing that she may not make it through. No one wants to think that, but it's the truth. And no way to know til it happens.
It truly sucks that they get things that we can't fix. But that is part of chicken keeping. Another truth is that because of inherent survival instinct, they work very, very hard at hiding illness. So if your bird is acting ill you can be assured they're probably very, very ill.
I've no idea if any of that is helpful or not. I dislike making the decision as much as anybody, breaks my heart a little each time. But I've also found over the years that the struggle with the decision is the worst part.

 

[BuddingGardener]

Some vets will do the implant for "pet" birds, despite the law. Just depends on the vet.
Sorry you are faced with this, it's always a hard decision. And no one wants to make a decision based on dollars, but everyone has a different capacity for what they can reasonably pay to treat a pet.
If you are questioning whether it's time, then that is part of the answer already.
What I base my decisions on is, quality of life, and what I can reasonably do for them. If they have quality of life, can do normal chicken things, are not obviously unwell, not uncomfortable with no way to ease that, or not in pain I can't fix, then I try to give them a chance to live out their lives as they can. But I won't let them suffer. I feel like I owe them that much since they don't get to choose.
When birds develop reproductive problems it is usually a slow (or not so slow sometimes) downhill slide for them. Most of the causes don't have good or very successful results. Surgery, and anesthesia is risky for birds. If that is something you want to do, and the cost is ok with you, then certainly your choice. But I would go into it knowing that she may not make it through. No one wants to think that, but it's the truth. And no way to know til it happens.
It truly sucks that they get things that we can't fix. But that is part of chicken keeping. Another truth is that because of inherent survival instinct, they work very, very hard at hiding illness. So if your bird is acting ill you can be assured they're probably very, very ill.
I've no idea if any of that is helpful or not. I dislike making the decision as much as anybody, breaks my heart a little each time. But I've also found over the years that the struggle with the decision is the worst part.

The struggle and the worry IS the worst part. The signs of her illness are relatively subtle to people who don't know her like I do, but they're there. She no longer wants cuddle time, for instance, and the extra short rest breaks and subtle waddle in her step to accommodate the fluids. I had hoped I caught her issues this round early enough that some antibiotics would help, but when the vet said he could feel a possible yolk in her abdomen I did start to worry about whether she could reabsorb the material without issues.

You did help -- if in no other way, than to reinforce what I already researched and read about. I have read about successful surgeries, but they weren't successful without bumps in the road and a very long and hard recovery. I also just don't feel like that will set her up for a happy and healthy chicken life afterwards, especially when there is no guarantee she won't drop yolks. If there is a vet that will implant a chicken around here I haven't found one, and even so, I think using the implant without surgery *now* would be too little too late.

It's been a sad year for chicken keeping for me because I euthanized another one of my girls for bad tumors. She started having yellow urates, I took her in for an exam and the vet said they'll try to drain her fluid and go from there --- and the 'fluid' was straight blood, no matter where he tried to drain her. She had neurological signs of tumors so I knew it was coming, and I knew there was no real treatment for her, so I felt at peace letting her go before she started behaving extremely sick.

It's always the sweet ones, though, isn't it? Completely unfair.

Today she's doing all right as can be, though. I will continue to watch her and spoil her over the weekend and hopefully make it to Monday for an appointment. My husband kindly took the afternoon off work so he can shuttle kids to activities after school while I take her in and we make decisions.

 

[coach723]

I have cried alligator tears over some birds.
And yes, it seems like it always happens to the favorite ones.
And having cared for them, trying to help, and spending so much time with them, just makes it hard. Fur or feathers, we love them all the same.