Is this Egg Yolk Peritonitis? *GRAPHIC PICTURES ATTACHED*

[Apags18]

Hi everyone! We recently lost one of our sweet 3.5 year old RIR hens, Redrum. I’ve been dealing with health issues with her for an awhile now. She’d seem to get better then she would hide in the corner of a room and puff up and not move . She hasn’t laid eggs in a long time and also laid a lash egg twice. So I was suspecting egg yolk peritonitis. I mostly tried natural remedies since I couldn’t find a vet near us who saw chickens. I recently was able to get my hands on some antibiotics but I think it was too late. She started declining rapidly this past week so we had decided to euthanize, but she passed away herself before we could.

Anyway, my dad and I performed our own necropsy on her and the pictures below show what we found. Were my suspicions true? Is this egg yolk peritonitis? It was a massive area inside her filled with this puss and it smelled terrible!

This was for sure a learning experience! Just relieved she is no longer suffering. Hoping we won’t have to deal with this again anytime soon, but at least I know what to do for next time.

The first picture of her was from a while ago when she was healthy. The last two pictures are from today when we opened her up.

Thanks in advanced for any insight!

 

[Eggcessive]

Very sorry for your loss. Yes, that is coliform salpingitis which causes coelomitis (egg yolk peritonitis.) It is a common cause of death in hens. E. Coli infection inside the oviduct and abdomen is a usual cause. The bacteria can travel up through the oviduct from the vent, and some bacteria can enter the bloodstream and travel to the abdomen. Here is some reading with pictures:
https://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/diseases-of-poultry/178/escherichia-coli-infections

https://extension.umaine.edu/publications/2114e/

 

[Apags18]

Very sorry for your loss. Yes, that is coliform salpingitis which causes coelomitis (egg yolk peritonitis.) It is a common cause of death in hens. E. Coli infection inside the oviduct and abdomen is a usual cause. The bacteria can travel up through the oviduct from the vent, and some bacteria can enter the bloodstream and travel to the abdomen. Here is some reading with pictures:
https://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/diseases-of-poultry/178/escherichia-coli-infections

https://extension.umaine.edu/publications/2114e/

Thank you!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Wow! Poor baby! @Apags18 I want to thank you and commend you for so much you did right here. First for your courage in culling this lovely hen. Second for bravely doing a necropsy to confirm your suspicions of salpingitis. And finally for your generosity in sharing these pictures. They are not pretty, but if they help another chicken keeper gather their courage and do right by their suffering hen if/when it becomes necessary, then your effortdwill havecertainly been worth it. Again, thank you.

 

[Apags18]

Wow! Poor baby! @Apags18 I want to thank you and commend you for so much you did right here. First for your courage in culling this lovely hen. Second for bravely doing a necropsy to confirm your suspicions of salpingitis. And finally for your generosity in sharing these pictures. They are not pretty, but if they help another chicken keeper gather their courage and do right by their suffering hen if/when it becomes necessary, then your effortdwill havecertainly been worth it. Again, thank you.

Thank you! She actually passed right before we were going to cull her. I knew she was not ok. Just thankful she is no longer suffering. Another thing to add is that a day or so before she passed I noticed her keel was very prominent, but her lower abdomen was very large and rock hard. She I knew she was underweight. That made me think she def either had a tumor or it was egg yolk peritonitis. I never thought I’d want to open up one of our chickens (they are pets to us as well as farm animals), but I knew this was a great learning opportunity. My dad did most of the work but I help hold her in place. But thank you again! I hope this post could help someone else in the further. I know now having seen some of the symptoms she had, I hope that if we have another hen in the future with this I will act sooner with treatment.