Maybe egg yolk peritonitis. Will increasing hours of darkness help hen stop laying and heal?

[JoHennBock]

My black sex link, Penny, is about 1.5 years old. She was a prolific layer for about a year. About 4 months ago, she started having calcium deposits on her eggs and soon after, started laying thinner shelled eggs. About two months ago, we started finding broken eggs off the roost every few days and an occasional cracked but mended egg. It took us a while to realize that these eggs were Penny's because we also had two pullets coming into laying age at the same time and originally thought they might just be early misfires. Now, we know it is Penny and all her eggs have been broken in the last 4-5 days. Yesterday and today, she has acted a little lethargic and has been isolating herself and not eating a lot. We called a vet and can't get her in until Monday. In the meantime, we have given her a tiny amount of the antibiotics we have available, as well as a tiny amount of anti inflammatory. We currently have her inside where it is cool and calm. She has eaten a little and did lay a strange half-formed, half-soft egg - the first technically unbroken one this week. I am wondering, should keep her inside away from the flock overnight? How long should I keep her separated, if so? And since she is having reproductive problems, would it be beneficial to keep her area dark - like winter - to hopefully stop her egg production while she heals? I've seen the cost associated with hormone supplements/injections, and I am doing my best to help her without spending hundreds of dollars in vet bills and long-term procedures and medical maintenance. Any thoughts?

 

[JoHennBock]

 

[LaFleche]

Did you already try to supplement her with extra calcium+Vitamin D3+VitaminK or something similar? Prolific layers can suffer from calcium deficiencies despite being offered oyster shell ad lib.

 

[JoHennBock]

Did you already try to supplement her with extra calcium+Vitamin D3+VitaminK or something similar? Prolific layers can suffer from calcium deficiencies despite being offered oyster shell

 

[JoHennBock]

Thank you for responding! I have tried vitamin d and calcium beyond oyster shell. I've given her scrambled eggs with egg shell in them regularly on top of her layer pellet food. She has 3 flock mates that all seem perfectly healthy. I'm just a little perplexed. I am totally game to try anything though.

 

[LaFleche]

What exactly, how much and for how long did you give her the extra calcium? It can take up to a month or longer of extra supplementation to refill her exhausted calcium reservoirs, as her bones will also be deficient by now and need some extra.

When did you last deworm her?

 

[JoHennBock]

What exactly, how much and for how long did you give her the extra calcium? It can take up to a month or longer of extra supplementation to refill her exhausted calcium reservoirs, as her bones will also be deficient by now and need some extra.

When did you last deworm her?

I took her to the vet and things seem to be improving quickly! He said it was likely a uterine infection caused by an internal broken egg or one breaking on the way out, but it doesn't seem to be full on peritonitis. Whew! She is on Clavomax for 7 days. She has already laid one solid egg (that isn't edible because of antibiotics) and her behavior is back to normal. I am really relieved!!

 

[LaFleche]

I took her to the vet and things seem to be improving quickly! He said it was likely a uterine infection caused by an internal broken egg or one breaking on the way out, but it doesn't seem to be full on peritonitis. Whew! She is on Clavomax for 7 days. She has already laid one solid egg (that isn't edible because of antibiotics) and her behavior is back to normal. I am really relieved!!

That is good news!

 

[Katanahamon]

That is good news!

There’s a wonderful site, here’s for your info and files..

https://www.walkervillevet.com.au/pet-care-advice/chickens/
https://www.walkervillevet.com.au/blog/is-my-chicken-egg-bound/

Help! My Chicken Is Egg Bound​

Updated June 6, 2021
‘At A Glance (Details Below)’ Emergency Care

How To Treat An Egg Bound Chicken​

1. Your chicken is almost certainly not egg-bound- true egg binding is rare
2. When a chicken is egg bound, it is mostly due to poor nutrition such as attempting to feed chickens entirely on table scraps
3. Most cases suspected of egg binding are really egg peritonitis or internal lay

Now dive deeper.​

What Is Egg Binding?​

Egg binding is when an egg gets stuck and a chicken can’t pass it easily. Signs are of repeated efforts to lay, or prolapse of part of the uterus through the vent. It can be nasty and is most often associated with low calcium diets.
What if I said egg binding in chickens almost doesn’t happen? What if most of the internet advice and guide books on how to treat your egg bound chicken are not only wrong and a waste of time, but actually harmful to a sick chook with a completely different problem?
If you have chickens and want to know how to get them to live a long life, or want help choosing chicken breeds, then this is the blog for you. Because the disease that people wrongly think is egg binding is the number one killer of chickens.

Yolk Peritonitis vs Egg Binding​

The REAL disease is egg peritonitis, also called internal lay, when one or many egg yolks are lost into the abdomen. Normally egg yolks are passed from the ovary to the oviduct. However, in egg peritonitis the yolk is either ruptured (we all know how fragile they are) or misses its target. Then it gets infected with E. coli bacteria.
Why does it happen? No one can say for sure, but it may be when birds are spooked, or handled roughly, or laying one egg at the same time as ovulating another. What is important is that it happens mainly to the high-producing breeds.
HyLine or ISA Browns are the commonest point-of-lay pullets sold in Adelaide (one is shown below). They are beautiful animals with unique personalities and become loved like any pets. However, despite the fact that a chicken can live 8 or 9 years (the record is 16!) most HyLine or ISA Browns die of egg peritonitis between two and three years of age.

 

[JoHennBock]

There’s a wonderful site, here’s for your info and files..

https://www.walkervillevet.com.au/pet-care-advice/chickens/
https://www.walkervillevet.com.au/blog/is-my-chicken-egg-bound/

Help! My Chicken Is Egg Bound​

Updated June 6, 2021
‘At A Glance (Details Below)’ Emergency Care

How To Treat An Egg Bound Chicken​

1. Your chicken is almost certainly not egg-bound- true egg binding is rare
2. When a chicken is egg bound, it is mostly due to poor nutrition such as attempting to feed chickens entirely on table scraps
3. Most cases suspected of egg binding are really egg peritonitis or internal lay

Now dive deeper.​

What Is Egg Binding?​

Egg binding is when an egg gets stuck and a chicken can’t pass it easily. Signs are of repeated efforts to lay, or prolapse of part of the uterus through the vent. It can be nasty and is most often associated with low calcium diets.
What if I said egg binding in chickens almost doesn’t happen? What if most of the internet advice and guide books on how to treat your egg bound chicken are not only wrong and a waste of time, but actually harmful to a sick chook with a completely different problem?
If you have chickens and want to know how to get them to live a long life, or want help choosing chicken breeds, then this is the blog for you. Because the disease that people wrongly think is egg binding is the number one killer of chickens.

Yolk Peritonitis vs Egg Binding​

The REAL disease is egg peritonitis, also called internal lay, when one or many egg yolks are lost into the abdomen. Normally egg yolks are passed from the ovary to the oviduct. However, in egg peritonitis the yolk is either ruptured (we all know how fragile they are) or misses its target. Then it gets infected with E. coli bacteria.
Why does it happen? No one can say for sure, but it may be when birds are spooked, or handled roughly, or laying one egg at the same time as ovulating another. What is important is that it happens mainly to the high-producing breeds.
HyLine or ISA Browns are the commonest point-of-lay pullets sold in Adelaide (one is shown below). They are beautiful animals with unique personalities and become loved like any pets. However, despite the fact that a chicken can live 8 or 9 years (the record is 16!) most HyLine or ISA Browns die of egg peritonitis between two and three years of age.

This is so helpful! Thank you. This community is fantastic!