Perfect Example of EYP — Graphic Photos

[Mimi13]

I'm wondering what it could have been as well, I'll definitely be following this thread and seeing what I can find on this one. Could it possibly be coming from her vent?

I don’t think so. Nothing clear was coming from it. Bless her heart, she couldn’t help it, but she had a big old dollop of stuff drop out onto my shirt where it appropriately ran on down onto my shorts. No smell though.

 

[TheMother]

This thread is for informational purposes. I have not dealt with a lot of chicken diseases, but this particular case I strongly believe is egg yolk peritonitis (EYP); however, if anyone has any other information I welcome it. I am here to learn and to share what I have learned. Thank you in advance.

I found my little Splash Ameraucana in the nest box one evening when I went to lock up the birds. It was about 70* that evening, yet she was panting heavily. When I reached in to remove her I noticed she was very hot and she was sitting in a pool of water (sweat). All of this was odd to me, but I also thought she was just broody so I proceeded to put her in the broody breaker and went back inside to finish supper. But, I kept worrying about her. After I finished supper I went back out to get her.

Ordinarily a broody would have already gotten up from her “flattened out” position, but Isabella was still laying right where I had put her. I picked her up and carried her inside. While walking inside, some yellow and white ‘stuff’ dripped from her vent. It looked like a mustard/mayo mixture. I don’t know why I always make comparisons to food. Appetizing, I know.

I sat down on the toilet seat with her in my lap and my chicken first aid kit on the counter. She was still breathing extremely hard and sweating profusely. I took out my old bulb thermometer (you know, the kind you have to shake down and the kind with the mercury that you aren’t supposed to touch and I used to play with) to take her temperature. The highest number printed on it was 106* and the mercury went as far as it could go — so her temp was at least 109+*.

My first thought was what could I give her to get that temp down. Her eyes were still open and she was holding her head up all while laying in my lap. She was laying still and I was bumfuzzled. I despise feeling helpless! And helpless I was! I had absolutely no idea what to do to help my little girl.

I began thinking what I was going to do with her during the nighttime hours. I placed a towel in my bathtub and placed her there. She was not able to “sit up” straight. She fell over to the side, but still was able to hold her head up and her eyes were open. I walked into the kitchen to wash a waterer to put in the tub with her. As far as I could tell she was not going to try to get out of the tub during the night.

As I was washing I heard a strange noise coming from the bathroom. I can’t really describe it other than they were one syllable sounds like “mwah, mwah, mwah.” I ran to see what was going on. My little Isabella was dying right then and there and there was nothing I could do.She was gone in less than a minute.

“Well” is all I could muster out. Never did I imagine this. I was in a kind of shock! It was already late so I wrapped her up and placed her in the refrigerator so I could do a necropsy on her in the morning.

Now I examine every bird I slaughter, mainly for learning purposes and simple curiosity. Never have I seen this, but then again the birds I’ve slaughtered have all been male. I would dare say the majority of internal problems are in the females. Isabella was the fourth hen that I’ve necropsied. All four had major internal problems — diseases, I suppose. The following pictures show what I found.

Spoiler: Necropsy Photos — Graphic

View attachment 2223026
Even though Isabella seemed happy and healthy, she was extremely thin. I immediately noticed the darkness of her gut area.View attachment 2223034Never had I seen the dark abdomen. The dried yellow and white stuff from her vent can be seen. View attachment 2223040This next picture shows the insides after I pulled her skin back. The yellow showing here is fat, as best I can tell. This is what fat looked like in all the other birds I’ve opened. Another thing I noticed was the size of her vent. It appears very large.View attachment 2223037View attachment 2223038
I removed the breasts and the visceral membrane that holds the innards. The yellow in this picture is not fat. It is egg yolk. All of her organs and intestines were completely surrounded by this firm yolk. Perfectly encased. View attachment 2223042View attachment 2223043With the outer shell of egg yolk peeled back, I could see her entire cavity was filled with a thickened, but not solid yolk.View attachment 2223044Everything inside her was covered in egg yolk.

View attachment 2223046The odor was clearly the smell of egg yolk. Warm, thickened egg yolk.

She was still producing eggs at a steady rate. There were yolks of all different sizes in her. It’s unfortunate they weren’t being picked up by the oviduct. I did not pull the oviduct out and examine it other than noticing there was no egg in it. Funny thing is, Isabella was still laying occasionally, even though I cannot remember exactly when her last egg was. View attachment 2223049

If anyone has anything to add, please do so. Or, if I need to be corrected on anything, please do that as well.

The way I look at these type things is we might as well learn everything we can about why a bird died. If I, or anyone else, can learn something from Isabella, then her death was not in vain.

Wow! Thoroughly an enjoyable post. Although at the expense of your hen. Sorry for that!
But thank you for the information!

 

[Mimi13]

Wow! Thoroughly an enjoyable post. Although at the expense of your hen. Sorry for that!
But thank you for the information!

But as I said earlier, if we all can learn her death was not in vain.

 

[Neggative]

hear hear!!!

 

[Mimi13]

Here are a couple of pictures of my beautiful Isabella. She was as sweet, if not sweeter, than she was beautiful. My grandson and sidekick, MK, loved her as well. This bird literally knew her name and would come running to me when I specifically called her. If only I had known she had problems much sooner.

 

[Neggative]

she looks amazing..... R.I.P.

 

[Ihavesomechickens]

Here are a couple of pictures of my beautiful Isabella. She was as sweet, if not sweeter, than she was beautiful. My grandson and sidekick, MK, loved her as well. This bird literally knew her name and would come running to me when I specifically called her. If only I had known she had problems much sooner.
View attachment 2223160View attachment 2223162

Don’t beat yourself up about it. You really couldn’t treat it, as EYP is a non-curable disease. Someone might know a way to fix it, but to the best of my knowledge you can’t treat it. You can really only make them comfortable before they pass.

You did all you could based on your knowledge at the time. She would be very thankful you made her last moments happy ones.

 

[Mimi13]

Don’t beat yourself up about it. You really couldn’t treat it, as EYP is a non-curable disease. Someone might know a way to fix it, but to the best of my knowledge you can’t treat it. You can really only make them comfortable before they pass.

You did all you could based on your knowledge at the time. She would be very thankful you made her last moments happy ones.

I think, if caught early, a hen can be given a round of antibiotics to keep infection down, but the antibiotics will not keep it from happening again. However, from all I’ve read, the hen can receive a hormonal implant that will keep her from ovulating (producing yolks). That is not an option for me though.

Now even though I grow close to these little creatures while they are here with me and feel terrible if they happen to pass, life must go on. Chickens, and ducks, are creatures of nature, but since they are under our care we naturally feel bad when something happens.

But here’s the clencher, we must be diligent in how we care for them, making sure we keep them as safe from predators as we can, and keeping them well fed and always with fresh water. I have been very fortunate not to have lost a bird to a predator. And I’m thankful for that.

We have horses, dogs, cats and bees in addition to my chickens and ducks. Unfortunately, I just lost my female chocolate lab and couple of weeks ago and my male chocolate lab 18 months ago. Both were 12+ years old. It hurts a little more losing an animal that you’ve lived with for that long. Sad thing is, I have two more old dogs, one is 13 and the other is 12. Pretty soon I will be down to my one and only, fairly young at 3 years old, Great Pyrenees/German Shepherd mix. She showed up in our barn one freezing March day, absolutely skin and bones. That little starving mutt has been a godsend to our family. And she is not little any more. She is a giant.

Thankfully we have not lost a horse yet, even though my son’s roping horse is an old man now at 30. He’s a big old fella. The other five range from 5 to 20 years. Heck, I am getting on up there in years and worry enough about myself and my DH. Some of these animals will probably outlive us!

Back to the original animal we were discussing. I am certain I have at least one, and probably 3-4 more hens, that are probably suffering with some type of reproductive disorder that will claim them. Problem is, chickens are stoic animals and don’t show their illnesses. That is nature though and I can’t argue with that.

 

[Vickischics]

This thread is for informational purposes. I have not dealt with a lot of chicken diseases, but this particular case I strongly believe is egg yolk peritonitis (EYP); however, if anyone has any other information I welcome it. I am here to learn and to share what I have learned. Thank you in advance.

I found my little Splash Ameraucana in the nest box one evening when I went to lock up the birds. It was about 70* that evening, yet she was panting heavily. When I reached in to remove her I noticed she was very hot and she was sitting in a pool of water (sweat). All of this was odd to me, but I also thought she was just broody so I proceeded to put her in the broody breaker and went back inside to finish supper. But, I kept worrying about her. After I finished supper I went back out to get her.

Ordinarily a broody would have already gotten up from her “flattened out” position, but Isabella was still laying right where I had put her. I picked her up and carried her inside. While walking inside, some yellow and white ‘stuff’ dripped from her vent. It looked like a mustard/mayo mixture. I don’t know why I always make comparisons to food. Appetizing, I know.

I sat down on the toilet seat with her in my lap and my chicken first aid kit on the counter. She was still breathing extremely hard and sweating profusely. I took out my old bulb thermometer (you know, the kind you have to shake down and the kind with the mercury that you aren’t supposed to touch and I used to play with) to take her temperature. The highest number printed on it was 106* and the mercury went as far as it could go — so her temp was at least 109+*.

My first thought was what could I give her to get that temp down. Her eyes were still open and she was holding her head up all while laying in my lap. She was laying still and I was bumfuzzled. I despise feeling helpless! And helpless I was! I had absolutely no idea what to do to help my little girl.

I began thinking what I was going to do with her during the nighttime hours. I placed a towel in my bathtub and placed her there. She was not able to “sit up” straight. She fell over to the side, but still was able to hold her head up and her eyes were open. I walked into the kitchen to wash a waterer to put in the tub with her. As far as I could tell she was not going to try to get out of the tub during the night.

As I was washing I heard a strange noise coming from the bathroom. I can’t really describe it other than they were one syllable sounds like “mwah, mwah, mwah.” I ran to see what was going on. My little Isabella was dying right then and there and there was nothing I could do.She was gone in less than a minute.

“Well” is all I could muster out. Never did I imagine this. I was in a kind of shock! It was already late so I wrapped her up and placed her in the refrigerator so I could do a necropsy on her in the morning.

Now I examine every bird I slaughter, mainly for learning purposes and simple curiosity. Never have I seen this, but then again the birds I’ve slaughtered have all been male. I would dare say the majority of internal problems are in the females. Isabella was the fourth hen that I’ve necropsied. All four had major internal problems — diseases, I suppose. The following pictures show what I found.

Spoiler: Necropsy Photos — Graphic

View attachment 2223026
Even though Isabella seemed happy and healthy, she was extremely thin. I immediately noticed the darkness of her gut area.View attachment 2223034Never had I seen the dark abdomen. The dried yellow and white stuff from her vent can be seen. View attachment 2223040This next picture shows the insides after I pulled her skin back. The yellow showing here is fat, as best I can tell. This is what fat looked like in all the other birds I’ve opened. Another thing I noticed was the size of her vent. It appears very large.View attachment 2223037View attachment 2223038
I removed the breasts and the visceral membrane that holds the innards. The yellow in this picture is not fat. It is egg yolk. All of her organs and intestines were completely surrounded by this firm yolk. Perfectly encased. View attachment 2223042View attachment 2223043With the outer shell of egg yolk peeled back, I could see her entire cavity was filled with a thickened, but not solid yolk.View attachment 2223044Everything inside her was covered in egg yolk.

View attachment 2223046The odor was clearly the smell of egg yolk. Warm, thickened egg yolk.

She was still producing eggs at a steady rate. There were yolks of all different sizes in her. It’s unfortunate they weren’t being picked up by the oviduct. I did not pull the oviduct out and examine it other than noticing there was no egg in it. Funny thing is, Isabella was still laying occasionally, even though I cannot remember exactly when her last egg was. View attachment 2223049

If anyone has anything to add, please do so. Or, if I need to be corrected on anything, please do that as well.

The way I look at these type things is we might as well learn everything we can about why a bird died. If I, or anyone else, can learn something from Isabella, then her death was not in vain.

It looks like you did a very nice job. As a RN, I loved looking at the photos. Your pictures are very good and your explanations are an easy read. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I could not do it on any of my flock whenever the day comes. I wouldn't be able to see through my crocodile tears.
I Thank you.

 

[Painted Calls]

I'm so sorry Mimi. She sure was a beautiful girl. Great informational thread and wonderful pictures though.

Big hugs!