Peritonitis Diet?

[ClareScifi]

Can anyone recommend to me the best diet for chickens suspected of having chicken peritonitis and/or egg-binding syndrome?

Thanks in advance,

Clare

 

[speckledhen]

Whatever is healthiest for the chicken every day of her life, really. There is not diet to treat or prevent those ailments. The only thing I've seen about diet and reproductive ailments in hens was a study that said flax seed might be of some benefit in preventing internal laying, but I have no experiential proof to back that up. Generally, it's a genetic/hormone based malfunction and diet isn't going to fix it. Mine have had flax seed periodically and they still get that.

As far as egg binding, making sure the hens are not too fat is about all you can do as far as actual prevention.

 

[ClareScifi]

Thanks for your helpful reply, Cynthia. Do you know what causes the daily multiple egg laying? Is it most likely peritonitis?

I did start my hens on flax seed a few days ago. I'm glad to hear it is recommended. One of their eggs had a scratchy end, and someone recommended flax to me for that, and it did seem to do the trick.

How old are your hens that get it? Did you mean they get the internal egg-laying problem? What breed are they? Mine are 13 month old Barred Rocks, and yes, they might be a bit fat. I'm wondering if they lost weight if it might help stop the multiple egg laying? I read that the multiple laying could be linked to the heavy breeds, and I would say Barred Rocks are heavy.

Funny, though, that this didn't happen in their first summer, last year???

Clare

 

[speckledhen]

Multiple egg laying? I've never had a chicken who laid more than one egg a day, not in five years and over 100 chickens. Are you positive they're laying more than one a day? That would be highly unusual and not an indication of disease at all. If they have peritonitis or internal laying, they do not lay eggs. I've lost 10 hens to it. They usually begin after two years of age. There is no prevention and no cure known. I have chickens from a few weeks old to over 5 years old.

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

 

[HHandbasket]

Hi Clare! I saw your other post in another thread about multiple egg laying.

It doesn't happen. Someone is pulling your leg. Hens lay an egg approximately once every 23-30 hours and are not physically capable of laying more frequently than that. If you are having extra eggs in your next boxes, hens of the human variety are putting them there. You need to keep an eye out on friends/neighbors who would get a kick out of pulling your leg. Could it perhaps be part of an April Fool's prank? This certainly is the time of year for that, and someone is getting a good laugh at your expense.

 

[ClareScifi]

Several academic references to multiple-egg laying are now available in those other threads I posted. When people who are unfamiliar with this anomaly were pooh-poohing the possibility of a chicken laying multiple eggs daily, a woman decided to research it and came up with a physiological textbook article that confirms that chickens can lay more than one egg a day. Someone posted a University of Alberta study that acknowledges that chickens can, indeed, lay two eggs a day. It's rare, and not many people are lucky enough to have such a chicken, or even realize that it is a possibility to have such a chicken. I feel blessed! :>)

Clare

 

[ClareScifi]

In Emergencies/Diseases, etc. you will find this helpful post from KimClain:

I just HAD to go out and do some research on this... I'm finding many mentions of hens laying two eggs per day. Here is the best site I've found...refer to page 8. It IS possible to have two eggs per day.
http://www.spottedcowpress.ca/chapters/02FemaleAnatomy.pdf

Also the Bible of Chicken Raising, by Gail Damerow, latest edition, has an write-up about the phenomenon. I love this sort of stuff which is written by in-depth researchers who have more than just a cursory knowledge of chickens.

Enjoy!

Clare

 

[smokejmp52]

Well, I can tell ya this, I have 6 hens and one being a rooster = 5 eggs a day by that theory, and have pulled 6 eggs out on several occasions.