Peritonitis? Shell less egg and yolk-like poop.

[Taylawawayla]

I have a 1 year old lavender Orpington girl that is not doing good. She freeranges with her 5 other flock mates and has access to layer feed 24/7. I found some white stuff hanging from her vent two days ago but she was still acting completely normal. Fast forward to this morning and she is isolating herself and having trouble walking. I investigated the yard and coop and found a few spots where there were droppings with looked sorta yolk like. The pile under the roost bar even appeared to have black specks all throughout it. She then laid this shell-less yolk that seemed to be encased in a membrane. I’m leaning towards peritonitis, but I’m not sure. I’ve read many people say it’s a death sentence and even if a hen seems to be pulling through after treatment, it reappears. I guess I’m just looking for input. I will cull if needed but I don’t want to kill her unnecessarily if it’s something else and treatable

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Welcome To BYC

That was a membrane you saw hanging from her vent a few days ago. If you see that again, see if you can help her by gently pulling it out.

Possible the contents of the first membrane you saw leaked into the reproductive system or could have reversed and dropped into the abdomen. Hard to know.

Since she's droopy and there looks like leakage, if she were mine, I would administer and oral antibiotic. Amoxicillin is a good choice. You can order it online.

Give her calcium citrate for several days. Just pop 1 pill into her beak daily and let her swallow, hopefully this will help with shell quality. She may go on to lay very well for years to come and have no more issues, have troubles from time to time or she may decline and never recover - you just don't know what is going to happen. Give her some supportive care and time and go from there.

See that she's staying hydrated and eating, her crop is emptying.