Please help! Chicken probably have egg yolk peritonitis, and she doesn't eat and barely drink on her

[cafarmgirl]

I was planning to drain the fluid in her abdomen, but I don't think it is a good idea for me to proceed, since the area where I can feel fluid is 0.5 inches or less away from where her intestines should be. The needle that I have have a length of 1.25 or 1 inch. The middle area of her rear abdomen and on the middle of her abdomen feels hard. I can only feel the hardened eggs on that area, and I can't feel any signs that ascites is in there. Last week, I can only feel fluid on her abdomen. Does chickens with egg yolk peritonitis even sleep?

I never expected, that if a chicken have ascites, she can be laying internally. Her swollen belly became normal in size at least 3 months ago. So, there is really no hope for her, even if I gave her the recommend amount of amoxicillin?

It may not necessarily be hardened eggs you are feeling it could also be tumors. Either way, when hens get into this situation there is little hope. We've gone through this several times over the years and I've gotten to the point that when I see these symptoms I put the bird down or have it euthanized. They do suffer a lot with this regardless of the cause and by the time they are showing such outward signs they are very sick and uncomfortable. They really are tough birds and the end does not come easily or quickly for them.

That said, depending on the actual cause of this for your bird, EYP vs some kind of tumor or other disease, antibiotic's and removing fluid can help but it's very temporary, it does not solve the underlying cause and before long you are right back where you started.

 

[mg15]

How is your girl?

 

[Luckybaby]

I gave her amoxicillin 125mg per dose every 12 hours for 5 days. She started eating on her own by the 4th day, and the liquid inside her abdomen was absorbed by her body, significantly starting on the 4th day. However, the hard mass is still inside her body, and she eats a little bit at a time, but she can eat 1/2-2/3 cup of rice mixed with canned dog food during the day. Will the infection reoccur, because the hard mass was still in there? Can her body absorb the cooked egg yolk in her abdomen?

I might try to do a surgery on her few days from now. Can you give me a link regarding how to do it?

She only likes to eat that much if I gave her the rice mixed with dog food, instead of the feeds that she usually eats.

 

[mg15]

There is no surgery you can do .
Only a vet can do it. And even with an avian vet doing it, you would have to ask the chances for her survival.
She seems to be doing okay. You are lucky.

 

[Luckybaby]

There is no surgery you can do .
Only a vet can do it. And even with an avian vet doing it, you would have to ask the chances for her survival.
She seems to be doing okay. You are lucky.

Can you please explain why I can't do it by myself? I am worried, that it might reoccur(because the cooked egg yolk is still in her abdomen), and the bacteria will be resistant to amoxicillin.

 

[enola]

Surgery for EYP is MAJOR surgery. She would require anesthesia. She would also have to be in a sterile environment to prevent massive infection in the incision. This type of surgery would also require stitching the incision back together.

 

[Luckybaby]

Surgery for EYP is MAJOR surgery. She would require anesthesia. She would also have to be in a sterile environment to prevent massive infection in the incision. This type of surgery would also require stitching the incision back together.

Did you know something who tried it without a vet's tools, like bumblefoot surgery? If so, what is the result?

 

[enola]

Bumble foot surgery is entirely different. You just basically clean out a "hole" that is full of infection and apply some antibiotics.

To remove the mass of foreign body caused by EYP involves anesthesia, opening up of the body cavity, removal of the mass, sewing up the incision through both skin and muscle, then stitching up the chicken. This procedure needs to be done in a sterile environment.

 

[enola]

The best comparison I can think of for bumble foot - would be like removing a splinter that was infected and broke off under the skin. I
Am sure millions of mothers have done this on their children......

Surgery to remove a mass caused by EYP in a chicken - would be like you operating on some one on your kitchen table to remove a cancerous growth in their abdomen.

Are you able to provide a sterile environment to do the surgery?
What type of tools are going to use?
Do you have access to anesthesia?
Have you ever sewn up muscle tissue on an animal?
Do you know what antibiotics to use after the surgery?

I am not trying to say you can't/shouldn't do the surgery, I am thinking you don't know what you are getting yourself into when you attempt this.

 

[casportpony]

Best to have a vet do it.

-Kathy