Suprelorin implant (Virbac) stops hens with egg peritonitis laying anymore

[Eggdance]

Yes, information about the implant on this thread has saved the life of Mocha last year. I am so grateful to all who posted their experience with implant for their girls.

Mocha was sick last May and a vet did a X-ray for her and said she had probably cancer. After about 4weeks on painkiller/anti-inflammation medications, we took her to another vet. Ultrasound showed there were shell less eggs in her belly and she had been internal laying. This time, the vet suggested either put her down or had surgery to remove her ovaries. Not only the cost was very high, but the likelihood of losing her on the operating table was higher. So we did neither. That’s when I ran into this thread. Mocha had her 3rd implant last week since June. She is so far so good. She is a Red sex link. She will be 4 years old in April. We are so happy to have her around. The cost is well worth it compared to the joy she has been bringing us every day.

 

[micstrachan]

Yay, Mocha! Wonderful to hear.

 

[Gamblegirl]

This thread has been so valuable to me, I thought I'd log my experience in case it helps others.
I found my girl 'Clux' on the side of the road just over two years ago. I'd never had chickens before, but she looked quite ill. Really pale, floppy comb, very thin, very lethargic. She let me pick her up and take her home. I searched for her owners for two week (although after a week I had fallen in love with her and didn't search that hard after that.) I took her for a check up and vet said as weird as it sounds, she possibly escaped from an egg farm - she's an ISA brown, and her top beak had been chopped right back.
She didn't lay eggs for about 2 months and then all of a sudden was pushing them out - 6 a week! (I wish I knew then what I know now - even without EYP or reproductive problems, I would've given her the implant, as the size of her eggs were HUGE, and I gave them all away!)

For almost two years, she carried on regardless. Her comb now a vital red, and upright - and she's head hen of the others I got for company. She was laying eggs right up to three weeks ago, then the next day when she came out of the coop, there was just an egg yolk - nothing else. The next day she was very lethargic, just sitting. She laid another egg yolk two days later. Her appetite was almost non existent - she was very poorly.
I am extremely lucky to live where we have a wonderful avian vet (Perth - West Australia) - she is simply the best. I started Clux on penicillin the day she laid the second yolk to combat any e-coli and to keep her going til the vet could get here, four days later. The penicillin worked so well, she seemed healthy by the time the vet got here.
Clux was fortunate enough not to have any fluid build up, but she most certainly has a reproductive problem. Although Clux seems happy and healthy, I choose to go with the implant, mainly because she's my gardening buddy, not livestock. She's not here to give me eggs.
The implant, $182, was inserted about three hours ago. Vet said it could last anywhere from 3-9 months. (She started molting about five days ago - I really hope she doesn't restart in a few weeks, or if that's even possible!)
I really hope she stays head hen, I'd hate for her to lose her position. She's such a good head hen, keeping my rascal hen in line
I'll definitely come back in a few week to tell of any personality changes, as that's what I'm really interested in now.

Thanks to everyone who has commented on this thread - reading here in the past week has really helped me get through.

 

[nightowl223]

I've been trying to help someone with an internally laying duck. Has anyone on this thread heard of using this treatment woth waterfowl?

I will send her the link to this thread, so she might be able to find a vet that can at least try this treatment for her duck.

This needs to have a sticky put on it, to keep it easily found!

 

[Gamblegirl]

I've been trying to help someone with an internally laying duck. Has anyone on this thread heard of using this treatment woth waterfowl?

I will send her the link to this thread, so she might be able to find a vet that can at least try this treatment for her duck.

This needs to have a sticky put on it, to keep it easily found!

Hiya nightowl223,
I'm fairly new here, so can't answer your question. However, I did find this tab (Ducks|BackYard Chickens - https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/ducks.42/ ) Hopefully, you'll find some advice there.
Good luck.

 

[nightowl223]

Hiya nightowl223,
I'm fairly new here, so can't answer your question. However, I did find this tab (Ducks|BackYard Chickens - https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/ducks.42/ ) Hopefully, you'll find some advice there.
Good luck.

That's a good idea. I'll see if she wants to post the question there; once she sees my link to this thread, she may want to ask over there. So far, her duck is hanging in there. She's got her to limited daylight, hoping to prevent any more laying.

I think her biggest problem might be finding a vet that would want to try it. I know around where I live, birds are treated like livestock, not pets, by most vets. It's hard to find one that will do more than occasionally toss some antibiotics at one.

 

[DoingChickenBidding]

Quick bump for this thread as I need some info from you nice chicken people.

We have rehomed ex-batts since 2009 and currently have five wonderful brown hens. All our girls go on the Suprelorin when their egg laying gets too much for them. Normally, they go all through a similar process, they're subdued and stop laying eggs after a few days and then go through a moult.

The question is, have you ever known a hen go broody after an implant? Could this be due to a reaction from the Suprelorin implant? Daisy has been with us since September last year and has just had her first implant, three days afterwards we realised she had actually gone broody and has been so for over three weeks now. This is our first broody hen and we're at a bit of a loss what to do to help her.

Daisy before:

Daisy now:

 

[SavvySilkieMom]

I have two silkie chicks and I am getting them sexed next week Monday at the avian vet.
Both of my chicks are ESA Emational; Support Animals and live in their own room in my home.
If one turns to be a rooster, to avoid aggression and spurs growing and crowing occurring, I am going to be implanting them.
I found a vet here in South Miami USA that is willing to do the procedure and states that as long as it is done before puberty it is very successful results.
He stated it also gives the birds more years of life!
Who knew??!!
LOL Anyway, I will update you all with side effects ECT

 

[michellemm]

Hello Joehilly,

I can provide you with my experience with the implant, with the pros and cons included.

Early this year, one of my adopted Red Stars, Sunshine, developed Egg Yolk Peritonitis. It came on out of the blue, but there are symptoms leading up to it that one can look out for. If you manage to catch it quickly enough, you CAN save your chook. The reason chooks die from E.Y.P. is because the egg yolks build up in the abdomen causing pressure to their lungs and internal organs.

Sunshine started by laying yolk-less eggs for about a week. If you cracked one open, it was egg white only. However, they eventually got smaller and smaller and soon, she stopped laying altogether. When I called my chickens for a special treat of mealworms they all ran to me, except Sunshine. She was walking up very slowly and even though mealworms is her favourite treat, she didn't seem to want to eat her usual share. Then she began standing around, remaining very still and quiet. She never wanted to sit down, scratch or preen, her appetite was decreasing and she was making poos that resembled the colour of raw, scrambled eggs. At night, she had trouble sitting down on her perch and was visibly gasping for air. During the day, when I did catch her sitting down, her whole body was shaking as she struggled to breathe. When I picked her up to investigate, I found that her entire abdomen was swollen. It felt like a balloon. Tight and hard and not giving way when gently pressed. My first thoughts were egg binding, so she went through the warm bath and olive oil treatment, but there was no improvement. Next stop was the vet.

The Vet was very sympathetic, however his experience with chickens was limited, so he wasn't sure if it was E.Y.P. or a tumour. However, he syringed her abdomen and got out an amazing amount of eggy liquid. Sunshine's breathing improved dramatically once the pressure of the eggy build-up was gone. He also presribed her a week's worth of antibiotics and we hoped it would do the trick.

The first few days she was moving about better, but eventually, she went downhill again. After five days we made an appointment with an Avian Vet, who specialises in birds and poultry. After an inspection, she came to the same conclusion as the other vet. Good case scenario, the diagnosis was E.Y.P. and treatable. The bad case scenario would have been a cancerous tumour and she would have died from it in a few months without surgery. Either way we had options. She would syringe out the liquid, and provide her with an implant that would effectively stop her laying. You can get a 6 month implant or a 1 year implant. Then when her strength improved in a month's time, we could also opt for surgery and they could remove her ovaries and/or tumour if possible. We found that option very expensive, not to mention we might not have a chicken at the end of it if she died from the procedure. So we agreed to the implant and it was inserted into her breast. The eggy fluids were syringed from her abdomen once more and we were to continue with the antibiotics that the other vet prescribed, until it was all finished.

We watched Sunshine like a hawk for the next few days and were increasingly panicked when we noticed her abdomen had slowly began to fill up again. We knew that the hormone implant would need at least a week to kick in and thought we might need to take her to get syringed one more time. Then after 3-4 days Sunshine laid another yolk-less egg.

After a week, Sunshine began to perk up. Her abdomen was slowly going down on its own, without any need for further appointments to the vet and syringing. She was still doing eggy poos, so she was slowly expelling it and she also stopped laying altogether. Then the poos slowly turned back into healthy, normal chicken poos, her appetite steadily increased and she even began running around again. She had no trouble sitting down and her breathing was back to normal. The implant had obviously worked!

It's now been 5 months and Sunshine is her perky little self. She is the oldest chook and yet she has somehow reverted into a little pullet. She sometimes has these little happy bursts and jumps up flapping in the air. When you call her she goes into roadrunner mode and will race the other chooks for first place. So far so good, touch wood.

There have been some cons though. Sunshine was originally second place in the pecking order. She is now last. It actually occurred about a month down the track after the implant had worked its magic. So she wasn't weak or ill at that stage. However the other chooks challenged her and Sunshine stepped down. Sunshine also went through a very heavy molt after the implant kicked in. She looked simply awful and we were concerned that she wouldn't grow back her feathers in time for winter. But thankfully, she has a lovely new feathered costume and it is even more beautiful then her last coat. Lastly, her comb and red ear lobes have shrunk down to almost nothing. Even though she is perky and happy and eating well, they have not improved with time. It is obviously a side-effect from the implant.

There are a few important facts I would like to mention about the implant and E.Y.P. that the Avian Vet mentioned:

1. The implant may or may not work with all chooks. Some chooks may be resistant to it and even after it's inserted, it might not take effect.
2. A 6 month implant or a one year implant may or may not last the full duration. Every chook is different, so implants may last longer or shorter than indicated.
3. After the implant course is complete, your chook may or may not start laying normally. If she doesn't lay normally, a new implant is required or surgery. If she does lay normally, monitor her carefully because she may relapse into E.Y.P. down the track if you don't pay attention.
4. Do not attempt to syringe your chicken yourself. You may puncture an organ and the chicken will die in a few hours time. It's best to leave it to an experienced vet. Even they can cause an unintentional puncture, they admitted that much to us.
5. If the Vet doesn't prescribe antibiotics then be sure to ask for some, to ensure no infection sets in after syringing out the eggy fluids from the chicken's abdomen. There is such a thing as sterile E.Y.P. which Sunshine had and Septic E.Y.P. Once a chicken has Septic E.Y.P. they go downhill very fast, so it's best to prevent it with a course of antibiotics.

I really hope that this information helps. As for pricing I'm in Australia, so it might vary depending on where you are and which vet you visit. Avian Vets cost more, but they are experts in chickens. I paid around $300 to the Avian vet which included a consultation fee of just over $100. The rest was the cost of syringing and the implant itself.

Cheers,
Gold Coaster

I have just had 2 of my 3year old hens implanted 2 days ago and was wondering about side affects so thanks for you post.
They look a bit down in the dumps at the moment but hopefully will perk up soon

 

[Compostflower]

I've been trying to help someone with an internally laying duck. Has anyone on this thread heard of using this treatment woth waterfowl?

I will send her the link to this thread, so she might be able to find a vet that can at least try this treatment for her duck.

This needs to have a sticky put on it, to keep it easily found!

I might end up trying hormone implants if treating it medically doesn’t work for my duck. Taking her to the vet tomorrow for a checkup after antibiotics a draining and meloxicam for a week fingers crossed. Also waiting on the results of the test from the liquid drained.