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

[mrskenmore]

My hen was just diagnosed with EYP today- but test results showed no infection or bacteria in the fluid. Her heart, liver and kidneys tested healthy through blood test as well. No sign of cancer in the tests as well. She is a 3 year old black sex link hen that just started to fill up with fluid two weeks ago and is now passing eggy poops. The avian vet said that she was a good candidate for the deslorelin (suprelorin) implant due to her health and size (she weighs about 6.5 pounds) The implant would be a 12 month implant (but I understand that it could last less) Since she is so healthy I think it is worth a shot. Any further updates or info that you can pass along to me on success stories, side effects, coulda shoulda woulda since this thread has started would be helpful. I am nervous that I am going to put her through all this and it won't be successful. If I don't do the implant though I need to put her down as she is so filled with fluid.

Thanks for any help, thoughts or advice!

 

[SusanMarieYork]

I did one of my girls who is 3+ years old about 6 weeks ago. It worked so well I did 2 more of her sisters a week ago.

 

[mrskenmore]

That is great to hear- was your first hen letharigic beforehand? Or did you do it more as a precautionary measure? I am wondering when my hen will start to perk up and act normal, she is a little slow currently, but just had 500 cc's (12 fl oz) drained out of her and had her implant installed yesterday, so I am trying to be hopeful and give her a few days to recoup! It is just so difficult seeing them sick

Thanks for any ones input on this topic- as it is not widely known the more we share our info and knowledge of implants and EYP on this website the better!

 

[tofupup]

I have had hens implanted over 100 times in the last five or so years. (I have a chicken sanctuary, and most are industrial laying hens who have horrendous repro disease.) They do become lethargic and go off their food for a few weeks most of the time post-implant. Sometimes they stay forever chill (less hormonal and bitchy) until the implant wears off in 3 months, but most of the time they bounce back once the implant-induced molt gets going.

I'm going to say that the implant isn't great for birds who are already under the weather or have some kind of chronic, underlying condition (say, undiagnosed Mareks). I am pretty sure it killed my favorite house hen because she immediately became more quiet and less enthusiastic about food coinciding w/ the implant (I did it as a precautionary measure in her case b/c she was my favorite) and died suddenly withhin a month. I say "suddenly"' because although she had been more subdued in the final month of her life, she stitll was eating and walking around on the day of her death, so i had no idea it was coming.

Necropsy done at state lab could not find cause of death, but i personally feel the implant pushed her over the edge.

 

[mrskenmore]

Thanks Tofupup-

Unfortunately my hen winded up going downhill shortly thereafter the implant and passed away this past weekend. I thought she had a good chance of rebounding as there was no bacteria in her fluid, no sign of heart,kidney or liver disease. Her fluid came back negative for cancer as well. It was sad in the end,but I am glad now that she is at peace. I now think looking back that whatever reproductive issues she was having that she would have succumbed to this illness and not been able to beat it in the long run. I do believe we did everything we could for her, but the illness was too far along in order to help her.

 

[ClareScifi]

I take my chickens to Creekside Animal Hospital in Draper, Utah. My hen has had two implants so far. I just spoke to my vet, Dr. Orr, today about how difficult it is for some folks to obtain these implants. He indicated that Creekside Animal Hospital can get whatever they need; they have no restrictions.

How did your hen with the implants fare? I am considering a Lupron injection for my hen?

 

[angelofwoodford]

Hi, one of my ex-battery hens is on her third implant now and they have saved her life and have been resonably successful. Another of my ex-battery hens died from EYP the previous year so I knew I had to do something for this one.
This is what I learned:
The reason the chicken eventually dies from EYP is that she cannot clear the albumen substance from her internals fast enough. She then gets very bloated and because the organs of a chicken are pressed together and not separated by a rib cage, any swelling causes her organs to press on her lungs and impairs her breathing so you see a tail bobbing going on. Often quite fast....She may also get infections as embryo after embryo is laid inside her.
Signs are soft shells being laid, then shell-less yolks being laid or tthe ttwo coming out separately. Then eventually nothing comes out and you have to wonder where it has gone. Chickens never stop laying eggs so it goes somewhere if it doesnt come out.

The liquid that accumulates in the chickens abdomen can be clear or it can be yolky which leaks through. The clear liquid is from irritation inside her body (the small embryos that are laid internally) and the clear liquid can often be confused with the effects of a tumour. A tumour will irritate the insides of the chicken and cause liquid to be produced. This was the initial diagnosis of my chicken, which I argued about, as I knew she was going in to lay eggs and nothing was coming out!
I now know to check for quick breathing, a red face and a swollen belly which may make her legs turn in when she walks.

Once the implant has been put in the chicken, the chicken can clear what is in her belly on her own and this usually takes a week (it is better to get any liquid removed though some swelling will remain from irritation). Her breathing will return to normal and her belly will go down often without the need for antibiotics etc..
If there has been swelling on her belly the vet may have to syringe off the excess liquid and he will give the chicken antibiotics. In my experience my chicken hasn't always needed the antibiotics or the anti-inflammatories. Her body sorted itself out once the embryos stopped being released.
My chicken that I put on the implant was extremely poorly with EYP beforehand. She had probably had it for about a year before I realised what was going on. She had 880ml of clear fluid syringed off her belly and was put on antibiotics and given an implant. Her breathing before the syringing of her belly was 60+ breaths per minute sitting down. After the water was removed her breathing was 18 breaths per minute! I timed it in the vets! The pressure had been removed from her internal organs.

it took about 2/3 days for the implant to kick in and about one month for her to fully recover and get back to full health just because I let the situation get quite bad before I eventually found an avian vet to diagnose her.
I kept her on antibiotics for a week and when these had finished I started her on vitamins with molasses in them for another week or so. I mixed the vitamins in with honey and syringed it in to her mouth 0.5ml at a time using a very small 1ml plastic liquid syringe. She had no appetite but eventually started to eat, I tempted her with anytihing and everything and eventually got her to eat loads of ham and also a raw egg and some cooked white rice. The ham made her very thirsty but who cares! She got better to full strength over a month. I wasnt sure if she would at first.

The first and second implant have lasted 2 months! Trust her to have a fast metabolism!!
The signs to look for that the implant is wearing off are:
1. Comb will shrink and go pale when implant is working, and will start to go red and big again when it starts to wear off. A red comb is a sign of a laying chicken.
2. She will go to lay an egg, not lay anything and cluck around a lot aterwards.
3. She will start to eat more high protein foods, mine goes for raw mince when she wants to lay an egg, and goes completely off it when her implant is working.

She is on her thrid implant now. I left this one a week too late so she had clear water that accumulated on her belly and this was syringed off and she was given antibiotics and a new implant. Another side effect of EYP or any illness in chickens is the crop function slows down so my chicken had food sitting in her crop or digesting really slowly for about 7+ days which I thought would turn sour. She stopped eating so I knew not much food was passing through her system. Her crop did eventually empty completely but very slowly.
Obviously during this time she didn't eat so I started to syring feed her with Vetark Critical Care Formula which stops chickens using their own muscles as food, the formula emulates an egg although the consistency is like sugar water. I found that the liquid was going down despite the food sitting in her crop.

Once her crop had emptied I started syringing her with Kaytee Exact baby bird food which is very nutritious. You have to give them at least one big scoop or 60ml throughout the day for the chicken to get enough nutrition.

Often a chicken will die because it drops weight too fast through not eating and it's crop then shuts down and whatever you put in, even liquid will just sit there forever. This happened to me last year with two ex battery hens and I learnt the hard way as I did not feed them enough food when they lost their appetites. Always keep food or nutirtious liquid going through your chickens crop so she maintains weight and her crop keeps working. She will lose weight rapidly if you dont.

Anyway, my chicken is still being syringe fed as her appetite is non-existant at the moment. I am sure things will pick up. The implant is doing its job and she looks super healthy apart from all that!
She was a bit moody today, she had a very red face and was bossing the other girls around ...I am not sure if this is a hormonal thing to do with the implant.

I am testing her with diet this time. I am absolutely sure the condition is caused by lack of Calcium and D3, and a good dose of vitamins. It can take a few months for supplements to kick in so she is getting liquid calcium and multi-vitamins every day.
I am also giving her two mineral salts, KALI PHOS and CALC PHOS. Cal phos helps to absorb calcium in case their body is getting enough calcium but is not absorbing it (she eats loads of cheese but still has EYP). The Kali Phos is Potassium but highly digestible. Cell Salts are harmless and cannot be overdosed.
Incidentally she had a hard tumour last year when the vet did an internal check on her which is why she thought the piquid accumulation was due to this and not EYP.
I started her on the mineral salt CALC FLUOR. I gave her this twice a day for about 4 months, and the tumour disappeared. This cell salt is for hard nodules and hard tumours anywhere in the body and also things like varicose veins and internal sagging (e.g. from too much laying). Too much forced laying can be a cause of reproductive tumours in chickens and Calc Fluor given dilligently every day (mix a pill with 0.5ml of water and syringe in to your chickies mouth) will clear the hardtumour and put the body back to how it should be.

I strongly advise an implant for your chickies, it will buy you some time to maybe change their diets, does them up with calcium or give their insides a rest which may be all they need to start laying eggs again. Hope this helps you. It saved my chickens life!
Although I do now want to get to the bottom of why it is happening as I am fed up of getting implants every two months!
I will let you know about the calcium and vitamin supplements.
Good Luck!

 

[Eggdance]

Anybody knows where I can find a vet who does implant to stop a hen from laying?
Thanks!

 

[Eggdance]

Anybody knows where I can find a vet who does implant to stop a hen from laying?
Thanks!

PS, I am I new Hampton

 

[Eggdance]

PS, I am I new Hampton