We Thought She Was Egg Bound... It's Pyometra!

[FBMcrazy8]

***UPDATE***

The doctor called.

Chooch is out of surgery, waking up, and starting to stand on her own.

It wasn't soft egg shells. It is something called PYOMETRA. Pyometra (sometimes called pyometria) is common in cats and dogs, but is very uncommon in chickens.

It is a hormonal disorder that causes a bacterial infection of the uterus.

Chooch, from her cloaca, through her uterus and oviduct, up into her ovary was FILLED with pus. That was the opaque white that the doctor was seeing in her x-rays. All of the infected organs were removed. She went from weighing 846 grams before the surgery to 566 grams once they removed the organs. That is almost half her weight.

Just a new thing to look out for in your hens!

He wants to keep her again overnight to make sure she perks back up.

Thank you to everyone who sent their well-wishes! Keep them going her way, please!!! <3

Thank you for the update! So crazy! I hope she perks up and is able to go home soon!

 

[LizGio]

So glad she's getting better care! Kudos to the vet you took her to! Some vets can be so dismissive, it's frustrating. Please keep us updated on your little angel!!

 

[LizGio]

I would also go to your state thread and put that vets contact info since they seem reliable. Maybe that would help others in your area. Knowledgeable and caring vets are hard to find.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I just wanted to relay the story of the past week with my chicken since I couldn't find much info on it while it was happening. It is about Chooch, my 2 and a half year old silkie. She is very small, only about 2.4 lbs. She was egg bound once before when laying her first egg, but had never been since, and had laid normally.

On a hot Friday afternoon, we noticed that Chooch was acting funny: standing in a corner, not really eating or drinking much, lethargic... After examination, we could see that she was emaciated and her abdomen was very swollen. We immediately thought egg bound.

I got an emergency appointment with her close by aviary vet (whom I don't particularly *love*) that evening, and doctor confirmed she was egg bound, gave her an injection of Oxytocin, and sent us home.

I stayed up all night giving her tub soaks, KY-ing her vent, and gently massaging her abdomen. No movement. She was crawling up into the corner of the couch, clearly struggling and very uncomfortable.

Took her to the vet again that Saturday morning. Another injection of Oxytocin and I was given three injections to give her that evening and on Sunday.

Same thing through the weekend... Shots of Oxytocin every 12 hours, tub soaks, KY-ing her vent, and gently massaging her abdomen. No movement. But, she was still pooping okay (though runny), she started walking around more, was fighting with the chicks we have inside through their crate.... She was acting kind of normal.

But her abdomen below her cloaca was hard as a rock.

I took her to the vet again on Monday... Doctor just gave me more oxytocin injections to give her. I needed real help.

So, I called my vet that's a couple hours away but is fantastic. I got an appointment for Tuesday. We go, he immediately suggests x-rays, as he thinks two eggs could be stuck.

It wasn't what any of us thought.

I'd read about egg binding, water belly, tumors... The whole nine.

Chooch, however, had a ton of soft shell filling up her uterus, and she couldn't expel it. (***THIS ENDS UP NOT BEING THE ISSUE. READ THE UPDATE BELOW***)

Good doctor also thought her oviduct could be twisted which was causing the problem.

Options were to have her put down, or to give her a hysterectomy. We decided on the hysterectomy (which was surprisingly only quoted at $350. This is in Maryland.).

She is under the knife as I write this (this is how I am keeping myself calm), and I will post updates, but I wanted to share my experience.

I asked the doctor if it was something I'd done (not fed her good food, not given her enough calcium, stress, etc.) that would have caused this to happen, and he said no... That anything that lays eggs or has babies has a possibility of something going wrong with their reproductive system, and this is just an example of that.

Also, her life will be normal after the hysterectomy. Just no more tiny silkie eggs.

***UPDATE***

The doctor called.

Chooch is out of surgery, waking up, and starting to stand on her own.

It wasn't soft egg shells. It is something called PYOMETRA. Pyometra (sometimes called pyometria) is common in cats and dogs, but is very uncommon in chickens.

It is a hormonal disorder that causes a bacterial infection of the uterus.

Chooch, from her cloaca, through her uterus and oviduct, up into her ovary was FILLED with pus. That was the opaque white that the doctor was seeing in her x-rays. All of the infected organs were removed. She went from weighing 846 grams before the surgery to 566 grams once they removed the organs. That is almost half her weight.

Just a new thing to look out for in your hens!

He wants to keep her again overnight to make sure she perks back up.

Thank you to everyone who sent their well-wishes! Keep them going her way, please!!! <3

Holy moly! Thank GOD for that second doctor! You would think a specialist would have been more on it, especially after the first visit when nothing improved.

I'm SO GLAD everything worked out for your girl! I wish her a speedy recovery (and for you to finally get some sleep)!

On a side note: I was reading that she weighed 2.5 lbs at the start of your post, and I thought to myself, "That's twice what my Silkies weigh," and though the poor thing must be *filled* with fluid.

Wow! What an ordeal! Go, Chooch!