Yolk Peritonitis

[Knaack]

Does anyone have experience with yolk peritonitis? Any cure?

 

[ChickNanny13]

What are the symptoms? What are you feedin? Are you supplying Oyster Shells in s separate dish?

For Egg Peritonitis = Calcium tab with Vitamin D, dose was half tab crushed in yogurt or try covering in peanut butter

Egg Bound, Egg Ascites and Egg Salpingites/Lash Egg issues, each with it's own remedies.

 

[WhiteWyan]

I can't say it's going to work but I'm dealing with EYP with my pullet right now. I'm giving her oxytetracycline Hcl in her drinking water at a dose of 100mg per cup of water.
She seems like she's not dying. She eats good. Belly still swollen. Still hasn't laid an egg in 5 days or maybe more. I have her on 18% chick starter crumble. Maybe I should throw some coral and oyster calcium in there too. I didn't think she needed it but maybe it wouldn't hurt

I'm debating inserting a needle and syringe into her abdomen to drain it but I'm admittedly a little afraid I'd hurt her. Poke an organ or something.

 

[micstrachan]

I have experience with EYP. Are you certain that is what you are dealing with? My avian vet performed abdominal lavage after draining a bunch of yolk stained fluid from her abdomen. She was on antibiotics and anti inflammatories. After she got a bit better (I won't say recovered, as she never fully did) I got her a hormone implant to prevent laying. All these measures, which were quite expensive, got her another six months. She ultimately succumbed. I think she had salpingitis and a respiratory infection at the end.
Having said all that, i don't want to be doom and gloom. Unfortunately, prognosis for EYP is poor. If it is caught early, you may be able to prolong and improve quality of life. I have only heard of a couple cases of full recovery. Sorry.

 

[rebrascora]

Does anyone have experience with yolk peritonitis? Any cure?

What symptoms are you seeing? How do you know it is EYP (Egg Yolk Peritonitis)? Many people confuse EYP and Salpingitis which is an infection of the oviduct which usually results in a build up of lash egg (solidified infected egg and pus) material in the oviduct and will become serious in a few days to a couple of weeks.
EYP occurs when yolks released from the ovary fail to drop into the oviduct and instead fall into the abdominal cavity where the intestines and liver etc are.... this is internal laying. Those egg yolks build up day after day sometimes for months or even as long as a year and at some point an infection sets in. The belly will become swollen and distended with the mass of yolks inside it and sometimes they will also develop ascites (water belly) which can be drained to give almost instant relief from the worst symptoms (respiratory distress) but is not without risk and is only temporary as it will return in a matter of days/weeks and the underlying problem (the mass of yolks) is still there like a ticking time bomb. Finding a good vet to do surgery can improve their chances of survival from both ailments but is still very risky and in my opinion, extremely expensive and with no guarantees. They will almost certainly die without surgery, but will probably still die even if you splash the cash.
I'm sorry that makes things sound pretty hopeless but everything I have read as well as my own experience confirms that.

Antibiotics may be beneficial if it is Salpingitis (infection in the oviduct) and caught in the very early stages but those early stages are so hard to detect so that by the time you are aware there is a problem it is usually too late.
I wish you luck and very much hope your hen bucks the trend but do please be realistic about the prospects.

 

[rebrascora]

@micstrachan ....I'm so sorry about your girl, but for the sake of improving my own knowledge and perhaps advising people in the future and I hope the question is not hurtful, but if you had to do it again, would you still opt for the surgery and implants and is there anything you would have done differently?

 

[micstrachan]

@rebrascora, no that is not hurtful. It’s a great question and I don’t really know the answer. She had a few great months that I cherished. When she first got sick, she showed symptoms on a Friday afternoon and quickly declined over the weekend. I didn’t think she’d make it to see the avian Vet Monday morning. She spent the day in the hospital right around the corner from my work and I visited her several times throughout the day so she would know I wasn’t leaving her. If I could get a hen in for care before that extreme point of weakness, I might try the it again.
Rusty seemed like she wanted to live. When she was living in my bathroom, she dragged herself to my lap for comfort (and she was my only no-lap chicken). I would go up the hill at lunch to administer meds, and seemed like she was cooperating and improving each day. She stopped cooperating when she got stronger, but we got through it.
The second implant was a mistake; I should have had her euthanized that day. I thought she was starting to pass egg material again, but now realize it was salpingitis material. I just didn’t realize how weak she had become again and wish the avian Vet had been more forthcoming with her condition. Of course, at this point I had become quite attached to her.
There was a point in all of that where her ascites had returned and I drained her myself. She was lethargic and bloated and I was sitting with her on my lap on my bed crying, petting her and telling her it’s ok if it’s time to go now. But she popped up and worked up as if she wasn’t ready.
So I guess my answer is, it depends. I think I would not repeat it if a girl were that sick. I hadn’t weighed my flock before, but she got down to about 4.1 pounds and never put much weight on again. Like I said, even though she was near death when I took her in for care, she had a few great months there.
I hope this helps, and thanks for letting me share.

 

[ChickNanny13]

 

[rebrascora]

Thank you for being so forthright and sharing your experience with such sincerity. I know it must be painful even after a period of time to rethink it and wonder if you made the right decisions. It is never easy losing a bird, but when you have invested such a lot both financially and more importantly emotionally in trying to make them better, it becomes so much harder to lose them.