egg peritonitis?

[JennyO]

One of our 4 hens was looking under the weather - walking like John Wayne, not interested in eating very much, not moving about much, etc. etc. I took her to the vet today and he said he thinks she's probably got egg peritonitis. He's put her on antibiotics and pain killers just in case it's a less serious inflammation, but he said she's hot (apparently normally their legs are cool, so if their legs are hot it's a bad sign), she's lost a lot of weight, her abdomen is swollen, and her comb is dark. We're feeding her on baby food and keeping her inside, away from the other chickens. Has anyone else had a chicken who's had similar-sounding symptoms and survived? And if it is egg peritonitis, do you know how long it'll take to kill her? I forgot to ask that. It's now Friday, and he said to ring him on Tuesday, as Monday is a bank holiday. Oh yes, I forgot also that her rear end has been really poopy - she's had very liquid poos, and it just seems to cling and smell! Poor thing.

[kirsty b]

Sorry to hear that JennyO
Never been unlucky enough to have a hen get that. Is there any chance that she would get better or could it go either way?

[the garden gnome]

unluky chuck,think ad get rid asap and clean coop out so othe birds dont get it

[JennyO]

Well we woke up this morning to find that she was much perkier. As well as that her comb was a much more normal colour and she was 'chatting' again. She seemed so much that I put her outside with the rest of the chickens and that made her perk up even more. She's still needing to be helped to feed, but is SO much better. I don't think it can be the egg peritonitis, as I gather she would just have got worse and worse with that - so it must be the other type of inflammation. With that he said there was a 50-50 chance that she'd get better and so far it's looking good! It was just fun trying to get the antibiotic tablet down her...

[MaureenHall]

So glad to hear she's feeling a bit better, fingers crossed for a complete recovery

[kirsty b]

I'll keep my fingers crossed too.

[Morff]

Fingers crossed. Good on you for giving that girl a chance! xxx I'll be egging her on (oh dear!)

[chickenjane]

glad she's perked up.

i had a hen that was egg bound a few years ago. not sure if that's egg-peritonitis.
she was all squatty down.her bum was swollen & boggy.she was off her food etc.
We read that if you can get your finger up the vent & break the stuck egg then they can recover, but neither we nor the vet could reach far enough. Poor thing was in such a state we had her put down.

[Birdie Wife]

Hope your hen continues to recover - that's a nasty condition. You have to be really careful about finding a stuck egg in the vent - I think the idea is more to get it out without breaking, because if it does break, that's when it can become infected and egg-binding turns into egg peritonitis. That's as I understand it, anyway! Best of luck to you both.

[MShine]

hi

hi, im completely new to this, and so im not too sure how this works. JennyO i saw your comment and my chicken too has just been diagnosed with egg peritonitis. shes on a course of antibiotics that the vet gave me, but she said about feeding her "mash" iv tried to look up some recipes on the internet but none of them seem to be any good. i was wondering, what are you feeding your chicken to fatten her up again? mine is severely skinny and im extremely worried about her

maddie.

[MShine]

or if anyone else can help me, i would really appreciate it!

[RichmondHens]

You can make a mash from crushing up her regular pellets with warm water, sometimes it makes it more appetising. Porridge oats with a little water also can be a tempting feed. Also try feed supplements such as Poultry Spice (add to feed) or Lifeguard Tonic (add to water). But bear in mind there is not always a good outcome to these cases so prepare yourself.

BTW You may not have noticed but Jenny's post was over 3 years ago!

[Suechooks]

or if anyone else can help me, i would really appreciate it!

I think you'll find this was a 3 year old post so unlikely to get much of an answer!
By mash your vet probably meant simply her nomal pellets soaked with warm water. Many hens seem to prefer this to dry pellets and it maintains the food balance they need. You could try adding a bit of cooked egg once a day or a pinch of corn.
Only moisten a small amount of pellets each time as they go "sour" very quickly. Offer her this about 4 times a day if you can and leave her with just dry pellets to pick at, and plenty of fresh water of course

[RichmondHens]

Our posts crossed Sue!

[Suechooks]

Our posts crossed Sue!

Glad the advice was similar!!!!