Silkie thread!

[Iluvmysilkies]

My 1yr old silkie hen developed egg peritonitis & it's getting increasingly worse. With help from a friend we tried to drain the access fluid out with a needle & syringe as shown on youtube videos, and got some but quickly noticed the yolk like fluid is thick and is not suctioning well through a needle. We talked about maybe lancing it, but im not so sure if even that's a good option at this point. All I am reading is how bleak this prognosis is for her, and even if if I get it out, will she ever lay again, or will this be an ongoing problem for her? Has anyone delt with this with success?? Or is the kindest thing to do is put her to sleep? I am just so sad because she's beautiful, and only a year old.

 

[FancyChickens7]

Oh so maybe it depends on the chicken. Thank you!

 

[sara1226]

Thanks so much for your help!

 

[Fancychooklady]

[COLOR=373E4D]My 1yr old silkie hen developed egg peritonitis & it's getting increasingly worse. With help from a friend we tried to drain the access fluid out with a needle & syringe as shown on youtube videos, and got some but quickly noticed the yolk like fluid is thick and is not suctioning well through a needle. We talked about maybe lancing it, but im not so sure if even that's a good option at this point. All I am reading is how bleak this prognosis is for her, and even if if I get it out, will she ever lay again, or will this be an ongoing problem for her? Has anyone delt with this with success?? Or is the kindest thing to do is put her to sleep? I am just so sad because she's beautiful, and only a year old. [/COLOR]

I wish I had something for you , but I've not heard of any hens recovering from this. Sorry
The only advice I have is that , now that you have one suffering egg peritonitis , I would take a good look at the calcium / phosphorus ratio available to your flock.

 

[Iluvmysilkies]

I wish I had something for you , but I've not heard of any hens recovering from this. Sorry
The only advice I have is that , now that you have one suffering egg peritonitis , I would take a good look at the calcium / phosphorus ratio available to your flock.

The odd thing is that when she did lay, they were perfectly shelled eggs. Sometimes they had weird wrinkling marks on one end & the shell was a white color where there others are cream but they were still shelled. They never gave any indication that she had trouble with her reproductive track. She just went broody for a week & then snapped out of it, and hasent laid ever sense and it's been months and her belly is looking engorged. I thought egg bound at first but can't feel an egg & with how long it's been like this I think she'd be dead if that's what it was. We tried pulling some out with needle & it was definitely yolk colored at that just confirmed peritonitis. Now I'm not sure what to do, cause overall she's still acting normal, she's just slower when she walks like a hobbit waddle but Isent acting lethargic. I can't decide if it's worth a shot to try to find someone who can drain it, or if I should put her out of her misery. The other hens are not having any problems with their eggs so I think this is just her having problems with it.

 

[Fancychooklady]

The odd thing is that when she did lay, they were perfectly shelled eggs. Sometimes they had weird wrinkling marks on one end & the shell was a white color where there others are cream but they were still shelled. They never gave any indication that she had trouble with her reproductive track. She just went broody for a week & then snapped out of it, and hasent laid ever sense and it's been months and her belly is looking engorged. I thought egg bound at first but can't feel an egg & with how long it's been like this I think she'd be dead if that's what it was. We tried pulling some out with needle & it was definitely yolk colored at that just confirmed peritonitis. Now I'm not sure what to do, cause overall she's still acting normal, she's just slower when she walks like a hobbit waddle but Isent acting lethargic. I can't decide if it's worth a shot to try to find someone who can drain it, or if I should put her out of her misery. The other hens are not having any problems with their eggs so I think this is just her having problems with it.

The wrinkling may be an indication of excessive calcium. I personally would avoid the drainage as without proper sterilization of the area and utensils you will more likely than not make the situation worse. This is only a job for a qualified vet. I speak from my own experience here. I have a disease called sclerosing peritonitis and for a period of 12 months I had monthly drainage of ascites ( the yellow fluid ) sometimes they drained 3 litres from my tummy. The specialists realized that they had created a ' viscous cycle ' , in that the more they drained , the more volume the body created. It wasn't until I underwent 8 months of chemo that the cycle ceased.
You could keep her comfortable and try some prednisone to see if that helps with the inflammation or start adding turmeric powder to her feed as a natural anti imflamatory .
It's never easy to make these decisions and only you can make it.

http://www.alltech.com/sites/default/files/alltech-egg-shell-quality-poster.pdf

 

[Iluvmysilkies]

The wrinkling may be an indication of excessive calcium. I personally would avoid the drainage as without proper sterilization of the area and utensils you will more likely than not make the situation worse. This is only a job for a qualified vet. I speak from my own experience here. I have a disease called sclerosing peritonitis and for a period of 12 months I had monthly drainage of ascites ( the yellow fluid ) sometimes they drained 3 litres from my tummy. The specialists realized that they had created a ' viscous cycle ' , in that the more they drained , the more volume the body created. It wasn't until I underwent 8 months of chemo that the cycle ceased.
You could keep her comfortable and try some prednisone to see if that helps with the inflammation or start adding turmeric powder to her feed as a natural anti imflamatory .
It's never easy to make these decisions and only you can make it.

http://www.alltech.com/sites/default/files/alltech-egg-shell-quality-poster.pdf

Thanks for the info! I wouldve never thought that by draining it, it might actually make it worse, and make it come back more then before. Gosh, this is hard. I am steering more towards making the hard decision to take the pain away and just put her down. It'll be my first chicken ever having to put down so it's not easy but if this is going to be an ongoing problem for her, then maybe it's something I need to do for her. I might call around my vets and see what it would cost to do it, so that she doesent feel anything.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Thanks for the info! I wouldve never thought that by draining it, it might actually make it worse, and make it come back more then before. Gosh, this is hard. I am steering more towards making the hard decision to take the pain away and just put her down. It'll be my first chicken ever having to put down so it's not easy but if this is going to be an ongoing problem for her, then maybe it's something I need to do for her. I might call around my vets and see what it would cost to do it, so that she doesent feel anything.

Your heart is in the right place and I'm sure that you will do well by her.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Thanks for the info! I wouldve never thought that by draining it, it might actually make it worse, and make it come back more then before. Gosh, this is hard. I am steering more towards making the hard decision to take the pain away and just put her down. It'll be my first chicken ever having to put down so it's not easy but if this is going to be an ongoing problem for her, then maybe it's something I need to do for her. I might call around my vets and see what it would cost to do it, so that she doesent feel anything.

I understand, I know that it's very hard to put chickens down. Unfortunately, it will probably cost a small fortune to put a chicken down the least painful way in the veterinary office. Hope it goes well.

 

[LosOsosChick]

Just bought our first silkie chicks today, four hatched out yesterday and one just last night! Hope I can keep them all thriving, they are so sweet and adorable. Advertised as lavender silkies, I think some of them may turn out to be splash? Only time will tell. More pics to come!