Please share your experiences with salpingitis/lash eggs and any possible advice.

[lightm]

@Lillith37 How are Whitetail and Constance? I think you have started a very good thread. I'd like to report my three birds' reproductive issues here in a little bit.

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

Well I thought I would give an update on this in case it’s useful for anyone else facing similar issues and for my own documentation I guess.

I ended up taking Whitetail to the vet instead of Constance as Whitetail’s condition deteriorated in the days subsequent to discovering the lash egg, whereas Constance seemed to be fine/normal.

Whitetail laid a soft shelled egg, was better after that, but then the next day became lethargic and fluffed up, kept to herself, still with greenish watery poops. I gave her an epsom salt soak in the afternoon which she loved and then she passed some small pieces of what looked to be lash material.

So we went to the vet and Whitetail has since been on a course of amoxyclav 250 antibiotics and she also received the deslorin contraceptive implant. She is significantly improved, appetite is back, droppings normal, she is just resting a lot which I put down to the implant (I’ve had another hen with an implant in the past and saw similar behaviour during the adjustment period). It’s quite sweet because she’s the top of the pecking order and so everyone has been resting more/staying close to her.

All Whitetail’s organ function is fine but she did have inflammatory markers consistent with infection, she’s a little underweight, and unfortunately she tested positive for lead toxicity. There is lead in the soil here. Constance was over 6x concentration of lead in her blood, Whitetail was over 3x. I haven’t started Whitetail on the chelation medication yet because I want to see her stabilised from the contraception first.

I’m fairly sure it was Whitetail who passed the lash egg. Constance does have some swelling in her abdomen (between keel bone and vent) but all my chickens have this to varying degrees. The worst is my broody who also has a slight waddle, and once had a superficial vertical wound/skin tear in the relevant area, which healed quickly and easily with vetericyn application.

Lead toxicity can cause nerve damage which can affect the crop muscle, mostly resulting in liquid not emptying efficiently from the crop. This is what happened to Constance who ended up with yeast and bacteria overgrowth in her digestive tract which made her sick which resulted in the first vet visit where they discovered the lead toxicity. I have other chickens with liquidy crops in the evening and one in particular with chronic slowed digestion.

Lead toxicity can also affect organs over time, particularly the heart. This can lead to hypertension which affects the liver which can result in ascites.

Constance’s organ function was fine when it was tested in August. She hasn’t been laying for several months but considering her lead levels I’m more inclined to believe any abdominal swelling may be related to the lead toxicity rather than salpingitis.

THIS was an interesting read on 4 cases of acute and subacute lead toxicity from the NIH. There was at least one case reported of incidental elevated lead levels but not a cause of death. The overall report should be viewed as promoting public awareness.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7337163/

Thanks for sharing your experience

 

[Lillith37]

THIS was an interesting read on 4 cases of acute and subacute lead toxicity from the NIH. There was at least one case reported of incidental elevated lead levels but not a cause of death. The overall report should be viewed as promoting public awareness.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7337163/

Thanks for sharing your experience

There’s a lot of good research around lead that has come out of California.

I treated Whitetail and Constance for their lead poisoning with DMSA. I also tested everyone else’s eggs for lead (cheaper option) and lead was present in all eggs. I remediated the soil. Any toxicity in my flock is at the chronic subclinical level. The advice was to not let children or pregnant people eat the eggs, but Australia has weaker standards. I did get my blood lead tested however and the results were negligible.

 

[Lillith37]

@Lillith37 How are Whitetail and Constance? I think you have started a very good thread. I'd like to report my three birds' reproductive issues here in a little bit.

Both are doing well thank you for asking!

Constance ended up having surgery for her reproductive disease. The vet removed 400g of egg and inflammatory material as well as her salpinx. She recovered quickly and has been living her best life ever since.

Whitetail has had recurring trouble with being egg bound with soft shelled eggs. She has been on successive contraceptive implants to stop ovulation and is otherwise healthy and well.

 

[lightm]

Constance ended up having surgery for her reproductive disease. The vet removed 400g of egg and inflammatory material as well as her salpinx. She recovered quickly and has been living her best life ever since.

Wow, that is a lot of material removed.

I am so glad that Constance and Whitetail are doing well!

I am pretty sure we have lost two chickens due to salpingitis. Now let me talk about the cases of my three living chickens. They are all production birds and they are now 3 years and 4 months old.

Honey (recovered but blind)
In late Aug 2023, Honey became very ill due to reproductive issue. She was first put on Amoxcilian with no success. As a last attempt we put her on Baytril and she recovered! She even laid eggs for a little while after that.

Early of this year, she was having trouble laying with soft shell issues or trying to lay without producing anything. Early February, she laid lash material. In March, she didn't feel like her complete self, but is coping. In April 4th, she went blind all of a sudden! Since then, she has become a house chicken. We are so baffled by Honey's case because ever since she moved into the human coop (or ever since she went blind), she has been doing great, and she has a monstrous appetite.

Light (90% recovered)
Light has no history of reproductive issues. She laid a perfect egg June 1st of this year, but a couple days later she got an egg stuck in her as she was internal laying. (An X-ray revealed this later when we took her to the vet on June 25th.) It wasn't until June 20th she started to be quite lethargic, so we started her on Baytril.

When we took her to the vet on 25th, she was already on Baytril for 5 days. Vet also subscribed metacam. Vet suggested surgery as well, like your Constance, but the cost may be close to 2000 USD. We are also worried about the risk of the surgery. Question: How long has Constance had her reproductive issue by the time she had her surgery? At the end of the vet visit, the vet gave Light a hormone implant.

Today, Light had the best appetite since two weeks ago and she is well on her way to recovery, at least for now.

Poopy (currently ill )
Poopy has been laying weak shelled eggs for a long time. More recently, within the half year, she does a lot of "going to the nest to lay but nothing comes out". She must have been internally laying but was able to wall the gunk off.

About 4 days ago she didn't seem to be at 100% capacity. Yesterday morning her crop was not empty, and she completely lost her voice! It appears that there is a lot of gravel and sand in the crop. I think it is a secondary issue of her EYP. Her crop is still not cleared. She feels like crap and is drinking a lot of water. Yesterday she was taking blueberries enthusiastically but today she barely ate 2 . Yesterday she also pooped out soft shell-like material and I was really hoping she would feel better afterwards.

No antibiotics given to her yet, only stool softener to treat her crop issue.

I don't know what we are going to do with Poopy. I just want her crop to clear first.

 

[MaeM]

One of my hens, Ruby, died due to reproductive issues. The whole thread is somewhere around this forum, but basically, I took her to the vet because she had a double prolapse (oviduct + rectum).

The vet put her organs back in, but when he removed the stitches a few days later, Ruby released a lash egg and was diagnosed with salpingitis.

In an ultrasound, her oviduct appeared to be atrophied, and for a moment I was given the hope that she would not keep prolapsing as she would not lay eggs anymore. At this time, the vets believed that she had prolapsed because she was a tiny hen laying eggs bigger than my hand (she was a Golden Comet).

But what we didn't know was that her ovaries kept working, and the infection created a little "hole" in her oviduct, and the yolk went through that hole to her coelom (abdominal cavity).

So she developed EYP and the vets found in the necropsy that she had been laying internally, that's why she kept prolapsing (the eggs inside her abdominal cavity pushed her organs outside of the body).

She was treated with 4 different medications, from antibiotics to prokinetics.

But I live in a country where the implant is not available. That's what could've really saved her.

So, my advice for anyone dealing with reproductive issues or salpingitis is: Get the implant, and if it's necessary and you can afford it, spay the hen. (Ruby was going to be spayed if she survived her prolapse surgery, but she went into GI stasis and never recovered from it).

 

[Lillith37]

Wow, that is a lot of material removed.

I am so glad that Constance and Whitetail are doing well!

I am pretty sure we have lost two chickens due to salpingitis. Now let me talk about the cases of my three living chickens. They are all production birds and they are now 3 years and 4 months old.

Honey (recovered but blind)
In late Aug 2023, Honey became very ill due to reproductive issue. She was first put on Amoxcilian with no success. As a last attempt we put her on Baytril and she recovered! She even laid eggs for a little while after that.

Early of this year, she was having trouble laying with soft shell issues or trying to lay without producing anything. Early February, she laid lash material. In March, she didn't feel like her complete self, but is coping. In April 4th, she went blind all of a sudden! Since then, she has become a house chicken. We are so baffled by Honey's case because ever since she moved into the human coop, she has been doing great, and she has a monstrous appetite.

Light (90% recovered)
Light has no history of reproductive issues. She laid a perfect egg June 1st of this year, but a couple days later she got an egg stuck in her as she was internal laying. (An X-ray revealed this later when we took her to the vet on June 25th.) It wasn't until June 20th she started to be quite lethargic, so we started her on Baytril.

When we took her to the vet on 25th, she was already on Baytril for 5 days. Vet subscribed metacam as well. Vet suggested surgery as well, like your Constance but the cost may be close to 2000 USD. We are also worried about the risk of the surgery. Question: How long has Constance had her reproductive issue by the time she had her surgery?

Today, Light had the best appetite since two weeks ago and she is well on her way to recovery, at least for now.

Poopy (currently ill )
Poopy has been laying weak shelled eggs for a long time. More recently, within the half year, she does a lot of "going to the nest to lay but nothing comes out". She must have been internally laying but was able to wall the gunk off.

About 4 days ago she didn't seem to be at 100% capacity. Yesterday morning her crop was not empty. It appears that there is a lot of gravel and sand in the crop. I think it is a secondary issue of her EYP. Her crop is still not cleared. She feels like crap and is drinking a lot of water. Yesterday she was taking blueberries enthusiastically but today she barely ate 2 . Yesterday she also pooped out soft shell-like material and I was really hoping she would feel better afterwards.

No antibiotics given to her yet, only stool softener to treat her crop issue.

I don't know what we are going to do with Poopy. I just want her crop to clear first.

Yes 400g is a lot especially considering Constance’s healthy weight is 2kg.

She stopped laying early autumn, presented normally through winter then became acutely sick in spring and after she was stabilised I went for the surgery. So six months or less time.

We call infection of the oviduct/salpinx salpingitis but there is a lot that can go wrong and reproductive disease more broadly is sometimes a better way of viewing it.

It sounds like all three of your hens have some form of reproductive disease but that Poopy is the most acutely ill. Antibiotics are sometimes a Band-Aid solution — underlying disease means infection may reoccur, or other complications may arise.

If you have access to the contraceptive implant, it’s a great option to prevent and even treat some reproductive disease. Pursuing surgery is recommended two weeks post implant anyhow because it shrinks all the blood vessels. They usually remove the salpinx but leave the ovary which can mean in some cases the hen continues to ovulate post surgery and releases the yolk internally. Constance’s treatment drained my savings, but I can’t feel bad about it when I see her thriving. She had to have another contraceptive implant post surgery but so far her ovary seems to have receded as she shows no sign of active lay.

Whitetail’s sister Narcissa stopped laying suddenly whilst still showing all signs of active lay. I put her on the implant and now it’s worn off and she has resumed laying without issue. So sometimes the break is all they need to reset their system and clear inflammation, especially if you do it early.

Poopy’s crop may not clear if it is secondary to reproductive disease. I would start her on 600mg calcium citrate daily, keep her on soft foods and keep up hydration.

I wrote an article about reproductive health in chickens that might help you get a better sense of what’s going on for your chickens and what you can do for them.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/reproductive-health-in-chickens.79238/

 

[Lillith37]

One of my hens, Ruby, died due to reproductive issues. The whole thread is somewhere around this forum, but basically, I took her to the vet because she had a double prolapse (oviduct + rectum).

The vet put her organs back in, but when he removed the stitches a few days later, Ruby released a lash egg and was diagnosed with salpingitis.

In an ultrasound, her oviduct appeared to be atrophied, and for a moment I was given the hope that she would not keep prolapsing as she would not lay eggs anymore. At this time, the vets believed that she had prolapsed because she was a tiny hen laying eggs bigger than my hand (she was a Golden Comet).

But what we didn't know was that her ovaries kept working, and the infection created a little "hole" in her oviduct, and the yolk went through that hole to her coelom (abdominal cavity).

So she developed EYP and the vets found in the necropsy that she had been laying internally, that's why she kept prolapsing (the eggs inside her abdominal cavity pushed her organs outside of the body).

She was treated with 4 different medications, from antibiotics to prokinetics.

But I live in a country where the implant is not available. That's what could've really saved her.

So, my advice for anyone dealing with reproductive issues or salpingitis is: Get the implant, and if it's necessary and you can afford it, spay the hen. (Ruby was going to be spayed if she survived her prolapse surgery, but she went into GI stasis and never recovered from it).

I’m sorry to hear about your Ruby
I lost a hen who had GI stasis but necropsy results were totally inconclusive.

Interesting that they were going to attempt the surgery for Ruby without doing an implant first. I suppose what is the option if you don’t have access to the implant. The implant is important because it shrinks blood vessels, making the surgery much safer and higher chance of success. Furthermore they rarely remove the ovary so you can have a salpingectomy done for a hen and if the ovary remains active, you’re right back where you started. It doesn’t always happen but it’s a risk.

Early preventative use of the implant is really what optimises hen health and gives them a chance at their natural lifespan.

I’m now faced with the choice for Whitetail if she has issues with soft shelled egg binding when her current implant wears off, to keep giving her implants or pursue surgery. It’s a tough one because implants lose efficacy over time, but surgery comes with risks, and she may also need implants post surgery, although Constance only had one so far, over six months ago, and her ovary has yet to reactivate. It will probably come down to money because I haven’t been able to build up my savings yet.

 

[lightm]

If you have access to the contraceptive implant, it’s a great option to prevent and even treat some reproductive disease.

Yes this has already been done to Light. I have edited my post to add this. The vet told us that the implant needs to be done on a quarterly basis.

 

[MaeM]

I’m sorry to hear about your Ruby
I lost a hen who had GI stasis but necropsy results were totally inconclusive.

Interesting that they were going to attempt the surgery for Ruby without doing an implant first. I suppose what is the option if you don’t have access to the implant. The implant is important because it shrinks blood vessels, making the surgery much safer and higher chance of success. Furthermore they rarely remove the ovary so you can have a salpingectomy done for a hen and if the ovary remains active, you’re right back where you started. It doesn’t always happen but it’s a risk.

Early preventative use of the implant is really what optimises hen health and gives them a chance at their natural lifespan.

I’m now faced with the choice for Whitetail if she has issues with soft shelled egg binding when her current implant wears off, to keep giving her implants or pursue surgery. It’s a tough one because implants lose efficacy over time, but surgery comes with risks, and she may also need implants post surgery, although Constance only had one so far, over six months ago, and her ovary has yet to reactivate. It will probably come down to money because I haven’t been able to build up my savings yet.

I see what you mean.

My chickens apparently had IBV, which affected their reproductive system. The problem with Ruby is that she got the atrophy in her oviduct from the IBV, but it didn't affect her ovary so she never stopped producing eggs.

The rest of my hens had their ovaries affected and they stopped ovulating/laying eggs. Although it's not nice to have IBV in your flock, I was so relieved, because Ruby's sister had also had a prolapse in the past (which I treated with Meloxicam back then) due to laying very big eggs.

I honestly don't want to have any more hens if I can't get the implant for them. The peace of mind of having "eggless chickens" is incomparable. I'd rather my pet not make me breakfast but stay with me for more than 2-3 years.

Maybe, when I'm able to, I'll start a bachelor flock with all these "extra roosters" that people want to rehome.

Wishing the best for your ladies ♥