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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.

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?

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http://hollandsroadparadise.blogspot.com
updated 14 May 2008

www.bradleyroundtwo.blogspot.com

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

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...

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

I'll keep my fingers crossed too.

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I'd rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion.

http://hollandsroadparadise.blogspot.com
updated 14 May 2008

www.bradleyroundtwo.blogspot.com

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

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.

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Jane

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.

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