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Shelley Cockell

Sterile Perotinitis

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Our spekledy has been layiing for about 1 month. She has laid numerous softies and double yokers, but seems to be settling a little bit now. After reading post about swollen uncarriages, dirty bums and difficulty breathing I think that Doris could possibly have sterile perotinitis.

 

She is a big girl and when we bought her at around 20 weeks she was getting on for 8 pounds (and ready for the table as the breeder said).

She has nearly all of the symptoms - waddles like a duck, flabby knicker region, the skin under her vent is also sometimes quite pink rather than white/pink like her other skin. She has pooey knicker feathers and is quite heavy breathing after chasing her round the garden!! and what I thought was gape worm could actually be gasping for air?

 

I would like to know what other people experience of this are> will she always be like this or will she get better? All the posts that I have read seem to indicate this happening at the end of laying, not the beginning like Doris.

I don't intend on taking her to the vet to drain her so just want to know whether it's fair on her to leave her as she is. She seems happy enough and healthy in every other way.

 

Thanks

Shelley

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My Ella has had sterile peronitis since October. She has all the same symptoms you describe. We havent had her treated at the vet as we are worried the draining will cause infection and then she will die. She was our 1st chook and is coming up to 2 years old. She is also a big chook.

 

She has very few "down" days. At the moment she is very perky and strangely enough she was in the nestbox on monday as if she wanted to lay an egg!

 

We give her extra special attention and TLC, she has her bum washed depending on how pooey it is she might get a quick wipe if it is not too bad and a complete bath in warm water if she is gunky. She absolutely loves a warm bath - I think it soothes her and and she is very perky for the week following a bath. We spray her bum area with purple spray to prevent pecking and also its an antiseptic.

 

At the moment we are considering if we can get something from the vet to maybe help her/cure her - we have given her baytril before so not sure if this will cure her but we dont want to give her antibiotics all the time and it really only seems to be the undercarriage giving her a problem as she is ok in every other way at the moment.

 

We have only just started to give our girls mealworms as a treat and we have noticed a remarked difference in Ella since eating them, she is very lively with a bright red upright comb. :D At the moment she is enjoying chicken adventures and we will continue to give her all the care she needs until the time comes when she tells us she isnt feeling so good and of course we would intervene.

 

I think with care and attention your chook should live a pretty normal life, we take each day at a time.

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My lovely Clarry had sterile peritonitis for 3 years. Like Chelsea's Ella, she had good days and she had bad days. Bad days would see her panting for breath and hunched with a blue comb and a huge belly full of fluid but these bad times only lasted for a day or two then she'd be running for treats like the others - the only outward sign of a problem was her persistently large belly and a very dirty bottom which I used to clean by bathing her - she really enjoyed that. Sometimes the fluid would disappear for a few days and she'd feel very light and thin but she'd swell up again soon afterwards. She stopped laying eggs just before we'd had her for a year and she'd laid softies before this on several occasions. I only had her treated by the vet once as we thought we were going to lose her. She had a course of antibiotics and the vet suggested having her put to sleep if she'd not rallied round at the end of a week as she was very thin. She was so full of life by the Friday - back to her dear old self - that I didn't take her back to the vet and she lived happily for another year, waddling for treats almost as quickly as the others. On New Year's Eve, she was obviously not well and sat around looking unhappy with a dark comb and a very swollen abdomen but managed a plate of roast potatoes and corn on the cob on New Years Day, despite looking tired, bless her. We finally had her put to sleep the next day as she seemed no better and I'd always said that I'd not let her be down for more than a couple of days as she would probably have been suffering. The vet also thought that Izzy, our Speckledy, had sterile peritonitis as she ballooned from time to time and stopped laying eggs after around 6 months.

 

Just like Chelsea, we let Clarry live one day at a time, expecting her to be dead in the Eglu every morning but out she'd pop like a cork from a champagne bottle, full of beans. 3 years with sterile peritonitis is pretty good going. She was a tough - and very, very special old bird :D .

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Thanks guys, just needed the reassurance that we are not leaving her in any discomfort.

 

Must say that I don't think we have had any "bad days" when I ready your posts but she definitely has the outward signs that you state Kate.

Husband thinks that I'm suffering from chicken hypochondria, but since we first got her I have thought something is not quite right about her.

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I posted only the other week about the same symptoms and had already suspected sterile peritonitis (after reading previous posts here) and feel sure that this is what Mavis has.

 

She is an ex-bat that I got last April and I've been pretty sure that she hasn't laid for about six months now. She is fit and well in every other way apart from her huge under carriage she has no problems, she is as active and enjoys life as much as the others. I too have not noticed 'bad days' like chelsea and kate describe but I constantly keep a watch on her.

 

Does anyone know what actually causes sterile peritonitis - is just the laying tackle "giving up" if you know what i mean ??

 

Nicola.

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Husband thinks that I'm suffering from chicken hypochondria, but since we first got her I have thought something is not quite right about her.

 

It's quite possible that she's never been right, Shelley. If she seems happy in herself though, she can't be suffering. If she's running for treats and has mostly good days, her quality of life isn't bad. Good luck with her. I hope she has lots of really, really good days :D .

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She was a tough - and very, very special old bird :D .

 

Ella sounds just like your lovely Clarry Kate. Ella is top chook here and very bossy and is always the one instigating routine barges into the kitchen and 1st to lead the pack when you're being mugged eating your sarnie in the garden! :lol: she is so special which is why we try so hard for her.

 

she never ceases to make me smile. :)

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but Doris's laying tackle hasn't given up - so maybe DH is right and I am a hypo!

 

im not too sure with regard to laying, as we have had some suspiciously laid eggs over the last few weeks which we think could be Ella :think: , there was one on the lawn and one on the roosting bars. also she was in the nest box on monday but no egg.

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Hello, I've spent most of the day at the vet and my hen had a diagnosis of peritonitis. I'll write a proper post about this later as it may be useful; it certainly cost me a few hundred quid to get it formally diagnosed and treated... for the time being.

 

Meanwhile my poorly chook is recovering in the living room with me... what my partner will say when he gets in is anyone's guess! We certainly won't be spending any more money this weekend!

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:shock::shock::shock: Wow! That's a surprise! Neither Clarry or Izzy ever laid again after developing the problem. Good old Ella :D .

 

I suppose its a good sign Kate eh? :anxious: hubby found it on the lawn so we know it was her as we watched all the other girls lay their eggs on our chicken cam. :lol:

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