4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[GKH]

Hi

My Katie is poorly again.

I think she maybe egg bound but really not sure she never laid that many eggs and hasn't laid since last october but she seems to be getting bigger in the abdomen area so she looks like one of the chickens out of chicken run... so her legs are getting wider apart. How long can chickens stay egg bound ...?

[Budgies]

Egg bound chickens tend to have one egg stuck.

 

If your Katie hasn't laid since October and is getting bigger, it sounds more likely she might have egg peritonitis.

 

This is where the egg yolk goes astray inside the chicken and fluid builds up in her abdomen to deal with the foreign body (the yolk).

 

Does she feel full of fluid around the abdomen? Another indication is that she might struggle to breathe normally when crouched down.

[GKH]

YES

I have taken her to the vets 'cause she had a 'crackly' chest spent nearly £100 and the vets said just put her down but she revived a little and has been going for several weeks now.

 

what do i do about egg peritonitis?

 

mant thanks for the quick reply

[Budgies]

I'm not a vet but it sounds as though she may have had infectious bronchitis which has now gone to her ovary. This happened to my girl I'm afraid.

 

Some vets will drain the fluid (but they cannot drain more than about half of it because of the risk of shock to the chicken) but there are risks attached to this (infection may set in and sometimes the operation will be unsuccessful - there are air sacs around the area where the fluid sits).

 

I know some people who don't have it drained and keep their girls going with antibiotics. Personally, when she began to struggle for breath whilst resting, I didn't feel it was fair to make her continue - when you can't rest comfortably, it's not much of a life.

 

My vet said they believed it was one of the most painful things for a chicken to suffer.

 

I'm sorry your girl is poorly.

[Egluntyne]

Article on egg binding **here**

 

If she has peritonitis, I would take her back to the vet. It isn't something that can be treated with home remedies.