Will hoey

[Bluebubbles]

Hello,

I'm sorry this post is not very uplifting but I'm hoping for some advice from others who have been in a similar situation.

 

We lost our big, noisy and beautiful Bluebell very suddenly yesturday to suspected egg peretinitus (according to the vet). She seemed absolutely fine yesturday morning and was happily scratching around the garden. At about 1ish I checked on her as she was spending more time than usual in the nesting box, she seemed a bit dopey so I picked her up and checked her over. She didn't have smelly breath, her crop felt normal, comb and wattles were red. We thought she might just be a bit sleepy so brougt her in to let her rest and keep an eye on her. A long story and several attempts to help her later she was looking as if she was about to leave us so we took her to the emergency vet. She passed away A couple of minutes after we got there.

 

The vet checked her over and said that from what I could tell it was egg peretinitus (something that I hadn't thought of). I have several questions that I need help answering about this while situation-

 

(1) How common is egg peretinitus, what are the early signs and can it be prevented?

(2) How have others coped with the loss of there 1st pet hen and been able to carry on keeping chickens?

(3) What can I do to help out 2 remaining girls understand that she is gone?

 

I'm really struggling with self blame for not spotting the signs earlier. I don't want to stop keeping chickens but at the same time I feel helpless in this situation.

 

Any advice that can be given would be really helpful.

 

Thank you in advance from a devestated chicken mum!

[Cat tails]

So sorry to hear. It's always difficult to lose a pet.

 

Don't think there is any real and effective treatment to this. If caught very early, antibiotics might help. But I don't think you could have done much.

 

My first hen died of an infection of the ovaries. She had it before, but recovered miraculously with antibiotics. The vet hadn't expected her to survive. Second time around, she developed similar symptoms but her overal condition was much poorer, so I decided enough was enough. Second hen died of a prolapse. She also had had a prolapse before, but this time it was much worse and I again decided enough was enough. I don't think chickens are cut out for a lot of veterinary tinkering.

 

Don't beat yourself up about it. Nothing much you could have done, or I would have done differently. Some birds are just more prone to these kind of problems than others. Some will only live for a few months and others on this forum have been around for more than a decade!

[Olly]

Really sorry to hear it, it's always upsetting. Don't blame yourself, there is nothing you could have done and it's very unlikely that you missed any symptoms - we usually know instinctively if a hen isn't looking her usual self.

 

Unfortunately this is one of the downsides of chicken keeping - they can die very suddenly like this, or they can be ill but conceal it very effectively. Your Bluebell clearly had a happy life and didn't suffer for long. You've already done the best thing you could by having three hens - the remaining two will get used to the change and settle down quite quickly.