Egg Piritonitis

[Kate]

Hi,

I think one of my chickens is in the last stages of egg peritonitis, she is standing very upright with her head tucked under her wing, she is an ex bat and always had a big, bald bum but today it has turned into a egg shape below the vent and the bulge is squishy to touch. We've tried giving her a warm bath and rub olive oil around the vent to encourage her to lay but nothing has happened, on cleaning them out we've notice there is some yolk mixed in with the poo in the coop that hasn't been there recently. We are going on holiday tomorrow and leaving the chickens with family so don't know what to go with her can anyone advise on anything we can do today and get them to do whilst we are away?

The poor girl!

 

[Marigold]

Sad as it seems, I think that she has come to the end of her life and is probably in a lot of pain. Exbatts have had a phenomonal laying 'career' and it really takes its toll on their systems. Egglaying problems such as prolapse and peritonitis are very common in older hens. You have to accept that the farmer would only have been getting rid of his exbatts if their best egglaying and healthy days were past, in terms of producing saleable eggs at a commercial rate. As you are about to go away, its really not fair on your hen sitters to leave them with this problem, and I'm sure you would worry about her if you left her sick and in pain. Sadly, peritonitis is incurable and it really is the kindest thing to cull her, or if you don't feel able to do this, to take her to the vet for euthanasia. This is a painless injection where the hen just goes to sleep, I have seen it happen, and its a great relief really. So sorry.