Management of suspected dystocia +/- ectopic eggs in an 18-month old laying hen

RE: Management of suspected dystocia +/- ectopic eggs in an 18-month old laying hen

Aine Seavers — Fri, 29 Jun 2018 10:08:16 GMT

Notes from a recent Poultry Course

Prevention for egg binding:

Feed less scratch and fruit. Increase vegetables, feed layer mash and some soluble grit

2) Lock in the shed earlier earlier and let them out later - close the shed so it's dark(ish)

3) Move the coop around a bit - a little bit of stress

4) Remove nest boxes

Treatment:

Egg binding Dystocia-is Acute Egg bound-keep hot and humid and dark and quiet, give 10-50mg/kg i/m every 3-6hrs x 3 injection of Calcium gluconate. Consider tube feeding high digestible sugar supplements.

Can manipulate the egg out but don’t push egg up against kidneys and spine. Can use PGE2 gel into cloaca to stimulate pushing. In emergency can introduce large gauge needle via abd wall or cloaca and aspirate the egg contents as you digitally press. Some may need exlap.coeli..

Birds don’t have a diaphragm and so need intercostal and sternal muscles for resp so manual or mechanically ventilate -Chickens-use a size 3-4 ET tube.

RE: Management of suspected dystocia +/- ectopic eggs in an 18-month old laying hen

Benjamin Alyoshkin — Mon, 25 Jun 2018 17:08:38 GMT

Hi Marie

Did not see the hen back, it was scheduled 7d after initial consult, but did not turn up as the bird was back to normal self according to owner. I did take a lateral view on the 24h follow up originally, could see round opacities in cranial coelom which could be interpreted as follicles/ ectopic eggs. Discussed the risks with the owner then, thought the owner was intending to keep her as a pet chicken and discourage laying.

Thank you again for your guidance

Ben

RE: Management of suspected dystocia +/- ectopic eggs in an 18-month old laying hen

Benjamin Alyoshkin — Thu, 24 May 2018 18:08:21 GMT

Hi Marie

Thank you very much for the insight!

TBC

RE: Management of suspected dystocia +/- ectopic eggs in an 18-month old laying hen

Marie Kubiak — Thu, 24 May 2018 13:42:10 GMT

From the xray it looks like there are multiple large soft tissue masses, most likely ectopic eggs but could also be virally induced neoplasms or distended ovarian follicules. Lateral view with retraction of wings and legs will give a much better view of the coelom and more useful information.

Surgery is not straightforward and is better carried out by someone familiar with bird anatomy and anaesthesia. Approach is left lateral through the paralumbar fossa for salpingectomy and suture material choices are monofilament absorbable. Coeliotomy necessitates entering the air sacs making anaesthesia tricky (and definitely not appropriate to maintain on a facemask, as for any avian surgery) and the avian reproductive system is not like mammals. Manipulating the ovary has high risk of major haemorrhage, follicular disruption will lead to coelomitis and salpingectomy alone is standard approach for reproductive issues though haemostasis can be difficult - haemoclips or cautery usually necessary.

Many of these chickens are euthanased due to severe pathology present at coeliotomy but best chance is with an experienced avian surgeon.

Marie