Molting...or plucker in the making?

[felisdomesticus]

Originally Posted by Mike B

The approach of suppression is what the standard has called for correct? Yet we still have plucking, frustrated hens.

I haven't had to deal with hormonal behaviors or egg-laying with my ekkie hen. She's about 4 now and hasn't exhibited any signs that she wants to lay eggs. As I mentioned in another thread, I may be doing something right or I may just be very very lucky. There are others who are doing every single thing they possibly can and yet they still have chronic egg-laying.

I know my girl isn't going to have birdy babies. It's impossible. But I don't want to have to worry about risking her health due to complications... I have read absolute horror stories about egg peritonitis. I am going to do everything I can to PREVENT egg laying.

[Mike B]

Originally Posted by felisdomesticus

I haven't had to deal with hormonal behaviors or egg-laying with my ekkie hen. She's about 4 now and hasn't exhibited any signs that she wants to lay eggs. As I mentioned in another thread, I may be doing something right or I may just be very very lucky. There are others who are doing every single thing they possibly can and yet they still have chronic egg-laying.

I know my girl isn't going to have birdy babies. It's impossible. But I don't want to have to worry about risking her health due to complications... I have read absolute horror stories about egg peritonitis. I am going to do everything I can to PREVENT egg laying.

Why does egg peritonitis happen?

Mike

[felisdomesticus]

Originally Posted by Mike B

Why does egg peritonitis happen?

Mike

You could probably answer that question better than I. I am no expert on birds as I only adopted Scarlett (my first bird) a year and a half ago.

I believe it occurs when the egg shell cracks/breaks... "Peritonitis" sounds like it causes swelling and/or infection. The condition is considered to be an emergency and requires immediate and specialized veterinary attention. That's all I know about it.

[Vega]

I'm not sure what egg peritonitis is, but here's my experience with unfertalized eggs...

While working at a pet store the head guy gave each store in the chain a "silky chicken". Nobody knew how to care ofr these poor things. Ours ended up in a bunny cage. She eventually started laying eggs. Since she broke them, and we wanted to prevent bacteria, we removed each egg after she laid it. In doing this...she laid an egg to replace the one we removed. It became an absolutely horrid cycle. She eventually became too weak to walk. Couldn't eat, and we had to give her water with a syringe. I remember being told to hold her in one hand while hand feeding her crickets. And then doing it. (knowing what I know now, I have NO CLUE what that was suppossed to accomplish!)

Turns out she had a calcium deficiency. Since we didn't know to replace the calcium she was losing with the rapid egg laying.... In the end she was put down.

Needless to say I have absolutely NO desire to find an egg laying around.

Also, while working with the vet Gypsy is going to see, we had to do surgery on a duck due to being egg bound. I believe we removed 6 eggs from the poor thing. That's one surgery I'll never forget! That, and the hamster, the clippers were bigger than the hamster! lol

[Mike B]

Originally Posted by felisdomesticus

You could probably answer that question better than I. I am no expert on birds as I only adopted Scarlett (my first bird) a year and a half ago.

I believe it occurs when the egg shell cracks/breaks... "Peritonitis" sounds like it causes swelling and/or infection. The condition is considered to be an emergency and requires immediate and specialized veterinary attention. That's all I know about it.

It happens when there isn't enough calcium in the body to produce a shell. Yes, the egg cracks, then causes the infection. If the bird is on a diet w/ calcium foods I.E. almonds, broccoli, and sometimes calcium supplements. The shell should be fine.

If the eggs are left w/ the hen till she tires of them there isn't a chronic egg laying problem.

So back to my original question. Why don't we find ways to assist the hen through her hormones?

Mike

[Maui's Mom]

omgosh have I just getten one heck of an education. THANKS everyone so much. I had a Scarlet with a horrible plucking problem, did the specialized avian vet thing, spent more on the vet than we did on the birdie. cant remember what they actually found, nothing serious, it was all nerves and emotions they told us. we were her 3rd home. we gave her to her 4th home when SHE actually picked the person she fell in love with. we have seen pictures of her since, she is fully feathered.
my point is, Im glad we spent the $ to be sure she was healthy.

I have learned an awful lot here regarding the laying of eggs. I have 2 females so I guess I had better read alot of stuff about this egg thing.

its so worth reading thru the threads and learning from those more experienced. Hipp Hipp Horray for the members of BB.

[felisdomesticus]

Originally Posted by Mike B

It happens when there isn't enough calcium in the body to produce a shell. Yes, the egg cracks, then causes the infection. If the bird is on a diet w/ calcium foods I.E. almonds, broccoli, and sometimes calcium supplements. The shell should be fine.

what if the egg is too large to pass? what if the vet decides to break the egg and remove the contents? What if they have some kind of physical deformity and can't pass the egg? Why even GO there unless you want to breed birds?

Even if an ekkie successfully laid an egg, their behavior in the meantime would be atrocious and they may have plucked themselves naked. Not worth it to me.

[The Outlaw]

That's what most of us fear with Ekkies in particular: we've all seen those terribly plucked girls and its heartbreaking. I have one female macaw that plucks and it makes me nuts. However, hers isn't hormonal. Probably a genetic problem from what my research shows.

I know of no other species so determined to nest and lay eggs, with the possible exception of cockatiels. However, the female tiels don't usually disrobe to accomplish this.

[Tiki]

Vega, you are doing the right thing by having her checked by a vet first to rule out any medical cause for the plucking. Like Dayna said, there are several diseases that cause plucking.

If it is emotional or hormonal, we have several very experienced Ekkie owners in the Eclectus forum who have dealt with plucking issues. You might like to read through some of the threads in there too.

[Vega]

Thank you Tiki, unfortunately this is a lesson I learned the hardway. I had a dog (my first dog) and we knew he was losing weight--which we thought was a *good* thing since we were told her was obese. Stupid, stupid, stupid us...it was cancer. By the time we realised "hey, something could be wrong" it was too late. The docs said over $800 for surgery (which after discussion we scheduled for the following week) but due to the size of the tumor and his age they couldn't say he'd live through it. We had him put down just a few days later--2 days before surgery-- when he stopped eating and drinking altogether.

It's been almost 11 years since then and I still wonder 'what if we had taken him in sooner?' He was only 8 years old. Needless to say ever since then I've been a bit neurotic about my animals. Sprained tail that wagged next day $250, Blood found on floor--in which wrong dog was taken to vet $300, Growth on leg $65 for second opinion, And my favorite....$400 for an explority surgery that showed NOTHING! lol But this all gave me peace of mind that I did everything I could for them.