# Possible Egg Peritonitis...Please Help!



## caflores81 (Sep 30, 2011)

Hello Everybody

My cockatiel laid an egg today afternoon to my surprise. I did not know what to do because my other cockatiels are male. I found the egg at the bottom of the cage and it was cracked. She did not seem interested on the egg because she never went to the bottom of the cage to take care of it. After that, I noticed that she was breathing heavily and seemed exhausted. She also is missing feathers in her lower back. I started to look online on information about complications of laying eggs and came across egg peritonitis. She seems fine but she sometimes breathes heavily, has missing feathers in her lower back and her stomach seems swollen. I do not know what to do even though I called my avian vet to schedule an appointment. I would really appreciate any information about egg peritonitis and its symptoms before any much worse happens.


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## Nimra (Aug 4, 2014)

I read on the internet that you should remove the egg. I also read that this could have happened because the hen is lacking calcium.


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## ParrotletsRock (Oct 8, 2013)

After laying an egg, a bird will be hot, and panting. Going thru labor is HARD work. Just give her a while to rest and relax and she should be ok. To stop her from laying to many eggs you should reduce her dayliht hours, do NOT pet her below the neck and if even head petting stimulates her then no petting at all. (Even a chin tickle from my hubby would get my hen all hot and bothered when she was broody) Do not just remove all eggs as laid. Get her some fake eggs and allow her to keep them. This way she will (should) lay her clutch and be finished. If she will not stop then allowing her to sit on the fake eggs and go thru the motions should get it out of her system. Make sure she is on a good diet, calcium and vitamin D are important nutrients right now. Be very careful about providing supplements tho as to much can be worse than not enough. I fed my hen a 1/2 dose of birdie vitamins every second day on her fresh foods when she was laying. (she laid 14 eggs before I got her stopped) Good luck and don't panic. If your hen is acting normal most of the time and only getting fluffed, panting and acting off during laying and just after, then she is fine. If however she is sitting and fluffed, having a hard tome pooping and acting like she is pushing but nothing is happening, then she needs to see a vet. If she is lethargic and sitting fluffed looking miserable.. vet.. you know your bird and know what is normal for her, go with your instincts.


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## caflores81 (Sep 30, 2011)

Thank you guys for your advice. I was really worried about my bird but I think I'm going to wait and see how shes behaving to see if I should take her to the vet. I really appreciate your advice guys.


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## Fredandiris (Nov 27, 2012)

This is a situation that I would be very very careful in. I've lost a bird to egg yolk peritonitis. If she is at the bottom of the cage, and it looks like she's been struggling to lay an egg for a while or is just sleeping, you will need to take her to the vet ASAP. I caught it too late, and unfortunately my bird didn't make it through surgery. 

I don't want to scare you or anything, it's just that I've been very paranoid about egg-laying since I lost my first female. Now I'm not sure if this is applicable to all egg-laying females, but generally, they tend to lay clutches. So, I would see if she passes another egg within the next day or 2. If not, then I would be on high alert.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

*She also is missing feathers in her lower back. *

If this is located on the rump above the tailfeathers this could indicate that she may have a problem with her kidneys. Whe you go to the vet ask to have bloodwork done to see what the uric acid levels are.

From your description your hen does not should like she has peritonitis. The illustration below shows what to look for. BUT, it would still be best to check with a vet. If you request bloodwork it may also tell if there is any yolk circulating in the blood stream. If so, this is a cause for a hen to have a stroke.


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## caflores81 (Sep 30, 2011)

She just passed another egg tonight but the egg was surrounded by blood which I guess is pretty normal. I feel so bad for her because I want to comfort her but she's afraid of me. She is pretty active and is not acting strange. I just wish I could do more because I don't want to lose her. She has missing feathers in her lower back and her anus.I don't know if it indicates something is wrong with her.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

*the egg was surrounded by blood which I guess is pretty normal*

This is* not* normal.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

Can you post a pix of the drooping that have blood? Was the watery part, the urine tinged with blood. I read on another post you feed primarily pellets, no seed. Are you aware that this diet, with some birds, can cause kidney problems and failure? From you 1st post of the plucking and this bleeding, the bleeding could be related to the kidneys.

Go to the vet as soon as you can.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

Also, was the egg normal looking in size, shape, and color?


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## Fredandiris (Nov 27, 2012)

Yeah, she definitely needs to go to the vet ASAP. There should NOT be any blood surrounding the egg.


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## caflores81 (Sep 30, 2011)

The egg was normal size but it broke because she was high on the cage. The egg was surrounded by minimal blood. I do not know if I should schedule an appointment with the vet because she seems fine but if the egg is not supposed to have any trace of blood then Im going to take her to the vet.


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## Fredandiris (Nov 27, 2012)

I've never had an egg come out with any blood. I've only had experience with a few clutches but srtiels has bred thousands of cockatiels. I personally would follow her advice on this one.

Good luck with your little bird though. Hopefully all will be fine


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

Yes, I aggree, it's best to have the vet check her out. He can also do a gram stain, while you are there to see if there may be an infection going on down there. (((HUGS)))...I hope it is nothing serious.


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## caflores81 (Sep 30, 2011)

Thank you guys for your advice. I think Im going to take her to the vet just to be on the safe side. I take good care of my birds and I do not want anything to happen to her. My grandfather found her on the street and gave it to me to take care of her because he knew I was a good caretaker. I love my birds as if they were my children. I will let you know what happens.


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## caflores81 (Sep 30, 2011)

This is what the first egg looks like. It cracked because it feel from the top of the cage.


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