Fudgie, the Bravest Little Chicken.
Fudgie the chicken presented to us recently with a history of being not quite herself for about 3 to 4 months. In the recent days before coming in, she had stopped eating, stopped laying, and had lost a lot of weight. Her comb was also going pale and she was collapsing.
Prior to this time, she had been laying eggs without shells and her owners suspected that she was likely suffering from salpingitis (an inflammation of the oviduct), a usually fatal condition where recovery is rare. After an ultrasound and an x-ray, it was detected that Fudgie had an ectopic egg. An ectopic egg, or also known as egg yolk peritonitis in chickens, is caused when an egg is laid outside the oviduct and into the abdomen.
The only way to save Fudgie’s life was to perform emergency surgery and start her on a course of strong antibiotics to fight the infection that now raged through her little body. After a nail-biting surgery, Dr. Niki successfully removed the troublesome egg, whilst Fudgie bravely fought through her anaesthetic, monitored closely by Dr. Amy.
We are delighted to say that Fudgie is now doing remarkably well at home and her family are incredibly grateful to Dr. Niki’s detective work and brilliant surgical skills. We hope that Fudgie will continue to lay eggs well into the future that never cause her trouble again! 