Chicken autopsy analysis (And soft shelled eggs)

[Snow Briar]

We recently lost a chicken who had been sick for a while. I THINK it was coccidiosis but I'm not sure. She lost blood in her comb, stopped eating, but her crop was still full, and grew lethargic. Her eggs also were coming out soft shelled and squishy. After she died we cut her open to see if she had ingested something foreign. Her crop still had the veggies we had tossed out a week ago but nothing foreign. We also found that there was a malformed egg stuck in her system. It was hard packed and doughy to the touch and larger than should have been. So tell me: what do you all think killed her? Egg binding, malnutrition, coccidiosis?


I'm asking because I've got another chicken laying soft shelled eggs (this is a young one, the other was a few years old. And she's laying soft shelled eggs. But if I remember correctly that can be a immature thing that will go away.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. Did you take any pictures of the organs when you did the necropsy? Coccidiosis is not common in birds her age. Had she ever had any signs of infectious bronchitis virus early in her life? Symptoms are frequent sneezing. It can cause reproductive disorders and egg shell problems. But some hens will still have shell problems. What do you feed and do you have crushed oyster shell available in a separate container? Crop function can be slowed down when hens have salpingitis and egg yolk peritonitis, so she probably wasn’t getting her food to digest. With your second hen showing the soft shells, I would offer her a human calcium with vitamin D tablet daily for the next week to see if it helps harden her shells.

 

[Snow Briar]

No pics, probably should have. Been providing oyster shells but not on a daily basis. No sneezing I THINK but I'll ask the fam too. I'll look into those two last sicknesses, but it kind of lines up with what mom was thinking, that she just had a genetic issue or underlying problem. Thank you very much!!