Chicken Sick?

[Wyorp Rock]

The shell fragments that you felt inside her vent, were they soft shell or hard?
I would give her a warm epsom salts soak if she is not too lethargic. If she is lethargic, then place her in a steamed up bathroom or give her moist heat with heating pad.

You can put little oil or lubricant inside the vent, I'm going to assume there's still shell fragments inside (?)
Do your best to get her hydrated - plain water, gatorade, poultry vitamins - whatever will entice her to drink. I agree with @Granny Hatchet to give calcium - this helps with contractions so hopefully she can pass whatever is in there out. You can give a crushed up TUMS as suggested or if you have Caltrate give 1/2tablet.

Penicillin may help if that's all you have. Do you have a relationship with your dog/cat vet that may give you a prescription for Baytril or Amoxicillin without seeing her?
Have you kept the Penicillin refrigerated and it's in date? I would like Kim and Kathy's thoughts on this, but if it's been used, I would buy new, but that's my picky self

 

[Eggcessive]

I agree with all others advising to give some human calcium ot Tums, and to keep her in a warm humid environment until she is acting back to normal. Once they have a soft or shell-less egg inside break, that can se them up for developing an infection. I would go ahead and five the penicillin shot 0.25 ml (1/4 ml) into her breast muscle once a day up to 4 days. But I would go ahead and order some Baytril (enrofloxacin) online here and give it when you get it, and discontinue the penicillin. Dosage is 0.05 ml per pound given orally twice a day 12 hours apart for 5 days. That is 0.25 ml for a 5 pound chicken. Here is the link and order the 100 ml liquid:
https://www.jedds.com/shop/misc/

 

[Sexyraftguide]

Good morning all,
First I want to say thank you all for your suggestions.
@Eggcessive - I did order the enrofloxacin so thank you for that link.
Libby made it through another night but she's still puffed up and pumping her tail like she's trying to get expel something. The one piece of good news is we're seeing some more normal leavings which gives us some hope.
Last night I made her scrambled eggs and sprinkled powdered calcium on top which she ate. We also orally gave her some powered calcium mixed with water. We injected some mineral oil into her vent. My husband felt around in her vent and didn't feel anymore fragments. He also didn't think he felt a new egg. We gave her a warm bath, blow dried her, and gave her a shot of penicillin. This morning I made her mushed pellets with calcium sprinkled on top which she picked at before I left for work.
Maybe at this point all we can do it wait and continue her regimen. Is there something we could be missing that would explain why her condition is about the same?

 

[Eggcessive]

Many people report that when their hens lay a broken egg or shell-less egg, that they get very weak. There can be other eggs in the process of coming out. Once the eggs are out, they seem to get revived and feel more comfortable. Hopefully with the calcium and drinking enough fluids, she will be able to form stronger shells. It sounds like you are doing as much as you can right now. Let us know how she is feeling later.

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is some reading about impacted oviduct which is something can occur when egg laying problems occur:
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poul...tem/egg-bound-or-impacted-oviducts-in-poultry

https://wagwalking.com/bird/condition/impacted-oviduct

http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/oviduct-impaction

 

[Granny Hatchet]

Good morning all,
First I want to say thank you all for your suggestions.
@Eggcessive - I did order the enrofloxacin so thank you for that link.
Libby made it through another night but she's still puffed up and pumping her tail like she's trying to get expel something. The one piece of good news is we're seeing some more normal leavings which gives us some hope.
Last night I made her scrambled eggs and sprinkled powdered calcium on top which she ate. We also orally gave her some powered calcium mixed with water. We injected some mineral oil into her vent. My husband felt around in her vent and didn't feel anymore fragments. He also didn't think he felt a new egg. We gave her a warm bath, blow dried her, and gave her a shot of penicillin. This morning I made her mushed pellets with calcium sprinkled on top which she picked at before I left for work.
Maybe at this point all we can do it wait and continue her regimen. Is there something we could be missing that would explain why her condition is about the same?

you have done everything I would of done and then some.

 

[Sexyraftguide]

Libby made it through the weekend. Although she's not eating or drinking as much as we would like, we're cautiously optimistic that she's going to make it. Thank you all again for your wisdom. Hopefully this thread can help other people too.

 

[Eggcessive]

Thank you for the update. I hope that she will continue to eat better and improve.

 

[Sexyraftguide]

Libby survived the ordeal and then about a month ago she laid a lash egg so we gave her another round of anibiotics. She now seems back to her old self and started laying again but she's laying ugly eggs (see pictures). Does anyone know what could cause this? Is there anything we can do?

 

[Eggcessive]

She could be having a problem with her shell gland or she may have been exposed to a mild case of infectious bronchitis. She has salpingitis is she is laying lash eggs, and may be laying internally. Here is a good link to read about egg shell problems, and a couple of diagrams of the oviduct:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/common-egg-quality-problems.65923/