egg peritonitis? something else? what do I do?

[cityeggs]

Hi there
I have a 1 yo Ameraucana, Lavender. She just started molting for the first time and I feel like almost all of my chicken illnesses happen when they're molting .

My spouse has recently taken an interest in helping with chicken care, but there have been some misses in communication which meant that they were all without water for almost 5 days a few weeks back (the nipple water bucket sealed when it was refilled, so nothing came out, despite the fact that we'd gone over how to prevent this more than once ), and they have run out of free calcium a few times for a day or two in the last few weeks. They all stopped laying for almost a week after the water issue (understandably!), and I kept a closer eye on them after that. Everyone seemed to get back on track, though that was around the time Lavender started molting, so maybe it was stress-induced and she wouldn't have molted otherwise?? She was still laying despite molting. Because of the lack of calcium, they've had a handful of broken eggs (some that got promptly eaten, so I don't know whose they were), and a few thin-shelled eggs, one possibly completely soft egg - I discovered just the empty membrane today, but it was dry - so, it happened sometime in the last few days. At least one of the broken (and probably thin) eggs was most likely our Ameraucana. I noticed some wet sand yesterday evening under Lavender's usual side of the roost, but everything else looked normal, so I knew to check today, but it didn't raise an alarm to do anything then (still not sure if it was loose droppings, or the soft egg, which was hiding in the corner nearby).

Today, though, she's just lethargic - standing or sitting in the same spot, and didn't come running for treats when I came out. I saw there was some whitish chunky droppings near her, and one that was white and foamy/bubbly. Her crop is large and squishy. I gave them all some mash with whey, and she did come over to eat some of that, but didn't eat any of the pellets I brought over (usually she begs for me to hand-feed her some pellets when I refill their feed). I hate to hold her bc she's got feather shafts poking out everywhere, but I had to check her. Because of the soft egg, I gave her a calcium tab, and noticed some pale yellowish stringy stool? on her tail feathers when I put her down. Once she got up (when she was trying to get away from me) she went over to drink water a few times, but didn't eat any pellets - just the mash, once I put it out.

Afterwards, I looked up egg peritonitis in Damerow's chicken health book vs. egg bound, but I didn't find it super helpful. Her vent looks normal - there's no visible egg stuck that far out, and she's not standing with her back end down, as described for egg bound, but I didn't palpate her abdomen to see if it was distended - I can do that when I go back out.

How do I know if it's a lack of calcium issue, bacterial infection, or reproductive issue? And for each of those, what do I do?

Thank you!

 

[cityeggs]

UPDATE 1: On second look, it did look like she was standing with her back end down (not just tail), as if she was trying to pass something, so I followed the directions in the article here on Egg Binding: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/egg-binding-symptoms-treatment-and-prevention.66978/

and did an internal exam. I didn't feel anything hard like an egg, though admittedly, I was afraid to put my finger in too far - I tried to estimate about 2", but may have been just shy of that. Her crop was squishy - tonight it felt like mostly water (as opposed to doughy, but earlier I thought it felt doughy?). I could feel her keel bone clearly, but her rear did feel a little more squishy than I remember chickens feeling normally, though bc she had a number of large feather shafts sticking out, I didn't probe too thoroughly.

I did find some small poop ranging from dark green to lime green - it was relatively solid; some more bright green came out when I did the exam as well, so I know it was from her. I took photos, but uploading to computer and then to here is too much for me tonight and it will have to wait until tomorrow. Does the green just mean she's not been eating enough? Or is it liver/kidney issues that also cause bright green poop? I have a suspected Marek's positive flock (all current birds are vaccinated, and the only death was a little less than a year ago - closed flock since then), so could this be an indication of organ tumors?? Certainly, the stress of the last few weeks could have triggered her to be more susceptible to the existing Marek's

Could molting just have done a number on her, and she's lost her appetite? I feel like I've heard of that happening. In which case, I can tube feed her or try to feed her mash and egg at regular intervals during the day? I tried to feed her some boiled egg, but she only took a little bit.

Is there anything else I can do, or that I should check? She's weak enough that she's just huddled under the roost tonight - she didn't try to jump up the <1' to it with everyone else, though it did seem they were treating her fine and she wanted to be near them.

And while one of the shell-less eggs may have been Lavender's, it turns out my RSL also is definitely having soft egg issues, so it could all be hers and no egg issues with Lavender. RSL was in the nest box at roost time (acting totally normal until then), and when I removed her, I saw she had something hanging out of her vent. I guess an egg membrane is better than a long piece of lash? Maybe? That's what I first thought it might be, and so I didn't think to check the nest to see if the rest of the egg came out until now. I gave her 600mg of calcium also, and will dose them both just in case again tomorrow.

 

[cityeggs]

UPDATE 2: Yesterday, Ameraucana seemed to be feeling better - she was closer to standard active behavior - scratching in the dirt, came running for treats.

RSL (2.5y), who laid a shell-less egg Fri evening, seems to be off also - she went up to the roost early for bedtime, and was not running around much, though wasn't completely lethargic.

One or both of them still had green poop during the day, but looked more normal than the previous day - darker and more solid, though one had some clearish- mucousy blobs and lots of urates. Friday, there had been one that looked almost like lashy small blobs.

Last night, I treated both with 600mg calcium citrate, since RSL hasn't laid another egg yet since the last shell-less one on Friday, and as far as I know, Ameraucana had a fragile broken egg a few days ago and hasn't laid another one since either.

I also gave them both mash in the evening, which they ate some of, but lost interest before I would have guessed they would.

This morning, I checked everyone's crop before food access, and both RSL and Ameraucana did not have empty crops - neither felt hard like an impacted crop, but also not fully empty. RSL had a hard crop last night, Ameraucana's was mushy but had at least some food in it. Based on typical roost position, it looked like RSL had almost completely water for droppings overnight, while Ameraucana had more solid but still more liquidy than usual.

It's been a while since I had to deal with crop issues or read about them. Should I start with the assumption that it could be sour crop and start with anti-fungal treatment?

They free-range and have access to grit. There have been a few times recently when pieces of longer grass and clover have gotten in their area, but typically I make sure to avoid that.

They typically get Kalmbach 20% protein pellets and usually have access to either egg shells, oyster shells or both (though, as I said above, there have been a few days where they ran out in the last few weeks). I've been trying to use up some Modesto Mills non-soy layer pellets that I was trying to split 1/2/1/2 with the 20% feed, but they hate it, so spill most of it out.

I have not de-wormed anyone ever. Should I de-worm?