Egg shell abnormality(pictures) Help?

[Mariakoltsa]

Hi!
Ive got a flock infected with mycoplasma. And that often causes then respiratory disease when they get stressed. But more often it causes them bad reproductive tract infection, if not treated then death. Have Had all eventually die due to vets treatments not sufficient. (No i will not cull them all sorry)
But now my bantam who has never yet had this reprod. tract infection has started laying eggs like this. Completely different from the eggs i usually get when they get the infection. Her eggs have a hole in the exact same place and siZe on the bottom of the egg. The shell
Definitely thinner and rough.
She has been looking a bit rough past weeks like a person whos been jogging and hot all day.
So im hoping someone here has experience with the exact same looking eggs and can reassure me that its just from heat. She does have the thickest layer of feathers and its Australia dry hot summer atm.

I wish to get more facts or educated opinions not guesses. Because if this is not due to heat then she needs treatment asap.
Love you thank you guys

 

[cavemanrich]

for treating your chickens for the mycoplasma infection, and not culling. Can you share some more details on your results, and info on possible prevention?
Sorry I cant help you with the abnormal egg situation
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
I am also aware of the great devastation happening due to fires. hoping it ends soon. Stay safe.

 

[Mariakoltsa]

for treating your chickens for the mycoplasma infection, and not culling. Can you share some more details on your results, and info on possible prevention?
Sorry I cant help you with the abnormal egg situation
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
I am also aware of the great devastation happening due to fires. hoping it ends soon. Stay safe.

I know that they should have vaccines for birds who dont havent had contact with it and its worth it.
But as much as i know my birds will keep getting sick. With the respiratory sides of it, its preventable keeping stress and heat away and not letting them see one of their flock members dead if anything happens. Snakeproofing as well as they get stressed if a snake has gotten into their sleeping area and wont want to sleep there anymore.
Right now im only learning myself about how the reproductive infection works. I know they my chooks have completely randomly got it and i have gotten antibiotics which to me have not seem like a strong enough dose and also not a long enough treatment.
They have eventually died as it comes back after a month or a couple every time and its worse. Hoping its only becauSe of bad treatment. But after every infection they start laying eggs again but they get more odd shaped or wrinkly looking and etc. Due to damage to shell gland and possibly also due to infection not being treated well.

Because im so over losing them and cant handle it, i had amoxillin at home
And read a study on its use in chickens. Ive divided the capsules and done it at a bigger dose thN the vets have previously given me antibiotics for and for 10 days instead of 5 or 7. Current chicken is third time being sick now.
Finished treatment yesterday. She laid 4 eggs by now. Each one different texture and slight size difference and irregular shaped but a strong shell.
I dont think theres prevention for this. I assume when their immune system goes down then they get it. So fAr it had only happened to the best most regular layers.

You know its starting when they start skipping days of laying eggs, and when they do, the eggs shell gradually gets
Softer and they start laying eggs with no shells and some normal ones in between , until they dont lay anymore.
But best to act when you have gotten more than two shell less eggs. They will act fine for a long time until they are pretty bad and start hanging out with the smaller weaker ones.

If proper research has been done, i have then given then the antibiotics. But made sure after every dose she gets a dose of miconazole ( i but daktarin oral gel from the pharmacy, works 100%) because otherwise the chicken Will get sourcrop and the antibiotics wont get anywhere and she’ll die of that.

I hate this, i wont give up


Thank you very much!
We had a fire here 10 km away from us, luckily small and dealt with but its so horrible in south the next two states
All those animals and their babies dying. Can not handle this, cry every day.
I wish you all the best too and ask more if you need!

 

[Lizzy733]

Do they take a feed that has calcium mixed in, or is it offered on the side, both? I've not had an egg like the one on the right before, but have had a few of the pinhole eggs from my production reds. With the brittle shell, it would be an indication that this hen is not taking in enough calcium. If grit is solely offered on the side, make sure she is hitting up the grit feeder on a regular basis and see if you can't entice her to take in a bit more. It would be worth switching to a pelleted feed if they are currently on loose grains to ensure she is consuming enough calcium to support her laying habits.
If her feed is a pellet or mash with calcium and you are still getting these egg issues, even when ensuring she is getting enough calcium, then it could be signs of issues with the shell gland or calcium absorption issues, which can happen with older birds or heavy producers.
An occasional pinhole egg isn't too much cause for concern but if you are regularly getting brittle eggs, be on the look-out for egg binding as it is more likely to occur in hens with a calcium deficiency.

 

[Eggcessive]

Have you had the mycoplasma (MG) diagnosed with testing. What were the symptoms exactly? Infectious bronchitis virus can damage the oviduct, and cause a lot of weird, thin, or wrinkled shells. IB can sometimes be present along with MG or they can be separate.

I would give some calcium tablets 1/2 tablet daily or a Tums or other brand of antacid with calcium for a few days to see if her shells harden. I had IB in my flock, and since most eventually were exposed since they shed the virus for up to a year, I have had wrinkled shells and many hens who suffered from reproductive problems. Those problems are the most common cause of death in chickens. Here is some reading about weird eggs:
https://www.littlethings.com/weird-eggs/1

https://www.yellowbirchhobbyfarm.com/weird-eggs-101-the-oddities-explained/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/common-egg-quality-problems.65923/

 

[Mariakoltsa]

Do they take a feed that has calcium mixed in, or is it offered on the side, both? I've not had an egg like the one on the right before, but have had a few of the pinhole eggs from my production reds. With the brittle shell, it would be an indication that this hen is not taking in enough calcium. If grit is solely offered on the side, make sure she is hitting up the grit feeder on a regular basis and see if you can't entice her to take in a bit more. It would be worth switching to a pelleted feed if they are currently on loose grains to ensure she is consuming enough calcium to support her laying habits.
If her feed is a pellet or mash with calcium and you are still getting these egg issues, even when ensuring she is getting enough calcium, then it could be signs of issues with the shell gland or calcium absorption issues, which can happen with older birds or heavy producers.
An occasional pinhole egg isn't too much cause for concern but if you are regularly getting brittle eggs, be on the look-out for egg binding as it is more likely to occur in hens with a calcium deficiency.

Hey
They have calcium both ways. Separate shel grit and powder mixed in food couple of times a week.
I have tried to slowly change to pellet feed but they hate the pellets. Especially when they r bigger than seed.
I do really hope she is just missing the calcium somehow.
Thank you very much

 

[Mariakoltsa]

Have you had the mycoplasma (MG) diagnosed with testing. What were the symptoms exactly? Infectious bronchitis virus can damage the oviduct, and cause a lot of weird, thin, or wrinkled shells. IB can sometimes be present along with MG or they can be separate.

I would give some calcium tablets 1/2 tablet daily or a Tums or other brand of antacid with calcium for a few days to see if her shells harden. I had IB in my flock, and since most eventually were exposed since they shed the virus for up to a year, I have had wrinkled shells and many hens who suffered from reproductive problems. Those problems are the most common cause of death in chickens. Here is some reading about weird eggs:
https://www.littlethings.com/weird-eggs/1

https://www.yellowbirchhobbyfarm.com/weird-eggs-101-the-oddities-explained/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/common-egg-quality-problems.65923/

Hey, no i havent had them tested as i couldnt afford it but it was the vets guess after hearing the symptoma of the new chickens i got and how they kept getting it after being stressed
And how my healthy flock suddenly started getting infections all exactly the same.

So when i got my new very young bantams, they were fine. Sadly a snAke got one and as they were inseparable and the other tiny one saw her dead body for hours closed up together in the chook pen. After burying her, she kept going back to the pen and staring at the spot for hours where her friend was before. That day is when i noticed her walking around panting,i took her inside and cuddled her and then she started breathing really heavy and had mucous in her airways, sneeZing and so on. Shaking her head to free her airways a bit, really bad gargling sound for days, i thought she would suffocate. But then all my other chickens started sneezing and shAking heads spittingout mucous. But they didnt get bad. Just panting a bit and that.
And after that i started getting them reproductive infections in my big chickens. Especialy the most regular layers. Suddenly didnt lay one day.. and they skipped another day couple of days later.. until they only laid two eggs a week. As soon aa they started skipping, i started getting eggs with no shells more and more. Then stopped laying and started to keep to themselves. Then comp flopped to the side, turned purplish. Started laying down a lot. Got sourcrop. Green and white and then yellowish diarrhea. After antibiotics got really well , for month or a bit longer and then again.

 

[Lizzy733]

Heat stress can really impact their immune system - I can imagine it's a constant battle for you there. There's a fair few studies linking higher protein feed to better heat tolerance in broilers and is likely beneficial for layers in hot climates as well.

If you're not already, make sure they have shade available 24x7, that the coop and run can be passively cooled by breezes throughout the day and no waterers are placed in direct sunlight. Other cooling tips would be to offer them large blocks of ice or frozen treats, unless you want to take the more extreme measures and install misters.

Some breeds are much less heat-hardy as well. Essentially, the smaller their comb and wattles, the worse off they'll be at getting rid of excessive heat. You may need to have a contingency plan for getting them through the hottest days there.

 

[Mariakoltsa]

Heat stress can really impact their immune system - I can imagine it's a constant battle for you there. There's a fair few studies linking higher protein feed to better heat tolerance in broilers and is likely beneficial for layers in hot climates as well.

If you're not already, make sure they have shade available 24x7, that the coop and run can be passively cooled by breezes throughout the day and no waterers are placed in direct sunlight. Other cooling tips would be to offer them large blocks of ice or frozen treats, unless you want to take the more extreme measures and install misters.

Some breeds are much less heat-hardy as well. Essentially, the smaller their comb and wattles, the worse off they'll be at getting rid of excessive heat. You may need to have a contingency plan for getting them through the hottest days there.

You are awesome !
They are Pekin bantams, mine do have tiny combs. They do have some shade all over the yard, not the best, planted some trees, fertilising them trying to get them to grow quick. They r getting there. I do have to say, that drought has gotten rid of my one big problem tho. Them chickens i got were i fested with tapeworm so my ground got also infested. They got worms every two weeks. But now, so dry, no mites no lice so no tapeworm . Grass dead and short. We didnt water the grass for months on purpose to make sure the UV gets to all the possible worm eggs in the soil. Started watering two weeks ago and still no worms. Thats the only good thing about this.

Sorry started talking too much.
Love you for your advice and help!!!

 

[aart]

Other cooling tips would be to offer them large blocks of ice

Ditto Dat!


Deep all day shade is best but....

I give a dose of Sav-a-Chick electrolytes/vitamins about once a week during heat waves. It really seems to help....started this after they saved a heat stroked hen once.
Can mix up a smaller amount, just wrap the packet tight and store in a dry cool place.
Always have plain water available too.

BIG(9x14x2") chunks of ice last all day for wading, sitting, and sipping.
Much more useful to the chickens than frozen foods and treats.

Make space in your freezer!