Lash Egg vs. Tumor vs. Other? - 7 Month Old Hen

[Suedan]

My 7 month old Isa Brown was found fluffed up and not herself 5 days ago. I raised her, no history of any respiratory illnesses or any illness, she came from Tractor Supply. She eats Purina all flock, oyster shell on the side, scrambled eggs about once a week, no treats. Upon taking a close look, her abdomen was firm and distended. I could feel what felt like an egg in her abdomen. I checked for egg binding and it was clear. I soaked her and gave oral calcium not knowing what I was dealing with.
At small animal vet next day, on x ray there is no egg anywhere (shouldn't there be an egg at some stage on x ray?) but an "object" is in the abdomen. On ultrasound the object is oblong in appearance. A calcium injection was given. Internal recheck- no egg and no object can be felt internally in the oviduct but the object in the abdomen can be felt externally and abdomen is firm. She has passed a few small chunks of what looks like gelatinized tan colored material.
Is it possible for a young hen to have a slow moving lash egg?
Her appetite has declined. I was hoping a shell less egg was going to eventually pass but no luck. There are no other tests that can be offered to identify what is happening to my girl. Does anyone in the Backyard Chicken family have any suggestions?

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about your sick hen. Do you have any pictures of the tan gelatinous material that came out of her? I hope that others will chime in to help your hen. @casportpony has a lot of experience with hens and vets that she can share, @azygous has years of experience, @micstrachan has had experience with vet care and hormone implants with her hen, @coach723 is very knowledgeable, and @Wyorp Rock gives very good advice as well. Hopefully some of them will be online today.

 

[casportpony]

At small animal vet next day, on x ray there is no egg anywhere (shouldn't there be an egg at some stage on x ray?) but an "object" is in the abdomen.

Can you post a picture of the X-Ray?

 

[azygous]

If this were an older hen, I would suspect internal laying and the oblong object in the abdomen a "cooked" egg such as these cooked eggs I found in a hen that recently died in my flock. From top to bottom, the enlarged gizzard cut in halves, one large cooked egg and a smaller one cut in halves, and several regular eggs all found in the abdominal cavity.

Unfortunately, when this occurs,there really isn't much to be done except for risky surgery to clean out the abdomen and then implant a hormone to stop further ovulation. Expensive.

 

[Suedan]

Can you post a picture of the X-Ray?

I tried to provide a close up of the object.

 

[Suedan]

If this were an older hen, I would suspect internal laying and the oblong object in the abdomen a "cooked" egg such as these cooked eggs I found in a hen that recently died in my flock. From top to bottom, the enlarged gizzard cut in halves, one large cooked egg and a smaller one cut in halves, and several regular eggs all found in the abdominal cavity.

Unfortunately, when this occurs,there really isn't much to be done except for risky surgery to clean out the abdomen and then implant a hormone to stop further ovulation. Expensive.View attachment 2044695

Thank you for your time. I am anticipating the worst but wanted to check with the community before I stop trying to find help for her. She is so young, it is sad.

 

[Suedan]

Sorry about your sick hen. Do you have any pictures of the tan gelatinous material that came out of her? I hope that others will chime in to help your hen. @casportpony has a lot of experience with hens and vets that she can share, @azygous has years of experience, @micstrachan has had experience with vet care and hormone implants with her hen, @coach723 is very knowledgeable, and @Wyorp Rock gives very good advice as well. Hopefully some of them will be online today.

This is the material. It was gelatinous in texture. She passed about a quarter coin size amount. I also failed to mention her white part of stool is now yellow. Thank you so very much for your help.

 

[coach723]

I'm really sorry about your pullet. Was she laying normally before this happened? I'm not good at reading xrays, unless it's something very obvious.
I have had several hens with salpingitis, the symptoms are really similar with many of the reproductive problems so it can be hard to narrow down. Tumors, infectious matter, matter from internal laying, can all feel pretty similar on examination. I think you are doing what you can. Sometimes they do pass a lash egg, in which case they will get some relief for a time, but it will eventually build up again, if that's what's going on. Whether they can pass it or not depends on size and shape. Usually when they can't pass it then they will go downhill fairly quickly, particularly if they become completely blocked. If she's having any droppings, then she's not completely blocked, but still can be pretty uncomfortable. You say what was passed was 'gelatinous', is it firm like hard cheese, or more loose and pliable and you can move it around? I lost one about 6 months ago that had passed stuff that looks very similar, it wasn't the usual firm lash material, but it was similar, just looser. Necropsy of her showed an abcessed ovary that became septic. She was much older than your pullet (about 9 years old). I did do a round of antibiotics with her (enrofloxacin/baytril), and it really didn't seem to help much. She may have felt a little better, but not enough that I would say it was really effective. Mine with salpingitis have generally been between 2 and 4 years old. And I've had a few cancers in the same age range. This is not a scientific finding in any way, just my experience, I have bought sex links from TSC, black, red, isa browns, various 'names', and my incidence of reproductive problems in those birds have been much, much higher than in my others, one batch in particular my losses have been really high with many really fatty abdomens. And only in that group, none of my others ever. To the point that I prefer to get heritage breeds instead even if they are just hatchery quality. That doesn't make the probability zero, but I've just had much better luck with them.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm not a vet nor very good at reading xrays but for some reason I think that's her gizzard with oyster shell in it.

I do agree the tan/gelatinous material looks like Salpingitis which is an inflammation of the oviduct. @coach723 has made a very good post on that above.

 

[Suedan]

I'm not a vet nor very good at reading xrays but for some reason I think that's her gizzard with oyster shell in it.

I do agree the tan/gelatinous material looks like Salpingitis which is an inflammation of the oviduct. @coach723 has made a very good post on that above.
View attachment 2044944

This is what they are looking at. It's hard to see.