Soft Shell Advice

[tranquiliti]

If you still have it, cut it open and post another picture.

 

[Sally PB]

The larger thing looks like a soft/no shell egg.

Do you have any calcium citrate? The same kind you get as a supplement for people. That can help with the soft egg shells. Pop a pill in her beak every day for 4-5 days. Yes, they're big pills, yes she can swallow them.

The blobby thing looks like lash material. This is a sign of salpingitis, an infection in the reproductive tract. Do you have any amoxicillin? It's an antibiotic. It used to be available online, but as of last summer, it's by prescription only. If you have a vet who see chickens, they might prescribe some.

If you find it for sale online, BE CAREFUL! Check the vendor, as there are scam sites out there.

Sadly, there is no cure for this. I've read most hens might live another 6-12 months.

I am experimenting on my own bird with salpingitis, by treating her with Lotus Leaf Extract. I'm not expecting a cure. I'm just hoping to keep her as healthy as possible for the best quality of life I can give her.

 

[rosemarythyme]

First time seeing something like this:
View attachment 3804881
I think it’s from one of my July-August ‘23 pullets.
Typical egg mass in the flock is 38-45g.

I'm a little undecided if that's a lash egg or not, it's hard to tell. It likely is, but the flaky stuff around it is a bit confusing.

Bacterial salpingitis can be treated with antibiotics, viral cannot. There's no easy way to tell the difference so treating it as a bacterial infection is the route to go if you're hoping to save her, but there's usually a recommended egg withdrawal time depending on what you choose to dose her with.

I have a hen that's almost 6 that laid lash eggs in year 4 and year 5. I treated with enrofloxacin each time. Other than the fact that she hasn't laid since the last lash egg, she looks and acts quite healthy. So it's not necessarily an instant death sentence.

 

[tranquiliti]

I'm a little undecided if that's a lash egg or not, it's hard to tell. It likely is, but the flaky stuff around it is a bit confusing.

Bacterial salpingitis can be treated with antibiotics, viral cannot. There's no easy way to tell the difference so treating it as a bacterial infection is the route to go if you're hoping to save her, but there's usually a recommended egg withdrawal time depending on what you choose to dose her with.

I have a hen that's almost 6 that laid lash eggs in year 4 and year 5. I treated with enrofloxacin each time. Other than the fact that she hasn't laid since the last lash egg, she looks and acts quite healthy. So it's not necessarily an instant death sentence.

Thanks; the assembly pictured above had kind of a sweet/yeasty smell. There was definitely a flaky/powdery component on the outside… I buried it about an hour ago in fear that it would begin to rot.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Thanks; the assembly pictured above had kind of a sweet/yeasty smell. There was definitely a flaky/powdery component on the outside… I buried it about an hour ago in fear that it would begin to rot.

In the future I'd flat out throw those away as there's a small possibility of passing on any infectious agent to the other birds if they somehow access it.

 

[Sally PB]

Bacterial salpingitis can be treated with antibiotics, viral cannot. There's no easy way to tell the difference so treating it as a bacterial infection is the route to go if you're hoping to save her, but there's usually a recommended egg withdrawal time depending on what you choose to dose her with.

Thank you! I did not know this.

I have a hen that's almost 6 that laid lash eggs in year 4 and year 5. I treated with enrofloxacin each time. Other than the fact that she hasn't laid since the last lash egg, she looks and acts quite healthy. So it's not necessarily an instant death sentence.

Thank you for this, even more!

I had only read that after contracting salpingitis, the outlook was dim, and that the life expectancy was 6-12 months.

Thank you again.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I had only read that after contracting salpingitis, the outlook was dim, and that the life expectancy was 6-12 months.

I've seen it all over the place. Some folks think it's better to just put them down, and I think I've read a few accounts of birds living normal lifespans afterwards. I think not only is bacterial vs viral infection one part of it (due to treatability), but also the severity and frequency of the lash masses. Some birds lay massive clumps of lash material or do it frequently, and I'd have to imagine the prognosis is poor in those cases.

In the bird mentioned above I treated promptly (once I figured out whodunit), so she laid a total of 3 masses, all smaller than a small egg. Each time she stopped laying for the season after treatment and she has not laid at all this year, and I hope it stays that way.