‼️HELP‼️ Chicken with leaking vent and lethargic possibly egg bound?

[EasterChickens]

Hello everyone,

I need your help right now, my 2 year & 10 month old leghorn hen started laying soft shelled eggs a month ago. I started to feed her 1 calcium tablet (600mg) daily for 4 days but didn't see her lay an egg anymore, so I stopped with the tablets. At that time, she was still acting happy and healthy with her tail up. But about 2 weeks later she laid an lash egg. I wasn't too concerned of it, but a week after that, she started having a leaking vent which I assumed could be a ruptured egg inside of her. Now, she still has a leaking vent and is very lethargic with her tail down. Please comment any suggestions or tips ASAP.

P.S. I just edited this thread to make it a little more detailed.

Attached below is pictures of her lash egg she laid and her current status (with leaking vent) :

Much appreciated,
Valerie

 

[coach723]

In the picture of the lash material, the top looks like lash egg, the bottom may be a malformed egg shell. Lash material is from salpingitis, which is infection/inflammation of the oviduct. As sick as she looks, it's probably advanced, and likely will not respond to medications, but you can try. Sometimes it may buy them some time even if it' doesn't cure it. It's notoriously resistant to treatment. If you want to try to treat then enrofloxacin is often what is recommended, you can get that here: https://jedds.com/products/enrofloxacin-10?_pos=1&_sid=67a6fd1d7&_ss=r
But I would also prepare yourself that you may lose her. The leaking vent is likely a symptom of what is going on inside, it can make it hard for them to push droppings out so they get messy vents. If there are flies active where you are then flystrike is a risk, from flies laying eggs in the droppings stuck there, so if you're going to try to treat her, then you need to clean that off and keep it as clean as you can. I would not bathe her, she appears too sick and that could put her over the edge. Just use warm, wet cloths and dry her off when done. She may not want to eat as it can also slow their digestion and crop problems can accompany it also. That's also caused by what's going on in the abdomen.
More on salpingitis here:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/salpingitis-lash-eggs-in-backyard/

 

[EasterChickens]

How is she today?

Unfortunately, last night on April 29, 2023, she passed away.

 

[rosemarythyme]

My guess is she has an advanced reproductive tract infection due to the lash egg plus the fact that she's clearly not feeling well plus the leakage. You could try antibiotics (I use enrofloxacin) but that will only treat a bacterial infection. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/lash-egg.1441042/#post-23895564

 

[coach723]

Amoxicillin dose is 57 mg per pound of body weight, 2 times a day for 5 - 7 days. So get a weight (a digital kitchen scale works well) and then figure out what your dose is. I empty the capsules into some softened (not melted) coconut oil, mix it well, and divide into number of doses. Freeze the doses and you will have custom pills, they usually go down easy, you can break them in smaller pieces if needed. It doesn't mix well in water and the particles are large and tend to settle out that way, or get stuck in the oral syringe. The coconut oil usually works best for a sick bird that isn't eating. If she's eating you can put the dose in some moistened feed (so it will stick), but have to make sure she takes the whole amount each time. Amoxicillin is usually well tolerated.

 

[Farmgirl283420]

Can you help @Eggcessive?

 

[EasterChickens]

Could it be vent greet? Can you give her a soak in some espson salt?

Hello Bluebaby, I don't think it could be vent gleet because she has been having some reproductive issues even with the calcium tablet I'm feeding her daily. I don't have epsom salt on me right now.

 

[BlueBaby]

Hello Bluebaby, I don't think it could be vent gleet because she has been having some reproductive issues even with the calcium tablet I'm feeding her daily. I don't have epsom salt on me right now.

Maybe someone else will have more idea's that might help you.

 

[coach723]

You can certainly try. If you have amoxicillin, you could use that while you wait for the enrofloxacin, if you are going to try to get that.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Hello SmiYa0126, thank you very much for your suggestions and tips but unfortunately she died last night. I will definitely keep your suggestions in mind for the future. Thank you everyone for your concerns.

I'm so sorry! Sending you warm hugs