a completely shell less egg and a rubber egg with just yoke inside

[nakstk]

One of my SS was acting sickly this evening. Wings and tail dropping, feathers fluffed up, she was off by herself acting very sleepy. I checked her crop it was fine so I was looking her over and seen that she had dried poop stuck to her vent feathers and her vent feather were spread like she was trying to go poop but nothing was coming out, at first. I gave her a good soaking in warm water. Then gave her some yogurt, ACV water, Molasses water and a little bit of mineral oil. After about 10 to 15 minutes she laid a completely shell less egg and a little tiny rubbery egg. She is a year old today so it's not like she is new to laying. They have free choice oyster shell and this is the first time any of them have laid and odd egg. Will this harm her?

 

[dawg53]

This might be a one time eggbound anomaly, or it could be the beginning of egg impactation. You did the right thing by soaking her for a good while in warm water. Warm water expands and relaxes their innards allowing the stuck egg to move along, massaging her underside helps as well. The concern now would be a possible bacterial infection inside her if there were egg yolk/whites left inside her. Clean and remove poop and debris from her feathers. Next, you'll want to make a water/vinegar flush, like a douche to prevent bacterial infection.
Use a large syringe without a needle, mixing 1 tablespoon of WHITE vinegar to 1 quart of water. Use a syringeful of the mixture and insert the syringe into her vent and gently flush. Use about 3 or 4 syringefuls, the liquid may or may not flow out of her vent afterwards.
Observe her for a few days and watch for the signs you saw before, indicating that she was eggbound. Hopefully it was just a one time event.

 

[terryg]

As dawg53 said, if it's a one time event, no problem. If it continues, there's some underlying issues. Sometimes a hen's mineral balance gets out of whack. An epsom salt bath can both help that and get things moving smoothly again. I have a "spa treatment" that has worked wonders. It's like what you did with a warm soak, but one step better. If it doesn't work, then there could be something very serious going on, like internal laying, impaction, infection... the list goes on, and there's not much to do about those ailments.
Try this:
http://hencam.com/faq/the-spa-treatment/
Also, double check the feed. Sometimes decreasing the treats and limiting the feed to laying hen pellets, free-choice calcium and greens can work wonders. I now have a 7 year old hen laying partly because I did that.

 

[nakstk]

Thanks so much! I had posted again before I figured out what it was and I got some feedback. Then after she passed the egg and and the rubber egg she started to perk up. I am pretty sure the yolk broke when she stepped on it because she had some on her foot. When I gave her her bath I add vinegar to the water and I did remove all the poop on her feather with a sponge. I don't give a lot of treats they get watermelon on occasion. I planted Kale and Chard for them that they get once a day (if I remember). Other then that they just get layer pellets and water with ACV in it.

Today she is acting totally normal eating, drinking and running around like nothing happened. She is in the nest box right now. I closed off the coop, she is the only one in there so I will know if /when she lays an egg.

thanks again!

 

[nakstk]

@ terryg after my last post I gave Bess an epsom salt bath for about 15 minutes dried her off and fed her some and olive oil. She just drank it right from the spoon with no troubles. She went back with her flock and has been just fine. I am really hoping this was just a 1 time thing like dawg53 said. I am not 100% sure but there is a good chance she laid and egg yesterday. I got 4 eggs from my 5 layers. Today she seems just like normal. Here she is this afternoon.


No feathers fluffed out, wings in and tail up!

Thanks again guys!

 

[terryg]

Yay! My spa cure often does the trick. Love Speckled Sussex. Yours look lovely.