Blood in egg, blood in poop, strange walk

[Mayalys]

I have a two an a half year old ISA Brown that appears to be in molt for a few weeks now (no noticeable feather loss but I can see new feathers coming in from the base of the neck, which molted last fall, down her back). She was a good layer until she started having soft shelled eggs two months ago and has layed erratically since, an occasional good egg but a lot of fairy eggs, shell-less eggs, and soft shelled eggs which broke inside. Two days ago she laid a seemingly good egg that turned out to be full of blood and with a grape sized meat spot/clot inside (we don't have a rooster). She seemed egg bound after and got out a shell-less egg that night whose insides look ok, after which she appeared recovered. Today she tried to lay but there is no egg and she is walking like she might be egg-bound, but still ate some meal worms. Then I found this poop, with more blood and a blood clot, and some weird textured stuff that looks like curdled egg. She's now wandering outside eating grass, so I'm getting all kinds of mixed messages here.

Does anybody have an idea what is her issue, and is there something I can do about it? I lost another ISA Brown the same age one month ago, and my daughter is still crying. Three days ago when these problems started the weather turned suddenly cold and tonight will be a particularly cold night.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Looks like somethings going on with her egg laying system ... Looks like she's shedding the lining from her egg laying tract. Did the other also have the same issues? ISA Browns are "production" hybrids and she's close to the slowing down age but now clue what the treatment is. Sorry I can't help here but let me try getting more experienced members ....

@azygous
@Kiki
@casportpony
@Wyorp Rock

Thank you for any help in advance

 

[Kiki]

Yike...this does not sound good.
Chickens are meant to lay eggs and when they stop doing so at such a young age it usually doesn't end well.

What exactly do you feed your flock?
If you feed treats daily stop.


Can you get a clearer picture of what she just pooped out?
Put it on a white napkin.

 

[azygous]

Poor Isa Browns. They were bred to live for about two years or three years as egg machines. Your hen is showing signs of being in her final weeks of a short life.

Her egg laying history and her current symptoms point to a possible chronic reproductive tract infection, a very serious one. Whatever bacteria is living in there is eroding her oviduct. The blood and abundance of shed lining points to things progressing way beyond intervention being any use at all.

Depending on how attached you are to this hen, I suggest you either euthanize her now or if you aren't ready to let her go just yet, make her as comfortable as possible, but plan to euthanize when it appears she wants it to end. She will let you know.

 

[Mayalys]

Yike...this does not sound good.
Chickens are meant to lay eggs and when they stop doing so at such a young age it usually doesn't end well.

What exactly do you feed your flock?
If you feed treats daily stop.


Can you get a clearer picture of what she just pooped out?
Put it on a white napkin.

Sorry, it was in the sand and it got covered from the time I poked at it and the time I decided to bring it in for a closer look. All I can tell you is that there was nothing solid, and nothing resembling a lash egg. I feed them chicken crumbles, and about a tbsp of Grubblies feed per chicken as a snack. But they free-range and sometimes choose to ignore their feed and sometimes even the seeds in the Grubblies feed. I have far less control over their diet than I'd like.

 

[Kiki]

Sorry, it was in the sand and it got covered from the time I poked at it and the time I decided to bring it in for a closer look. All I can tell you is that there was nothing solid, and nothing resembling a lash egg. I feed them chicken crumbles, and about a tbsp of Grubblies feed per chicken as a snack. But they free-range and sometimes choose to ignore their feed and sometimes even the seeds in the Grubblies feed. I have far less control over their diet than I'd like.

Do you have a direct link to this Grubblies feed you feed daily? Which chicken crumbles?

 

[Mayalys]

Poor Isa Browns. They were bred to live for about two years or three years as egg machines. Your hen is showing signs of being in her final weeks of a short life.

Her egg laying history and her current symptoms point to a possible chronic reproductive tract infection, a very serious one. Whatever bacteria is living in there is eroding her oviduct. The blood and abundance of shed lining points to things progressing way beyond intervention being any use at all.

Depending on how attached you are to this hen, I suggest you either euthanize her now or if you aren't ready to let her go just yet, make her as comfortable as possible, but plan to euthanize when it appears she wants it to end. She will let you know.

That doesn't sound good, but it sounds all too likely. The first hen I lost to salpingitis, and when this one started laying erratically 5 weeks ago, I gave her fish mox for 10 days (2 250mg capsules a day), just in case it was something similar and I could catch it early. It didn't have an impact that I could see, so probably further intervention would indeed not be useful. Unless it would help to deworm? I treated them end of August but just for roundworms.

For the moment, she is still well enough to be doing the head hen duties, so I will wait for her to let me know when it's time. I love my Isa Browns, they are such clever and enterprising chickens and are excellent at escaping predators, but these issues are really making me regret I got them in the first place. And might be putting me off chicken keeping all together.

 

[Mayalys]

Do you have a direct link to this Grubblies feed you feed daily? Which chicken crumbles?

Dumor Organic Crumbles on demand, and sometimes as mash. Grubblies layer feed: https://grubblyfarms.com/products/fresh-pecks?variant=39563302993962

 

[Mayalys]

Looks like somethings going on with her egg laying system ... Looks like she's shedding the lining from her egg laying tract. Did the other also have the same issues? ISA Browns are "production" hybrids and she's close to the slowing down age but now clue what the treatment is. Sorry I can't help here but let me try getting more experienced members ....

@azygous
@Kiki
@casportpony
@Wyorp Rock

Thank you for any help in advance

Thank you for your input. The other hens don't have this issue. Of the other hens the same age, one died of salpingitis a month before, one was looking off but had a hard molt and is back to laying, and the third suddenly stopped laying and every so often drops dried-out empty membranes (also shows signs of a soft molt).

 

[Kiki]

Dumor Organic Crumbles on demand, and sometimes as mash. Grubblies layer feed: https://grubblyfarms.com/products/fresh-pecks?variant=39563302993962

This Grubbly one is a LAYER type feed.
What type is the Dumor feed? A link to it?


You mentioned mealworms...do you feed those often?
Kitchen scraps? Eggs? Scratch?