Chicken limping but can’t find an injury

[$pent_Hens]

That does not look like a typical lash egg as it appears to be liquid inside, they are normally rubbery solid throughout with concentric layers like an onion of yellow and flesh coloured material, so this may be the early stages and a course of antibiotics might help. How long have you had her. It does concern me that she has not been laying for quite a while which suggests other things are going on.

I would not isolate her. Whilst some say that salpingitis can spread, I can think of no scientific means for it doing so and most chickens have the ailment for a long time before it is diagnosed anyway and it doesn't appear to infect other birds.

Is she walking any better now that she has passed that?

I have had her for one month. I know she has not laid an egg since June 1st. What ever this is, it has a shell, although it was pliable. I use a razor to slice it open. Inside was cloudy liquid / gel like substance. (Looks like aloe)
She is walking a bit better. Was able to leave the coop on her own this morning.

I am going to TSC now to see if I can find antibiotics. I think I will treat her with antibiotics. De-worm all three of them (that’s my entire “flock”) maybe continue Epsom bath soaks with massage??? Don’t know if that helped or if it was just a coincidence that the “egg”came out after her spa day.

 

[orrpeople]

TSC doesn't carry antibiotics in our area (not sure about elsewhere). Some pet stores carry fish antibiotics, but I have never used them before.

 

[rebrascora]

Thanks for the up close image. That looks like it might be a soft shelled "Fairy egg" rather than a "lash egg", so all may not be lost, especially if you have only had her a month. It would not be unusual for a hen to go off lay for several weeks at a new home and difficult to know why she was not laying at her previous home. Is that blood on the outside or just a bad "spray tan" ie an uneven application of shell tint by her system?
Soft shelled eggs are really hard for hens to pass and makes them feel pretty out of sorts. The poor shell quality shell is a concern, particularly with such a small egg which would not require a lot of shell to surround it. Can you give her a calcium supplement. Ideally a dose of liquid calcium or a calcium tablet crushed up and sprinkled onto some scrambled egg or other yummy treat?
What do you normally feed them?.... main feed and treats? Diet can be very important for high production birds so treats need to be strictly limited to prevent a dietary imbalance messing up their system. To be fair chickens in general need to have a precisely balanced diet because they have been selectively bred for their bodies to produce far more eggs than nature intended, so they are at maximum performance, a bit like a top athlete.
At the moment I'm not sure I would go with the antibiotic. It may be that her egg production system is starting back up and this is an initial hiccup.....

What do you think @orrpeople ?

 

[orrpeople]

Thanks for the up close image. That looks like it might be a soft shelled "Fairy egg" rather than a "lash egg", so all may not be lost, especially if you have only had her a month. It would not be unusual for a hen to go off lay for several weeks at a new home and difficult to know why she was not laying at her previous home. Is that blood on the outside or just a bad "spray tan" ie an uneven application of shell tint by her system?
Soft shelled eggs are really hard for hens to pass and makes them feel pretty out of sorts. The poor shell quality shell is a concern, particularly with such a small egg which would not require a lot of shell to surround it. Can you give her a calcium supplement. Ideally a dose of liquid calcium or a calcium tablet crushed up and sprinkled onto some scrambled egg or other yummy treat?
What do you normally feed them?.... main feed and treats? Diet can be very important for high production birds so treats need to be strictly limited to prevent a dietary imbalance messing up their system. To be fair chickens in general need to have a precisely balanced diet because they have been selectively bred for their bodies to produce far more eggs than nature intended, so they are at maximum performance, a bit like a top athlete.
At the moment I'm not sure I would go with the antibiotic. It may be that her egg production system is starting back up and this is an initial hiccup.....

What do you think @orrpeople ?

Great advice.
I'd order the antibiotics to have on hand since you have a breed commonly known for reproductive infections.
I'm still wondering about the swelling though. Did it dissipate once she laid the egg? Or does it still feel mushy and swollen?

 

[$pent_Hens]

Thanks for the up close image. That looks like it might be a soft shelled "Fairy egg" rather than a "lash egg", so all may not be lost, especially if you have only had her a month. It would not be unusual for a hen to go off lay for several weeks at a new home and difficult to know why she was not laying at her previous home. Is that blood on the outside or just a bad "spray tan" ie an uneven application of shell tint by her system?
Soft shelled eggs are really hard for hens to pass and makes them feel pretty out of sorts. The poor shell quality shell is a concern, particularly with such a small egg which would not require a lot of shell to surround it. Can you give her a calcium supplement. Ideally a dose of liquid calcium or a calcium tablet crushed up and sprinkled onto some scrambled egg or other yummy treat?
What do you normally feed them?.... main feed and treats? Diet can be very important for high production birds so treats need to be strictly limited to prevent a dietary imbalance messing up their system. To be fair chickens in general need to have a precisely balanced diet because they have been selectively bred for their bodies to produce far more eggs than nature intended, so they are at maximum performance, a bit like a top athlete.
At the moment I'm not sure I would go with the antibiotic. It may be that her egg production system is starting back up and this is an initial hiccup.....

What do you think @orrpeople ?

So far today I gave her another soak in an Epsom salt bath. Palpated her bottom and thought I felt something. Did another internal exam and felt another little egg. Just like yesterday. And like yesterday it is off center, a bit on her left side. (It’s her left leg that limps). So I administered vegetable oil (0.5 ml) in her vent like I did yesterday and will hope for the best.

The red on the egg is not blood, it is a bad spray tan.

Her diet consists of Grower / Finisher poultry food. Oyster shells, and grit always available. Treats are offered once a day. Always dried meal worms. And one one of the following: cabbage, cucumber, squash, watermelon (it’s been very hot here)

They free-range for an hour a day just before bedtime.

Today, I did start a round of antibiotics. Tylan 50 injectable, dose of 0.5 ml administered orally (on tiny pieces of bread). Today she looked much better, and walked all day. Almost no laying down. Yesterday she laid down most of the day. But tonight her comb is not as pink.

I also started them on a de-wormer. Wazine 17 in their water. Once I am done with that I thought I might add unfiltered ACV to their water and give her a tums for calcium.

 

[rebrascora]

I would be inclined to switch them to layer rather than grower if the next egg is also soft shelled or direct supplement her with calcium daily until she starts laying hard shelled eggs. Production hens that have been fed layer feed in the past may not have the instinct to take the oyster shell they need. My feeling is that lack of calcium and resulting poor shell quality is more likely to cause dire health consequences than too much calcium. I also find that they eat crushed egg shells much more enthusiastically than oyster shells, so you might try that as well as leaving the oyster shell available. Sometimes just the act of scattering it on the ground triggers them to eat it, because they think they are getting a treat, whereas sitting in a pot readily available all day, it can get ignored.
I personally would not have used the Tylan, but then in the current circumstances, since we have established it is not a lash egg, I would not have used an antibiotic at all. I agree with @orrpeople that sourcing some Baytril or generic equivalent perhaps on line, to have on hand would have been a better move. Misuse of antibiotics is something I feel quite strongly about due to the increase in incidences of antibiotic resistance. Tylan would not be an appropriate antibiotic for an infection of the oviduct anyway, so this is a misuse in my opinion. It is effective against respiratory infections and should be used for that. All antibiotics are not the same, just like all infections are not the same. Using the correct one to target a particular infection is really important and why it should be left to a vet or health care professional to prescribe in my opinion.
I would not delay with the calcium supplementation. It will do her less harm and potentially more good than the antibiotic. I would also start some fermented feed or get a probiotic to rebalance her digestive tract for after the antibiotic course.

I am sorry if the above sounds a bit critical. I understand the temptation must be great to treat a sick bird with whatever you can go out and buy and to a large extent it is your system in the USA, which enables you to buy antibiotics over the counter, that is to blame. There were new laws brought in a couple of years back to try to prevent or at least limit that, but as always people find a way around it. Tylan is injectable and therefore doesn't come within the legislation, but unfortunately it can also be given orally and hence people use it when they shouldn't.

 

[orrpeople]

I'm not as fluent in the "which antibiotic treats which infection", I just was given great counsel when my sexlinks were having problems (Baytril being the prescribed treatment) so @rebrascora this is great information.

If I may add one more piece of information, wormers work in much the same way. You need to know which worms you have in order to be rid of them. For example, we dealt with tape worms here. The only wormer that kills them is one containing praziquantel. It's a headache worming a flock in the first place, but then finding out you didn't kill the parasites, after everything, can be rather disheartening.