I’m relatively new to chicken keeping and am looking for advice on this health problem. I have a year old Andalusian hen with a problem. She laid fine all through the summer, then in October she had a soft egg collapse inside her and get stuck. I gave her an epsom salt bath and she was able to pass it. Then she stopped laying altogether and went into a moult. Now she is back in laying mode (for the last week or two) but can’t seem to form shells on her eggs! In the morning there will be a yolk and white on the poop deck (no membrane) and then the following morning there will be just the membrane. She’s done this about 5 times. She seemed to have been feeling fine up until this morning, in which she ate a bit but is now just standing in the corner. Has anyone ever heard of this? What can I do to fix? My chickens always have free choice access to oyster shells and crushed egg shells and are fed a high quality layer food. For the last week I’ve been dosing the water with Ropapoultry oregano to try and ward off infection. I don’t want to lose my girl but I also don’t have access to a vet that will see chickens. Hope you can help! Thanks!
Is this the same hen?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ing-butt-up-straining-weird-ejection.1276028/
Did you ever treat her with antibiotics?
Is she still under any stress, has the feather picking continued?
Since she is standing in the corner now, it sounds like she is having trouble passing another soft shelled egg. She may also have an infection, it's hard to know, but if the yolk and white have been leaked in the oviduct that is a prime breeding medium from bacteria.
Can you catch her up, feel the abdomen for bloat/swelling or fluid? Give her a soak in a warm espsom salts bath and massage the abdomen gently.
I would try to get some calcium into her 1/2tablet of something like Caltrate or you can use TUMS. If you have poultry vitamins like Poultry Cell or Poultry Nutri-Drench, direct dose her at 1cc per 3 pounds of weight.
Place her in warm area, you can also put a towel covered heating pad under her, but check to make sure she is not overheating if she's not moving around much. Do what you can to get her hydrated.
As for the cause, that's always harder to pinpoint. Infection, stress, defective shell gland, external/internal parasites, genetics, diet and history of respiratory illness (among other things) can all be something to consider.
I hope she gets better. Please keep us posted.
