Did my hen lay a tumor?!

[Terrie Mac]

Went to collect eggs and found this in the nest box. What is it???

 

[speckledhen]

No, it isn't a tumor. It's just a wad of tissue. It happens on occasion, I'm told, though the only hen I ever had who produced one like that had ovarian cancer, so I'd keep an eye out for her next egg. How old is the hen?

 

[teach1rusl]

Although it's not yellowish or whitish, I'd think it was a mass of built up egg tissue???

 

[Terrie Mac]

I did some research and I'm convinced it was a "Lash". Could be from hormonal imbalance, and/ or reproductive lining. I'm not sure which hen laid it but they are all just over a year old. One hen got sick and stopped laying months ago, maybe it was her.

 

[Heat]

I saw a thread on here awhile back (there are actually quiet a few) and someone else reported the same thing. It seems like that is a "Lash" and can sometimes cause birds to become egg bound, but it doesn't look as though there is too much information about it.

I would bet it was from the hen who stopped laying, it seems like a lot of people how have encountered it had it come from an older hen or a hen that had quit laying unexpectedly...

 

[speckledhen]

It's certainly better out of the hen than inside the oviduct. I can see how it could conceivably plug her up and back eggs up if it was large enough.

Here was what came out of my 5 year old hen with ovarian cancer.

 

[Terrie Mac]

I guess I have to wait and see what happens. Today she stayed in the nest for a while then did the egg laying song, but no egg. She's eating, drinking, and making merry so far. I hope it's not cancer. And yes- glad it's still not inside her.

 

[speckledhen]

I didn't mean to scare you about cancer. My only experience with "lash" similar to that was with a hen who did indeed die of ovarian carcinoma. She was over 5 years old. That doesn't necessarily mean your hen has cancer, didn't mean to imply that, but it was the same type material from her as from my Reba.

 

[Bostonbea]

I know that this thread is a few weeks old, but I was directed here from my current post. My pullet prolapsed her oviduct today and I gently pulled off what looks exactly like your pictures. She has never laid an egg and I fear that I will have to put her down. What causes Lash? I'm not being able to find too much information on it and I'd like to be able to prevent this from happening again.

 

[Imp]

There is precious little info about Lash(es)

Here's another discussion. (Keep scrolling down it goes on a bit)

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/grapevine/rule-roost/strange-object-nest-box_25234.html

Imp- I don't think I've seen a good answer about them.