Does Sunny need more calcium or protein--laid partial egg laden with poop?

[SouthDakotaLiving]

My two year old Cinnamon Queen has always has always laid thin, striated shelled eggs--sometimes from the roost (outside the nesting box). This morning she did not lay at the usual time. This evening (outside the coop), when eating treat of mash and scrambled egg, she exuded a partial soft-shelled egg with poop on it. Her behind looks generally messy. She is not a bird that likes to be touched.

I feed layer food plus oyster shell on the side for my free ranging small flock. I've never seen any bird partake of the oyster shell, but I can't be certain. Should I be trying to get her to take calcium tablets or anything else? Should I try to check her vent and if so, for what purpose?

Cinnamon queens are high producers that tend to have reproductive issues. Any help is much appreciated. I will touch her if necessary.

 

[nuthatched]

Have you ever wormed them?

 

[SouthDakotaLiving]

No. Should I look at her butt with a flash light? From looking at other threads it seems that "fly strike" or some type of worm are possibilities. Any guidance on how to determine and with what product to treat would be helpful.

 

[Snakebiteholloway]

Have you ever wormed them?

If she always laid thin shelled eggs she may have a hormonal issue. There a single hormone whose only job is to "create" shells, to put it in simplest terms. Soy or sorghum (mine and professional research not proven) contribute to this hormone failing. Also to early prolapse and repro system issues. As far as poopy eggs, i would surely check for parasites first.

 

[SouthDakotaLiving]

Thank you. She may have the hormonal issue, as her eggs have always been this way. I don't feed soy, but sometimes do give scratch. I will check her vent out tomorrow in the light for parasites. Her rear end looks terrible right now, very messy.

We've had an unusual amount of rain here and this is normally a dry area. I guess I should be checking for white spots or anything moving on her butt...

 

[nuthatched]

No. Should I look at her butt with a flash light? From looking at other threads it seems that "fly strike" or some type of worm are possibilities. Any guidance on how to determine and with what product to treat would be helpful.

No, that won't help. A fecal float done by you or the vet determines that. Or it won't hurt to worm her. Fly strike would be fairly obvious .

 

[Snakebiteholloway]

Thank you. She may have the hormonal issue, as her eggs have always been this way. I don't feed soy, but sometimes do give scratch. I will check her vent out tomorrow in the light for parasites. Her rear end looks terrible right now, very messy.

We've had an unusual amount of rain here and this is normally a dry area. I guess I should be checking for white spots or anything moving on her butt...

Yes and you can look at her poop with a magnifying glass. Is it possible she has gleet? Yeast infection? That would be my second guess with the high production breed. It's easier to handle the skittish ones if you put on a blackout hood and wrap them securely in a towel. I made a black velvet hood i use on my prairie bluebells. I got 6 extremely skittish ones, despite their "friendly" reputation. Is easier to look them over, and safer for them, too. Wing strikes to the face are no fun, nor are deep scratches from filthy talons. Lessen the stress during handling, best all around! There are several things you can use to treat gleet/ yeast. There is a spray available that works and several antibiotics.
The thing is, with her soft shelled egg issue, it could be something more than what's been discussed. She may have an infection from a partially trapped egg, even, or infected prolapse. Without being able to handle her you can't really check for swelling in the area.
Sitting her in a very warm epsom salt bath can help, too. And it'll also help her pass anything potentially "stuck".
Uhm...pics possible?
It's just there so many things it could be, it's hard to know how to answer.

 

[Snakebiteholloway]

Yes and you can look at her poop with a magnifying glass. Is it possible she has gleet? Yeast infection? That would be my second guess with the high production breed. It's easier to handle the skittish ones if you put on a blackout hood and wrap them securely in a towel. I made a black velvet hood i use on my prairie bluebells. I got 6 extremely skittish ones, despite their "friendly" reputation. Is easier to look them over, and safer for them, too. Wing strikes to the face are no fun, nor are deep scratches from filthy talons. Lessen the stress during handling, best all around! There are several things you can use to treat gleet/ yeast. There is a spray available that works and several antibiotics.
The thing is, with her soft shelled egg issue, it could be something more than what's been discussed. She may have an infection from a partially trapped egg, even, or infected prolapse. Without being able to handle her you can't really check for swelling in the area.
Sitting her in a very warm epsom salt bath can help, too. And it'll also help her pass anything potentially "stuck".
Uhm...pics possible?
It's just there so many things it could be, it's hard to know how to answer.

Oh i forgot to say, most worms aren't visible to the eye, but their eggs can be shed and some types are visible. Some types of worms are apparent because they are larger. Chickens usually don't get those, but it's not impossible, i guess. I would worm her anyhow. It won't hurt anything. I so mine 2x a year because we have so much wildlife here so close.

 

[SouthDakotaLiving]

Thanks so much for your thorough response. I just ordered epsom salts and a dewormer medicine. I will look her over tomorrow in daylight using your suggestions for the hood and towel. Maybe taking her to the vet would be most expedient? She has been behaving normally until this evening when she took a very long time to come when I called the others for their mash/egg treat. That's when I noticed stuff hanging off her butt and so on. I don't know how to diagnose/look for gleet or yeast infection but will research in this blog for help on those issues.

I live in a small town with no tractor supply. We do have Bomgaars, but their inventory is very low for chicken medicines and the like.

Since tomorrow is Sat, I won't be able to take her to the vet for several days. I'll try to post a pic tomorrow. Thanks again!

 

[nao57]

It wouldn't hurt to address nutrition. Its rare that they aren't trying to push the envelope with feeds these days. But you can do so without throwing a ton of money at it.