Egg bound?

[Aunt Bouncy]

We have seven chickens, all about 5 1/2 months old, bought the week they hatched. This is our first time with chickens. Bahoud, a Jersey Bronze, started laying a few weeks ago and all was good at first. We have lights on a timer and she is on layer feed. A little over a week ago she laid an egg with a soft shell, relatively solid but I could dent it easily with my finger. The next day she laid an egg with a very soft shell. I added some oyster shells to their feed. We went away for a couple days and the neighbors collected the eggs, so I am not sure what, if anything, she laid while we were gone. She hadn't been laying for a few days when we got back and this past Saturday I noticed she was hunched over and the entire back end of her body was sort of pulsing, moving up and down. I brought her inside in a tub and she was not eating, drinking it pooping. I looked through forums on this site and found lots of advice. We gave her warm epsom salt baths and I did put my finger in her vent, but don't know what it supposed to feel like, but I didn't feel any eggs. Something came out if her in one of her baths (maybe unformed shell?) and some poop came out when I had my finger in her vent. She laid an egg with no shell Monday morning and .I took her work with me in a tub so I could keep an eye on her. She has been eating, drinking and pooping, but she is still hunched and pulsing, although the pulsing isn't as bad as it was. The poop is green and small. She also feels lighter than the other chickens. Does this sound like she is egg bound or something else? Is there anything else we can do for her?

 

[Momma hen quack]

Being egg bound is not good as I had a duck that became agg bound similar to what you are describing. I waited to long only to find out from the vet that she had an egg stuck in her. I allowed them to do surgery to attempt to try to remove it but they had to break it. My poor Lacey died an hour after the surgery and I spent close to a 1,000 dollars. Get her to a vet ASAP so you can see if she is egg bound, then you will have to make some very difficult decisions regarding how to proceed. Next time, I would just choose to put the duck to sleep. Thankfully, I still have my 2 male ducks. Sorry for your poor chicken and hoping for the best and that she is not egg bound.

 

[Relleoms]

It was my understanding they could not poop if egg bound since they come out the same hole. That being said, can you post a picture of her poop? Is it formed? Really loose? Maybe she has an egg stuck further up her tract? So sorry, I hope your girl gets better!!!

 

[micstrachan]

Unfortunately, my hunch is that a laying disorder is setting in, but hopefully not. Has she had any respiratory symptoms? Some of the respiratory diseases can cause laying issues. In particular, I believe at least one of them can damage the shell gland.
Did you happen to take a photo of the weird thing she laid? Was it fleshy looking? It could have been a lash egg, which would indicate an oviduct infection. That would be treated aggressively with antibiotics. Can you share a photo of her posture?

 

[Aunt Bouncy]

It was my understanding they could not poop if egg bound since they come out the same hole. That being said, can you post a picture of her poop? Is it formed? Really loose? Maybe she has an egg stuck further up her tract? So sorry, I hope your girl gets better!!!

 

[Aunt Bouncy]

She didn't poop at all on Saturday, just the weird stuff came out, but I didn't take a photo. It was yellowish and sort of stringy, about 1/4" diameter and 3 " long. Some poop came out when I inserted my finger into her duct. She did lay a soft egg on Sunday and has been pooping since then. I included a picture of the poop and her posture. Her poop is formed, but small.

 

[Aunt Bouncy]

Unfortunately, my hunch is that a laying disorder is setting in, but hopefully not. Has she had any respiratory symptoms? Some of the respiratory diseases can cause laying issues. In particular, I believe at least one of them can damage the shell gland.
Did you happen to take a photo of the weird thing she laid? Was it fleshy looking? It could have been a lash egg, which would indicate an oviduct infection. That would be treated aggressively with antibiotics. Can you share a photo of her posture?

 

[Aunt Bouncy]

Thank you for your questions. I replied with photos to someone else that responded to my post.

 

[micstrachan]

I am sorry. Again, I think your girl may have a laying disorder, in particular, an oviduct infection. How is she now?

 

[rebrascora]

Laying soft shelled eggs can be really hard on a bird because they do not pass through the oviduct easily. Have you given her a direct dose of calcium? Mixing oyster shells into their feed is not a good idea. They should be supplied in a separate bowl for the hens/pullets to select as required, but for a bird that is struggling with egg shell quality like this, a human calcium with vitamin D or liquid calcium or even a Tums indigestion tablet broken up and pieces put into the beak or sprinkled onto scrambled egg if they are happily eating still, will give a more immediate boost of Calcium to their system.
That said, the bird in the photo looks to have a large crop and if she is not eating much then that indicates that her digestive system is backed up and giving her calcium tablets will probably not get into her system quickly enough to help her. If that bulge in her chest in the photo is not her crop and feels hard and bony then I would suspect Marek's disease and there is more going on than just a laying disorder. That would tie in with her losing weight dramatically too. Sadly, if that is the case there is not a lot you can do for her, especially if she has lost interest in food.
A vet could give her a calcium injection which would get it straight into her blood stream and bypass any digestive blockage if it is just a straightforward shell quality issue and/or prescribe her a strong antibiotic if it is an infection of the oviduct.....again, it would need to be injected if her digestive tract is backed up, so knowing if that chest bulge is her crop or not would be important, but from what you say, it sounds like there is more going on.
Green poop usually indicates that the digestive tract is shutting down and there is a high level of bile being secreted (unless of course the bird has been eating a lot of fresh greens recently) which doesn't sound like it is the case.
If veterinary care is an option, it might be appropriate at this stage but my finances do not run to such things and I know many other people are the same, so do not in any way feel obliged or pressurised to seek professional help. Sadly many vets know very little about chickens, so it is not always beneficial to the chicken or your purse. Only you can decide where to draw the line.