Egg broke inside and now she seems quite ill, any advise?

[Shadrach]

Am update. She came out of the coop of her own accord. Not with as much gusto as usual, but she's pecking and drinking. Crop still has a little in it, but she'd pooped more overnight. Runny again, but at least it's coming out.

I did try to get a good dose of water in her, before I have to leave her for the day, but she fought so hard it was just more stress than anything else. I have seen her drink, so I'm happy to leave it at that for now. I've given them some very wet ff (they get a small daily portion), just to help get more water into her.

Fingers crossed we're over the hump.

Funny thing; she's a bit of a bully to the two below her, but obviously she's not bothered them over the weekend. Maybe I'll see a bit of a change, at least for a while.

If she's crushed an egg at her vent or further into her vagina you need to wash the remnants out. There are possibly pieces of shell and other rotting debris that can encourage infection.
You'll need a large capacity syringe and the touch of a midwife.
Fill the syringe with luke warm water; do not add any chemicals. Squirt the water into the hens vent. You need to use a lot of water in this flushing out process, a quarter of a pint is the volume I have in mind.
You can insert your finger into the vent and carefully feel for any bits of shell and egg that the water hasn't flushed out and very gently scrape any bits out with your finger.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

How is she doing today?

@Shadrach I must disagree with flushing the hen. You risk pushing egg matter and bacteria further up into the oviduct or even into the abdomen. Better to wait and see if the hen passes more material on her own.

For the OP ( @Aerliss ) seeking vet care may help. You may be able to get an antibiotic to help with any infection.
You mention that she has a history of laying wrinkled eggs, do you have a picture of those? Also is she one of your ex-commercial hens?

 

[Shadrach]

How is she doing today?

@Shadrach I must disagree with flushing the hen. You risk pushing egg matter and bacteria further up into the oviduct or even into the abdomen. Better to wait and see if the hen passes more material on her own.

For the OP ( @Aerliss ) seeking vet care may help. You may be able to get an antibiotic to help with any infection.
You mention that she has a history of laying wrinkled eggs, do you have a picture of those? Also is she one of your ex-commercial hens?

That's a fair point.
I've flushed in the past as has the vet I've taken one hen to.
It's the remnants in the oviduct, if present, that may not get flushed out by then hen in the normal coure of events.
I can only advise based on my expeience. You do however have a completely valid point.

 

[Shadrach]

I just want to make clear my reasoning for recommending flushing the vagina and uterus.
If there are any bits of egg shell left in the uterus there is a risk that when the next shell forms there those bits of shell may get incorporated into the new shell and this could mean a rough shell which is more difficult to pass. As the new shell forms in the uterus a large enough piece of old shell may get pushed into the lining of the uterus and create a small rupture.

If there are pieces of egg white or yolk left then in such an environment these are ideal sites for bacteria to thrive.

It is possible that syringing water may push a piece of shell into the isthmus but at that point the shell of the new egg hasn’t formed and a piece of old shell may get incorporated into the new egg.

If water is introduced to the intestinal tract the normal passing of faeces will remove it.

I've only had two hens with similar problems, one of them twice. The flushing with water is what my vet advised, and did, when I took the first hen that had similar problems to her. I got shown how to do this and I trust my vet.

No I’m not a vet but yes I do have some limited experience.

The concern for all who advise in such cases must be to minimise the chances of infection and bits of cooking egg are ideal zones.

None of what I’ve written above is in any way meant to negate your advice which is probably the better advise in the circumstances. I suppose once you’ve been shown how to do something and had a go yourself you tend to pass that knowledge on to others and don’t remember you needed to be shown in rather better circumstances.

 

[Aerliss]

Thanks everyone. She is ex commercial. Just looked back in my store and only have one or two wrinklies. She doesn't lay them all the time. They tend to coincide with a sudden change in weather, or some other minor stressor like a cat having a nose while they're ranging. Here's a pic of two of her eggs for comparison.

They're a bit browner than that in reality.

As I didn't do it first thing, I'm not going to flush. She was regularly passing egg gunk, with no shell bits or blood, and making steady improvements. So at this point it would likely be more stressful than fruitful. Especially as she has a lot of her fight back.

She's been in and out of the coop today, according to my partner. She was in a nesting box when I got home but she's readily eaten almost an entire scrambled egg and some oats, and drunk some water. By the feel of her crop she's also eaten some feed today. Not 100% sure as it wasn't entirely empty this morning, but I think it was more full than the morning, before I gave her the egg. She's passing faeces (on my kitchen floor, thanks). Still watery, but plenty of solid matter in there to indicate things are moving, and it's a nice, normal colour. She's now "singing" at a crow... Go figure.

Going to the vet on Wednesday with one of the rabbits (he's getting dental work), so will ask if Mags can tag along for a quick poke if she's still under the weathrr. Not a chicken vet, but she's more than happy to make calls and pull out books when I throw weird things at her.

 

[Aerliss]

Oh, she's roosted! Got up all on her own. Yesterday morning she couldn't even stand. Well done girly.

 

[Cryss]

 

[azygous]

Yay! I adore happy endings!

 

[Aerliss]

She's pootling bout in the run. I've just given them a pile of straw in the covered part, for extra comfort and to kick around. She's having a poke through it with the others. Still obviously not feeling great, and her crop isn't emptying fully. Plenty of poop over night though. So something is doing something. I've put some ACV in one waterer to encourage her to drink more, as she really likes the taste.

Thanks for all the cheers, folks

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm glad she is feeling much better!

The wrinkled eggs like that, since she is an ex commercial hen could be from a few things - a history of respiratory illness like Infectious Bronchitis (you mention she becomes under the weather when it rains? -does she wheeze a bit or have a runny nose during this time), defective shell gland (not that uncommon in production birds) or some other reproductive problem.
She may have more problems in the future, but for now it sounds like she has worked it out. If she does this again treat her just like you did and go from there.

I hope all goes well for you.