Egg did not come out formed, broke inside?

[Novice Homesteader]

My 2 year old RIR, lays consistently every other day as it gets cold. However 2 days ago, she did not want to come out of the pen with the others, but sat on the ground by herself. she let me pet her, no problem. I left the coop open for her but she stayed inside. She went to bed early.
Next day (yesterday) she stayed in the pen again. I left the pen open and she wandered out eventually. I noticed goopy stuff on her behind area. It looked like an egg broke inside her before coming out to be laid yesterday. She still stayed by herself. I picked her up and gently washed her off, and inspected the hole for matting or blockage ( I really don't know what I am looking for), it was all clear. I put her back down, and she stayed out awhile but went in by herself and put herself to bed early.

Background: 3 days ago, her egg was perfect as always.
I have had to keep them locked in their pen longer than normal throughout the day, due to some large predatory Hawks who recently took/killed her buddy (Thanksgiving) and one of the younger ones. I go outside as soon as I can to "Chick-herd" them, but I recently got food poisoning so that came to a hard stop for a couple days.

Could she be depressed? and/or has she been denied all of the goodies in the yard for the last couple of days leading to good egg growth? Please help.

 

[azygous]

Has she molted yet? That can play a role in egg quality issues as hormones or on the wane or still low following molt. The short days and confinement of winter often decreases the amount of sunlight chickens get, so their absorption of vitamin D also wanes, resulting in poor calcium absorption. Egg shell issues can be more of a problem than usual.

Find a calcium tablet and give it to her, whole right in the beak. It needs to be at least 500mg or more. Tums will do. This will boost her blood calcium and help to encourage contractions to push out any egg material that may still be stuck. Prepare to give her a calcium tablet each day until she's behaving normally or eggs are coming out with normal shells.

If she continues to produce yellow mucous and clear fluids, she may have an infection starting up in the reproductive tract from the broken yolk. You will need to find an oral antibiotic and start her on it. Do you have anything on hand?

 

[Novice Homesteader]

Has she molted yet? That can play a role in egg quality issues as hormones or on the wane or still low following molt. The short days and confinement of winter often decreases the amount of sunlight chickens get, so their absorption of vitamin D also wanes, resulting in poor calcium absorption. Egg shell issues can be more of a problem than usual.

Find a calcium tablet and give it to her, whole right in the beak. It needs to be at least 500mg or more. Tums will do. This will boost her blood calcium and help to encourage contractions to push out any egg material that may still be stuck. Prepare to give her a calcium tablet each day until she's behaving normally or eggs are coming out with normal shells.

If she continues to produce yellow mucous and clear fluids, she may have an infection starting up in the reproductive tract from the broken yolk. You will need to find an oral antibiotic and start her on it. Do you have anything on hand?

No, we don't have any oral antibiotics. How about any oils or tinctures? will anything like that work safely for chickens? I will get her tums to start with.

 

[azygous]

Substances such as coconut oil and oregano oil, although they contain natural antibiotics, aren't strong enough to nail bacteria in the process of colonizing tissue. Are you in the US? You could call Tractor Supply and ask for penicillin or amoxicillin.

 

[Novice Homesteader]

Substances such as coconut oil and oregano oil, although they contain natural antibiotics, aren't strong enough to nail bacteria in the process of colonizing tissue. Are you in the US? You could call Tractor Supply and ask for penicillin or amoxicillin.

How much amoxicillin is recommended. I can get amoxicillin. Our friend has some for their fish. I think it is called fishmox. Thank you.

 

[aart]

This is what I do when I have a bird that is acting 'off'.....
I isolate bird in a wire cage within the coop for a day or two....so I can closely monitor:
-their intake of food and water,
-crop function(checking at night and in morning before providing more feed),
-and their poops.
Feel their abdomen, from below vent to between legs, for squishy or hard swelling.
Check for external parasites or any other abnormalities.

Best to put crate right in coop or run so bird is still 'with' the flock.
I like to use a fold-able wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller mesh(1x2) on bottom of crate under tray.

Then you can put tray underneath crate to better observe droppings without it being stepped in. If smaller mesh is carefully installed, tray can still be used inside crate.

 

[Novice Homesteader]

She hung out with the flock today and pecked at a couple youngsters ( as usual). she ate lots of greens, no gooey, but I am watching. I gave her a chunked up tums. The others wanted some too. So they all got pieces. anyway, she stayed out til time to go in, so maybe it was an anomaly? I am watching her though. On the positive side, my last youngster started laying today. Oh, and I have a small dog cage ready to go.

 

[Sally PB]

How much amoxicillin is recommended. I can get amoxicillin. Our friend has some for their fish. I think it is called fishmox. Thank you.

It might be a good idea to get some of that for yourself, so it's on hand.

 

[Novice Homesteader]

It might be a good idea to get some of that for yourself, so it's on hand.

Yes, I will. Thank you.

 

[aart]

Oh, and I have a small dog cage ready to go.

If it fits in the coop it would be good to put her in there tonight with no feed or water, check her crop tonight then first thing in the morning before giving feed water back.