Help - 7 month old hen suddenly very lethargic, laid shell-less egg

[Serotonin]

It was probably the membrane from what she passed before, it's good that she was able to expel it. When there is not a full, hard egg to push on, the muscles don't have anything to push against, it makes it hard for them to pass those, and can make them feel pretty bad. If she stays perky then you might hold off on the antibiotic, but maybe have on hand just in case. If she seems off or sick, then consider starting that. I would give her calcium for a couple more days, see if you get a normal egg. Hopefully just a glitch, time will tell.

Yeah, I'm going to order some tonight. Even if I don't use it, it can't be bad to have on hand. I'll keep giving a TUM a day. Hopefully she makes more progress in the right direction tomorrow, fingers crossed!

I skimmed and noticed your mention of scratch. Becareful with daily treats.
I highly recommend you stop giving scratch as it takes away form them getting a balanced diet which causes probelms and it is one thing you have complete control over/are able to prevent.

Yeah, I'm not sure if scratch or treats are to blame, but I'm definitely going to tone down the scratch from now on, just to be safe.

 

[Kiki]

Yeah, I'm going to order some tonight. Even if I don't use it, it can't be bad to have on hand. I'll keep giving a TUM a day. Hopefully she makes more progress in the right direction tomorrow, fingers crossed!



Yeah, I'm not sure if scratch or treats are to blame, but I'm definitely going to tone down the scratch from now on, just to be safe.

Overfeeding scratch and treats will cause proplems, for sure.
Overweightness in abird is almost impossilbe to tell by looking at it. The amount of weight is so small one wouldn't know until they opened up a dead bird and saw the fat that covers the organs.

I AM NOT saying you over fed but most people that do don't even realize they are.

If you are feeding more than a tiny spoonful worth of what ever treat you ofer you are over feeding.

 

[coach723]

It is really easy to over do treats (anything other than feed) and we are probably all guilty of it at one time or another. They are so small, it's just really easy to do. Especially with something like scratch, which they love. We call it "chicken crack" at my house!!

 

[Serotonin]

Yeah, mine love scratch too, they get so excited for it. I don't free range my chickens because of the large number of predators in my area (especially aerial predators), so I leaned into scratch to give them something to do and root around for, particularly as some have picked up feather picking as a hobby (ugh). I'm working on expanding the run now though to give them even more space (and grass, since they've long since mowed the grass in the run down), so hopefully that helps. It's so hard to balance giving them food to bust boredom and pecking and keeping their diet nutritionally complete. Is it better to stick to mostly vegetables instead? Or would that still create the same sort of imbalance?

 

[coach723]

There are many ideas for boredom busters that won't mess up their diet.
https://www.backyardchickencoops.co...st-boredom-busters-to-keep-your-chickens-busy

 

[Kiki]

Yeah, mine love scratch too, they get so excited for it. I don't free range my chickens because of the large number of predators in my area (especially aerial predators), so I leaned into scratch to give them something to do and root around for, particularly as some have picked up feather picking as a hobby (ugh). I'm working on expanding the run now though to give them even more space (and grass, since they've long since mowed the grass in the run down), so hopefully that helps. It's so hard to balance giving them food to bust boredom and pecking and keeping their diet nutritionally complete. Is it better to stick to mostly vegetables instead? Or would that still create the same sort of imbalance?

Feeding treats can actually make the feather picking issue worse and it could actually be the problem well part of the problem.
Feeding treats, scratch and or vegetables or kitchen scraps. Take away from them getting the protein in the balanced feed.
I highly recommend not feeding them anything except a layer type crumbled or pelleted feed.
No kitchen scraps or scratch period.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Just an update. When I went to check on her around noon, she seemed very much herself. She greeted me at the gate, flew up onto my shoulder, followed me around, ate grass, etc. I didn't see any sign of an egg though.

But when I went to check on her just now before bed, she seemed a bit lethargic and in pain. I noticed that she had some poop sticking out of her butt that she seemed to have trouble passing. I gently pulled it out and almost immediately after she passed what looked like an egg membrane. I've attached a picture of it to this post. She "laid" just a yolk and some albumen last night, do you think this is the membrane of that one and the egg burst inside her? Or do you think this is a new one? Does this raise any new red flags? I worry she might have egg shell pieces or egg liquid inside her and what that might do to her.

After she passed the membrane, she did seem to perk back up and started eating and foraging again. I hope she's through the worst of it.

I'm glad she was able to expel the membrane. Perking up afterward is usually a good sign.
I do agree, I would continue with the extra calcium for several days, hopefully this will be chalked up to a glitch and she won't have any more issues.

 

[Serotonin]

After no egg on Monday, Mille finally laid an egg on Tuesday! It was really rough though, like sandpaper, so I wonder if there's still something going on. Or maybe she went the complete opposite way and is getting too much calcium? She seems totally back to normal otherwise; her comb went back up, she's got a good appetite, is energetic, etc. So I'm going to hold off on the antibiotic.

The only weird thing is that, for the past few days, her overnight poops have had odd colored urates. They're like a pinkish orange and the color even bleeds onto paper towels. I've attached some pictures, though it's hard to capture the color. I've seen people raise concern about coral urates, which I suspect is what's going on here, but there doesn't seem to be a consensus over whether it's normal or concerning. Should I de-worm?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Are you giving her TUMS? What color are they?
Could be the coloring of the TUMS is being picked up in the urates.

Do you have a photo of the egg?
Sometimes if there's been a glitch or reproductive issue, it may take a while for the system to get back to functioning correctly.
Since she laid a nice hard shelled egg, then back off on the extra calcium and see how it goes.
If she starts having problems again then I'd try to get some Calcium Citrate and give her that.

 

[aynesidea]

Never had a chicken shoot a pill (then again, I've never had to give a chicken a pill), but I do have a cat that's an expert at not swallowing pills. One time I put the pill far back on her tongue, held her mouth closed, massaged her throat and she seemed to make a swallowing motion so I let her go. Turns out she must've stashed the pill in her cheek or under her tongue or something because the second she jumped off my lap and onto the ground, she spit it out. Animals are smarter than we give them credit for, honestly haha.

Had a Sheltie who used to hide her thyroid pill under the edge of t hff e living room rug!