Help Sick Hens!!! Updated

[Blesser]

April this year, one of my hens became ill(fluffed up and not moving)- took her to the vet, they took an x-ray and couldn't find anything but she did test positive with coccidiosis, they gave her albon and in a few hours she was back to normal but to this day she has stopped laying. Then in June her symptoms came back, waited a few days to see how thing went by themselves and luckily she recovered. Then a few weeks after she recovered I see another hen with the same symptoms(fluffed up and not moving), decided to wait a few days and see how things went and now shes back to normal and still laying. Now today another hen is having the same symptoms but she is a bit different. Feels like there is fluid inside of her abdomen or maybe she is bloated. Could coccidiosis be causing all of this? I only have 7 hens and I love them dearly and any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time and I will be praying that she will be alright

Additional info- They are 1 year old and are red sex links.


UPDATE- My sick hen just layed this rubber egg.

 

[Lorije1]

sounds more like egg bound, or internal laying.... I have no experience with those, but maybe someone can help you know for sure

(can't see the photos from photobucket while I am at work)

 

[Blesser]

Update-

She did not lay today and she has been trying to ever since she laid that rubber egg yesterday. I found egg whites underneath her this morning. Perhaps an egg broke inside of her and she has trouble expelling it as I do not feel an egg beneath her but I think I feel fluid. I'm going to be away for an entire week and I''m leaving in a few hours and I have someone here to watch my chickens so I might just have to let nature take over. Maybe by the time I come back she will have expelled that out of her system. I had another case similar to this a few months back and albon did the trick(got it from the vet), but I can not get it again because it needs a prescription and I can't go to the vet right now- it's a combination of antibiotic/dewormer. Is there anything that's over the counter that does the same thing but not in a powder form? If someone could please reply soon as I will be leaving soon and I can tell the person in charge to give it to her. Thanks.

 

[chicmom]

Just a question....are you feeding them a good layer feed, and also supplying them with a dish of crushed oyster shell? What you're seeing is an egg with just the membrane, and no hard shell. So maybe they just need more calcium in their diets, since it's happening to more than one......

Now, I'm no expert by any means, but I think that maybe the eggs are breaking inside of the hens, since they're so soft, and this could be causing an infection......you can buy some antibiotics at the feed store, like duramayacin, and put that in their drinking water each day, and that may help, along with extra calcium in their diet.....

Good luck to you!

 

[Blesser]

Thanks so much for your fast reply. I feed them Purina Layena Feed pellets, they are debeaked so maybe they are not getting enough, I also have a bag of Purina Layena Crumbles but they like the pellets more. I offer free choice oyster shell and grit in the coop. I also crush up egg shells- I give them lots of treats, maybe I'm over doing it and there not getting enough of there own food??? Thanks for the idea for duramayacin. I only have 7 hens and 3 of them have experienced the same symptoms and while I was collecting eggs the other day I noticed that a few have very thin shells. Like I said I offer free choice oyster shell- maybe I could try hand feeding it.

Update-
She wouldn't eat her own food, so I thought that I give her some crushed egg shell. She IS starting to peck at that so maybe it is a calcium deficiency. I will give her some yogurt and some crushed oyster shell and see if she will eat that.