About 2 weeks ago my year old Buff Orp laid an egg without a membrane or shell, sunny side up, right on the droppings board.
She is on 20% Game Bird Breeder with oyster shell available.
Came home last Wednesday to find her standing in the nest box with egg goo below her. I took her inside to clean her up, soak her in warm
water, and I squirted a little cool water in her vent to help clean her out inside. When I took her back to the pen, she sat in the nest box for
two hours, but no egg. I brought her in the house and observed she was lethargic, had watery poo, and wouldn't drink. She will eat scrambled
eggs and yogurt.
Found an avian vet to take her to, (but don't think he's familar with chickens). When he weighed her she was 4.5 lbs so I know she's lost weight,
and feels thinner now. He took a spool sample, drew blood, gave saline flush to hydrate, and sent me home with a feeding tube and some powder
to mix with water. Blood test showed anemia so he gave her an iron shot. Stool sample was "inconclusive" for worms, so wormed with Strongid.
He said she could have reproductive issues, couldn't diagnose that or illness unless she dies and will do a necropsy. Her white blood count was normal
indicating no infection, so he didn't want to give antibiotic.
That night I gave her another warm bath and an hour later she passed a soft, very large shell, and a lot of goo. She seemed to perk up the next
morning, so I put her outside. She would sit in the nest box, with no result, is eating some, but doesn't seem to drink much.
Saturday night she passed another soft shell, this one appearing to be gel filled, but when I tore it open, it contained another soft shelled egg
filled with gel. Last night I picked her up to bring her in for yogurt/scrambled egg dinner, and yolk and white shot out of her bottom.
I'll continue with the tube feeding and yogurt/scrambled egg (which I'm now sprinkling with oyster shell) and flushing her vent with cool water.
Is there anything else I should do to help her? I don't want to take her back to the vet for another white blood cell count, but am concerned about
infection with all this egg goo inside her. I can get penicillin at the feed store, but don't want to dose her and upset gut flora if not necessary.
Anyone have any experience with this? I have seen a lot of posts where hens have laid or passed soft shelled eggs, but nothing this extreme.
She is on 20% Game Bird Breeder with oyster shell available.
Came home last Wednesday to find her standing in the nest box with egg goo below her. I took her inside to clean her up, soak her in warm
water, and I squirted a little cool water in her vent to help clean her out inside. When I took her back to the pen, she sat in the nest box for
two hours, but no egg. I brought her in the house and observed she was lethargic, had watery poo, and wouldn't drink. She will eat scrambled
eggs and yogurt.
Found an avian vet to take her to, (but don't think he's familar with chickens). When he weighed her she was 4.5 lbs so I know she's lost weight,
and feels thinner now. He took a spool sample, drew blood, gave saline flush to hydrate, and sent me home with a feeding tube and some powder
to mix with water. Blood test showed anemia so he gave her an iron shot. Stool sample was "inconclusive" for worms, so wormed with Strongid.
He said she could have reproductive issues, couldn't diagnose that or illness unless she dies and will do a necropsy. Her white blood count was normal
indicating no infection, so he didn't want to give antibiotic.
That night I gave her another warm bath and an hour later she passed a soft, very large shell, and a lot of goo. She seemed to perk up the next
morning, so I put her outside. She would sit in the nest box, with no result, is eating some, but doesn't seem to drink much.
Saturday night she passed another soft shell, this one appearing to be gel filled, but when I tore it open, it contained another soft shelled egg
filled with gel. Last night I picked her up to bring her in for yogurt/scrambled egg dinner, and yolk and white shot out of her bottom.
I'll continue with the tube feeding and yogurt/scrambled egg (which I'm now sprinkling with oyster shell) and flushing her vent with cool water.
Is there anything else I should do to help her? I don't want to take her back to the vet for another white blood cell count, but am concerned about
infection with all this egg goo inside her. I can get penicillin at the feed store, but don't want to dose her and upset gut flora if not necessary.
Anyone have any experience with this? I have seen a lot of posts where hens have laid or passed soft shelled eggs, but nothing this extreme.
