Internal Broken Egg

[bangarain]

Found my girl Beebalm with a ‘balloon’ of soft shell coming out of her vent today. We did a mild vinegar flush and were able to expel some feces, white eggy fluid, and I was able to massage the rest of the shell (right) out. It was leathery, rather than hard. Her vent was starting to get very irritated and I was afraid of prolapse, so we’ve stopped for now, given her Nutri-Drench, and put her back in the coop to rest. I’m going to see if I have probiotics to put in her water; if not that will be done tomorrow.
She is very angry, but went right to the food, so I’m glad she’s not too stressed over the whole ordeal.

All being said, what are the next steps beyond watching and waiting? There was no obvious yolk found when flushing, so I’m a bit concerned there. Do I need to get antibiotics for her? Flush again? If she safely lays an egg tomorrow, will that push any remaining debris from her vent?

 

[coach723]

How old is she, how long has she been laying? If she's a new layer it may just be a glitch. Soft shelled eggs can be hard for them to push out. See how she does tomorrow. If she has another like this then I'd give her a calcium citrate +D tablet once a day for a few days. That will help with contractions and hopefully help firm up the shells. Do they have access to oystershell for calcium all the time?

 

[bangarain]

How old is she, how long has she been laying? If she's a new layer it may just be a glitch. Soft shelled eggs can be hard for them to push out. See how she does tomorrow. If she has another like this then I'd give her a calcium citrate +D tablet once a day for a few days. That will help with contractions and hopefully help firm up the shells. Do they have access to oystershell for calcium all the time?

She’s a year and a few months old, and has never had a laying problem until now. They do have access to oyster shell, but were recently swapped from layer feed to all flock so I’m not sure if they’re seeking out enough on their own.

I’ll get some calcium tablets, thank you! Even if she doesn’t have another it will be good to keep in the chicken kit.

 

[coach723]

I always have it for just these circumstances. You'll need it if you ever get an eggbound hen also. Since she's not a new layer I'd give her the calcium until you see the shell quality improve. If it persists even with the calcium then she could have a shell gland problem. Hopefully she's just deficient for some reason, and once it's back to normal it will stay that way. I have 3 separate feeders (I just use old jugs with a window cut in the side) with oystershell mixed with crushed egg shells in various places. The egg shell seems to make it more attractive to them, and multiple spots makes it so a ranking bird can't keep others away.

 

[bangarain]

She laid an egg today! Everything is functioning correctly again.

 

[coach723]

That's good news! Glad she's doing better.

 

[Jlw0903]

For the calcium citrate +D3. Is there a certain brand or amount that should be used? I'm worried that some brands could have fillers that would be harmful to poultry?

 

[coach723]

I use Citracal, there are lots of brands and generics, I'm not aware of any ingredients to avoid. You just want calcium citrate + D, dosing is usually 200-400 mg of calcium, the ones I have are 400 mg. I also get the petites, they're a little smaller intended to be easier to swallow. There are some that contain minerals and other stuff, not necessary to pay the extra for that for what we're using it for.