Is this a worm or egg?!?! Help!

[ANiceKaren]

Behavior is the single most valuable evidence of the health status of a chicken. A very active, vocal chicken is healthy. A chicken lying down, moving in slow motion, squatting and straining, wanting to hang out for an hour or more in a nest box is battling a reproductive issue.

As @ANiceKaren just posted, the calcium citrate is the single best thing you can do for your hen. It will encourage contractions to help her clear any obstruction. It usually works pretty quickly. Stick the entire tablet right into her beak. She will swallow it.

If you can install your hen in a crate on a bunch of dryer warmed towels, you should be able to monitor when she expels something. It may be a normal egg, or soft egg, or a collapsed membrane. If runny egg yolk comes out, then you will need to jump on that antibiotic. Amoxicillin 250 mg is my choice.

Once the obstruction is expelled, your hen should revert back to normal behavior. If she continues to behave sickly, she still has material left to expel. Give another calcium later today if she continues to labor with this.

This is helpful thank you! I have her the calcium citrate tab about 20 minutes ago. She had a solid poop moments later. She is still laying down and not acting herself. Last night under her roost I did see soft shell material, yolk and egg white…should I start amoxi or wait to see what calcium does? I have 250mg amoxi on hand. Is it once a day? How many days? I appreciate all the help

 

[azygous]

Yes, once a day for ten days. If you've seen broken yolk, then start the antibiotic because you can assume that bacteria has begun to grow in her oviduct.

 

[ANiceKaren]

Yes, once a day for ten days. If you've seen broken yolk, then start the antibiotic because you can assume that bacteria has begun to grow in her oviduct.

One more question… can chickens recover from this? I only ask because I had a girl who went off and on sick after something similar. It was a year of antibiotocs and worry. She finally succumbed. Are their stories of girls that are fine after antibiotocs? I feel like I’m catching this very early

 

[azygous]

As a hen ages, this sort of problem is more apt to become a chronic issue. The younger the layer, the better chance she can recover with no lasting issues.

It's always worth trying to treat.

 

[ANiceKaren]

As a hen ages, this sort of problem is more apt to become a chronic issue. The younger the layer, the better chance she can recover with no lasting issues.

It's always worth trying to treat.

Thank you! She is a young girl! 11 months.

 

[azygous]

That should encourage you that she will make a fine recovery.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

With the new development of finding egg material under the roost after the membrane was expelled, yes I would start her on Amoxicillin.

Amoxicillin dose is 57mg per pound of weight given orally twice a day for 10-14 days.
I would give the Calcium as well.

See that she's eating and drinking well.

 

[azygous]

Some drugs are inhibited by the effect of calcium. Amoxicillin is one of them, but the effect isn't as bad as the "cyclines", which shouldn't be given withing two hours of calcium. Amoxy is just one hour.

 

[Kiki]

Hmmm… it looked like one but it’s empty. So that makes sense. I thought a worm because another one of my girls had riny
Cecal worms so I figured maybe this girl had worms too. I ended up giving her a pea sized amount of Safeguard.. hope it’s okay knowing this isn’t a worm?? I feel them pellet layer feed mixed with crumble layer feed mixed with soy/corn free crumbles. They get tomatos/meal worms and scratch as treats. Sometimes some spinach or micro greens too? Could it be a soft shell? They do have oyster shells for choice if needed. I’m pretty sure she is laying. Hard to tell because two girls are very similar. I know she has laid in past week for sure…

First...pea sized amount is wrong.
Please read this:
Thread 'The Truth About the "Pea Sized Blob" of Horse Paste De-Wormer' https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-sized-blob-of-horse-paste-de-wormer.1141545/

 

[Kiki]

Second...stop feeding daily treats.
Daily treats take away from the bird getting a balanced diet.
Daily treats can lead to a bird being overweight before you even notice a bird is overweight. Simply being slightly overweight can cause reproductive disorders that can cause this exact problem.

Do not mix complete balanced poultry feeds.
Feed one or the other...a layer type pelleted for crumble feed would be best.