Jumbo weird egg laying killing chicken?

[CountryMom]

Ok, we have for a couple of weeks now been getting this very large Jumbo egg that is hard, but all wrinkled up. I don't have any pics to show unfortunately. I probably won't after tonight. Every time we have gotten this crazy egg (probably three times a week) it has been a double yolk. Now we get doubles from a leghorn now and again, but never this large and never wrinkled. Well, this morning I noticed one of my Buff Orpingtons was just not herself. She looked very cold and it has been cold - down to 39 last night - for south Texas. Well, I put her in a nest box and moved the heat lamp near her and went about preparing for company. Tonight I go to check on her and she is a limp wash rag. She tries to eat and drink, but it is like something has sucked the life right out of her. No other illness signs either - except in the nest box she was in - no other chicken had any way of getting to as I locked her in that section of the coop - was another one of the jumbo wrinkled eggs.

So my question is, if she is laying these enormous eggs, can it do damage to her internally and actually be what is making her so weak? She is a hatchery bird, so I know she is bred more for performance then correctness. Any one else had this happen to them with hatchery stock?

 

[grnthmb]

I have one buff orpington and i think she is the one laying double yokes on occasion. One of them was slightly wrinkled on one end. When I was a kid on the farm we would get a double once in a while but not as big as the ones i have gotten. My hen is ok though. I did wonder at the time how she was able to lay such large eggs. Dont know if the large egg could do damage or not, but i would bet it could.
grnthmb

 

[mylilchix]

She may not be absorbing vitamins properly. I have a RIR that lays jumbos every once in a while. The first time she did it we found her laying in the coop the day after not eating or drinking. I brought her in the house gave her electrolyte water and egg, she still didn't perk up. I finally gave her a few doses of vitamin E and selenium, and in a few days she was back to normal. 6 weeks later she's doing fine. Altough I was really worried about her after she laid another one recently. She was fine after that one.

What may have happened is all of the jumbos are depleting the vitamins in her body, and she's just not capable of replenishing them. I can't remember the doses of the vitamins unfortunately. Try pming dlunicorn, she gave me the dosage. If that doesn't work try a search on vit E and selenium. You can also try giving her some polyvisol infant vitamins. Just make sure you use the ones without iron. Good luck, I hope your girl pulls through.

Sonja

 

[CountryMom]

Well, it is 23 degrees outside. I am so thankful for heat lamps! She is still alive and looks more rested. I didn't disturb her yet as she stayed in the nest box all night right by the heat lamp.

Thanks mylilchix I have vitamin E here and will see if I cannot find that quick. I will do so searching and see what comes up first. It is just so strange how she is so off from that extra large jumbo I mean monster size egg! Poor baby. I would have expected vent damage even, but nothing.

 

[MissPrissy]

You need to get her in a place that is warm but with very dim light. The lack of proper light will cease eggs production and give her a chance to start healing from what is effecting her. Give her some raw organic ACV. Giver her some extra protein - meat scraps, cooked eggs and yogurt. Giving her 5 drops of baby liquid vitamins without iron will give her a boost too.

Virus and bacteria can set off weird egg laying habits, cause wrinkled shells and other issues. It could also be a physical genetic development in her. It could also be a deficiency in her nutrition. Really hard to say at this point what would cause it.

If you can bring her into a small dog crate and put her in a darkened warm room, with proper TLC, hopefully she will recover. At this rate it sounds like she is on the downhill slide.

 

[CountryMom]

Thank you MissPrissy. I was just coming back to ask dosage. My DH is headed to the Doc and pharmacy for his personal stuff and I was going to have him pick up the vitamin drops.

I was just down in the coop and gave her a capsule of Vitamin A and Vitamin E. Not sure if they will do the trick but it was a start. I will bring her up once I get something set up for her.

I did throw out scratch and she went crazy trying to get to it. So I put her some in her nest box and gave her some fresh water. She ate and drank a bunch. She is still weak and wobbly, but seems revived some this morning after resting. I still have her with a heat lamp down there. I am really honestly amazed at how vibrant she is this morning.

I put the other birds in her coop out for the day and closed the door. So she has privacy until I can correct her living situation.

I guess this thread is kinda in the wrong place since it has turned into a more medical situation. Sorry about that!

 

[MissPrissy]

NP. I think it fits either catagory. I hope she continues to improve.

 

[CountryMom]

This morning we are perking up even more. Hubby couldn't find vitamins without iron yesterday (small town and not much options) so I was able to pick some up this morning after dropping him at the airport. Yesterday I gave her three vitamin E tablets and all the goodies we could find for her (thanks MissPrissy for ideas). This morning she got her drops and gobbled up more feed since she had finished her feed during the night. She isn't standing yet, but trying to and so bright eyed. Amazing what a vitamin deficiency can do! We have seen things in our guinea pig herd that lack of certain things vitamin and minerals can cause death. Guess I am learning about the chickens also.

No egg yesterday and so far nothing today. I hope the darkening will help her stop for a while so she can heal.

 

[MissPrissy]

I am hoping for a full recovery for her! Hurray for TLC!

 

[mjdtexan]

Congradulations on your chicken's recovery. This really is a great site. Every thing I know about chickens (still a long way to go) came from here.

I did like that advice of getting her out of the light so that she slows down the egg laying process. That made since to me.

Mike D