Lash Egg?

deviflux

Songster
Dec 18, 2019
56
35
101
Nashville TN
I've got a 3 year old hen who just laid what I am pretty certain is a large lash egg. She's been a bit of a problem layer for the past year. She's gone eggbound a few times, stopped laying for long stretches, started laying paper thin broken eggs and today the lash egg. No other signs of illness. She's thin, but always has been. Eats, drinks and spends the day out wandering with the rest of the flock.

I don't have access to a vet who can prescribe antibiotics. Based on the advice in some other posts, I am going to try to order some Baytril from allbirdsproducts, but it will take a few days to ship here. Is there an OTC treatment that might help in the meantime?

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Locking the ladies up tonight she was really slow and went straight to the roost after drinking lots of water. No interest in food or even beloved treats. I picked her up and her belly is definitely feeling swollen.

Doesn't look good for my sweet Loretta. Bracing myself for the worst, but hoping she is a better in the morning.
 
Locking the ladies up tonight she was really slow and went straight to the roost after drinking lots of water. No interest in food or even beloved treats. I picked her up and her belly is definitely feeling swollen.

Doesn't look good for my sweet Loretta. Bracing myself for the worst, but hoping she is a better in the morning.
I hope your girl feels better tomorrow. I have had similar experiences with two of my girls. we are fortunate to have a vet nearby. She gave us clavamox for one 6 weeks ago; she is doing much better.

Can I ask what type of feed you are giving? My vet urged us to changed to a pellet feed. It has helped. Her theory was calcium deficiency.

If you think she is in pain you could give her some aspirin water. water.http://extension.msstate.edu/content/solutions-and-treatments

Try to avoid touching her belly. My girl was so tender she wouldnt even lie down.
 
Thanks! With her laying issues, this isn’t the first time she’s appeared under the weather only to be back to normal the next morning. She tends to produce massive eggs and then gets eggbound. But the lash egg is a first.

My girls all get a corn based layer feed from a local feed manufacturer. They have access to oyster shells and grub worms/scratch as a treat. They also free range all day.

I’ve got some Baytril arriving in a couple days. Hoping she holds up that long.
 
Wow! I am so scared of eggbinding. But we have had rubber eggs, dropped eggs, one lash egg, a fairy egg, and twice I have had to pull broken shell out of a vent.

Everyone told me backyard chicken tending was going to be a breeze. HA!

We were using a layer feed that is a loose mix, not a pellet feed. All of the egg problems is why the vet said we should switch to pellets. The girls were only eating the bits they wanted, losing a lot of the nutrients in the left over bits. It has been a long transition because they were not raised on pellets, but they are coming around. We also let the girls free range, but now I make them stay in run for 30 minutes after I let them out of the coop each morning so they will eat breakfast and not just the grass. Since we only had trouble with one bird at first, I did not think it was the feed, but when the second went down, I knew something was up.

May you find the cure for her ailments. I will keep Loretta in my thoughts.
 
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We were using a layer feed that is a loose mix, not a pellet feed. All of the egg problems is why the vet said we should switch to pellets. The girls were only eating the bits they wanted, losing a lot of the nutrients in the left over bits.
I never thought about that, but it is actually a really good point. They tend to just take the corn chunks and leave the rest.

My girl is still hanging in there this morning! She is still a little slow, but is walking and eating which are great signs.
 
I never thought about that, but it is actually a really good point. They tend to just take the corn chunks and leave the rest.

My girl is still hanging in there this morning! She is still a little slow, but is walking and eating which are great signs.
This is likely not to end well.
If she's had an infection brewing for a year antibiotics may not cure it at this point.

Are you feeding a whole grain type feed?
I highly recommend stop feeding all treats to your flock. Too many treats, Which is an extremely small amount, can cause the birds to be overweight. Overweightness is the number one thing that causes these type illnesses.
 
This is likely not to end well.
If she's had an infection brewing for a year antibiotics may not cure it at this point.

Are you feeding a whole grain type feed?
I highly recommend stop feeding all treats to your flock. Too many treats, Which is an extremely small amount, can cause the birds to be overweight. Overweightness is the number one thing that causes these type illnesses.
Yeah. Once I saw the lash egg yesterday, I've begun bracing myself that it will most likely not end well. When she does lay, she lays absolutely MASSIVE eggs. I always assumed that was the cause of her laying problems.

This is what I feed them. It's from a local manufacturer. First two ingredients are corn and alfalfa. They also have access to oyster shells.
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I think my girls are all at pretty healthy weights. I don't give them too many treats, a handful a day for all seven of them combined. But I will stop for a while to make sure they are eating enough of their actual food.

If anything, I think Loretta might be a little underweight right now. She's the one of the right.
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I am staying positive for you. My barred rock started having trouble in December. We waited until early February to take her in and by then she was doing quite poorly. The vet was not optimistic, said it was likely egg yolk peritonitis and gave me metacam (for the discomfort) and clavamox (for the infection). We followed up with x-rays and blood work, which were inconclusive. We gave our girl both meds but also had the talk with the vet about compassionate euthanasia.

It took about three weeks for her to come around. During that time she was droopy, would not lay down in the yard with her sisters, she would just stand all day, and picked at her food. She looked miserable. With time though, she has gotten much better. She is laying again and being her normal self.

The feed that you are giving them looks like it contains calcium. If you really like your feed and don't want to changes brands, you could ferment it. That way the bits all stick together more, like a runny porridge. Our girl refused the pellets for at least a month (of course, the sick one who needs the pellet feed) so we fermented the loose feed for her. We still give fermented feed in the morning with the pellets. They eat all of it, no bits left behind any more.

This is just my experience and what I have tried. I know my experience may be different. We have five birds. They are pets who give us joy and eggs. It is easier with a small flock to accommodate one bird.

Still wishing the best. :)
 

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