Lash Egg??

[alinas2010]

I found this underneath the roost tonight when I went to check on the girls. Please tell me it’s not a lash egg If it is, how do I treat it? I am not certain which one it came from as they were not in the same spots as when I put them to bed. There was yolk all over too. The material seems rubbery. All were in good spirits today ate and drank and roamed around fine all day. All have laid eggs yesterday and 3 laid today again. We’ve had some soft shelled eggs, here and there, but that seems expected as they are new layers. Background: 2 CQs, 1 sapphire gem, 1 RIB. All 21 weeks old tomorrow. All started laying about 2 to 2 1/2 weeks ago.

 

[alinas2010]

I found this underneath the roost tonight when I went to check on the girls. Please tell me it’s not a lash egg If it is, how do I treat it? I am not certain which one it came from as they were not in the same spots as when I put them to bed. There was yolk all over too. The material seems rubbery. All were in good spirits today ate and drank and roamed around fine all day. All have laid eggs yesterday and 3 laid today again. We’ve had some soft shelled eggs, here and there, but that seems expected as they are new layers. Background: 2 CQs, 1 sapphire gem, 1 RIB. All 21 weeks old tomorrow. All started laying about 2 to 2 1/2 weeks ago.

Also wanted to add that they eat purina flock raiser, peck at a bit of scratch every day and have access to oyster shell at free will.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Hard to tell... do you still have it? Cut it open and see if there's layers of material in it vs just an empty "sac."

Given the ages of the birds I'm guessing it's more likely a deformed soft shell egg.

 

[alinas2010]

Hard to tell... do you still have it? Cut it open and see if there's layers of material in it vs just an empty "sac."

Given the ages of the birds I'm guessing it's more likely a deformed soft shell egg.

Appreciate your reply. I cut into it. I’m not sure what I’m looking at. Part of it seems like a sack and another section of it is kind of like what I would compare in texture to cooked egg yolk. Weird question, do lash eggs smell when you cut into them? Like an infection would? This doesn’t have any smell, but I was just curious.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Doesn't quite look like lash material but hopefully others can chime in with their experiences - what you'd typically see inside is something resembling distinct folds of fleshy or cheesy material. I don't recall lash material having a specific odor (though admittedly I didn't get it close to my face either).

If it does turn out to be lash material the toughest part is trying to figure out exactly which bird it came from, as it can potentially be treated with antibiotics in some cases, but that generally has a withdrawal period. You would not want to dose the entire flock.

 

[alinas2010]

Doesn't quite look like lash material but hopefully others can chime in with their experiences - what you'd typically see inside is something resembling distinct folds of fleshy or cheesy material. I don't recall lash material having a specific odor (though admittedly I didn't get it close to my face either).

If it does turn out to be lash material the toughest part is trying to figure out exactly which bird it came from, as it can potentially be treated with antibiotics in some cases, but that generally has a withdrawal period. You would not want to dose the entire flock.

Agree about the toughest part being identification. I would hope someone would act off enough that I could tell who it came from, but you know how good they are at hiding things.

I work as a medical laboratory scientist in a hospital, so I play with quite a bit of infected material from people, and infected stuff is always so stinky. I have no idea if that’s the case for chickens, though. Just thought I’d see if anyone knew.

Thanks again for your reply. Hoping you’re right about it being a weird new layer thing.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Agree about the toughest part being identification. I would hope someone would act off enough that I could tell who it came from, but you know how good they are at hiding things.

For now I'd keep an eye out for any similar incident, and if possible, note where each bird is on the roost each evening, as that can help narrow down the culprit.

I was able to ID which bird laid a lash egg based on location of the lash material under the roost plus the fact that that particular hen hadn't been laying very well, though she did not seem sick at the time.

 

[alinas2010]

For now I'd keep an eye out for any similar incident, and if possible, note where each bird is on the roost each evening, as that can help narrow down the culprit.

I was able to ID which bird laid a lash egg based on location of the lash material under the roost plus the fact that that particular hen hadn't been laying very well, though she did not seem sick at the time.

Did she make it?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Did she make it?

Yes, she's still around. The lash egg occurred last year. I treated with enrofloxacin (dosage on this post) https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/lash-egg.1441042/#post-23895607 She stopped laying after that (which is just as well, I certainly didn't want to eat her eggs after) and only laid maybe 4-5 eggs this year.

 

[alinas2010]

Yes, she's still around. The lash egg occurred last year. I treated with enrofloxacin (dosage on this post) https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/lash-egg.1441042/#post-23895607 She stopped laying after that (which is just as well, I certainly didn't want to eat her eggs after) and only laid maybe 4-5 eggs this year.

Glad to hear that. Less eggs less chance for complications.