Might my chickens have IB?

[DownwardDog]

I've been reading up on various diseases all night tonight, including egg conditions, etc. I have 10 hens here in NH, 1 of which is a broody Speckled Sussex. The others are 2 SS, 3 Barred Rocks, 3 EEs and 1 probable red Sex-link. They were all born April 2013 and usually have free-range of our property.

My hens have been having the following problems, more or less chronologically:
1. one of my hens was heard sneezing, but no discharge or swollen eyes were noted (about a month ago?)
2. I've been noticing more "narrow" eggs, various sized eggs, eggs with calcium deposits on them, eggs with various faded color shadings on them, and many thin-shelled eggs.
3. The albumen of our eggs has been very thin and/or watery.
4. I've been finding more broken eggs in the nest box lately, or evidence that there had once been an egg there (by yolkish stains on surrounding eggs in box). I was blaming this on a broody hen I have, thinking she might have been breaking the thin-shelled eggs and maybe just eating it afterwards. We have also found a few near-shell-less eggs underneath the roosts in the poop boxes.
5. In the past 3 days, egg production has gone from 7-10 eggs/day down to 4. 2 weekends ago, 2 curious but avid-chicken-lover preteens spent WAY too much time with them, chasing them and holding them, and I did notice production go down slightly the week after, to around 6 for a few days.
6. In the past 24 hrs, I've found 2 eggs that, when broken up, look like they have curdled inside. It looks like what I would think a frozen-then-thawed egg might look like, where the egg white and yolk have been scrambled inside the shell.

I'm feeling like all these "symptoms" are related and not coincidental. Is this Infectious Bronchitis? Or maybe Egg Drop Syndrome (though Mercks indicates the US doesn't have this? Am I reading this wrong?)

I would like some second opinions, please! I do believe IB or EDS is not treatable and it just has to run its course, correct? Are the eggs I do get, edible? This isn't zoonotic, correct?

Thanks in advance, everyone!

~Lenore

 

[Eggcessive]

You could have had a subclinical case of infectious bronchitis in your flock, but it generally spreads to 100% of the flock pretty quickly. Besides watery whites, you could also see some wrinkled shells. The calcum deposits are just that, and color fading is fairly common too. Here are a couple of links for you to read about egg quality problems and IB:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/common-egg-quality-problems
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/78/infectious-bronchitis-ib

 

[DownwardDog]

I have seen wrinkled shells too, but not as commonly has the weird shaped ones. This sudden drop in production and these 2 "coddled" eggs have me worried!

 

[dawg53]

My understanding is that EDS is rare. However, IB is more common. Depending on the strain, it could pass through a flock with only a sneeze here or there and the chicken owner wouldn't even know it. Wrinkled eggs occur with IB as well as watery whites, a dead giveaway that it could be IB. IB is not zoonotic, eggs are safe to eat.
Another thing to consider is the summer heat. Hot temps can cause slow egg production due to eating less feed and increased water consumption. Their cut back in feed consumption also cuts back on absorption of nutrients needed to produce eggs. Eggs may be thin shelled or shelless, or weird shaped. Perhaps supplimenting their diet with Avian Super Pack or Poultry Nutri Drench in conjunction with calcium might help.
One last thing; Try collecting eggs twice daily, in the morning and afternoon.
Here's a link to respiratory diseases in poultry, scroll down to Infectious Bronchitis (IB) and read about it if you wish:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[DownwardDog]

Thanks for the link, though that is one that I had already read earlier tonight.

Here in NH, summer heat hasn't really hit! We get a few days of 78, then it goes back to 56. Sunday should get back up there again, so we shall see if it will stay with us or not -- it's been a very cool spring, not lots of sun:-( They don't seem to have cut down on food consumption either. I was actually worried that they might be eating too many bugs and not enough layer feed which was affecting their shells, but then, I don't really think their food amounts are down.

I did notice a really watery poop in my driveway this evening. I haven't read much about that when reading about IB, so might that be just a fluke or one of the many symptoms?

 

[dawg53]

Do you provide crushed oyster shells as an extra source of calcium? Have you noticed them drinking a lot of water? Watery poop can be a sign of worms.

 

[DownwardDog]

I usually have the oyster shells in a separate bowl, but I started adding them to the food bin last week. Some of them are sort of big pieces though -- we tried unsuccessfully to hammer them into smaller pieces! I haven't noticed them drinking a lot -- they would have to go back to the coop to get water and I just haven't been seeing a lot of that.