My 9 year old hen with ascites just laid an egg!!

[Eddie12109]

Oh my goodness, never thought she would get back into egg laying.

I have Eddie, my 9 year old hen who has arthritis, she can’t get around well. She also developed ascites a few weeks back.

The last time she laid an egg was most likely over a year ago. I thought she retired.

So this morning was normal, I was giving her her leg stretches because of her arthritis and when I do this, she is leaning against me and I have her leg in my hand moving it back and forth. She was growling at birds like normal and was not in ANY distress. And then, I thought she pooped on me but it was an egg!!!!! Oh my goodness.

So it’s not a normal egg, but she doesn’t have access to calcium because I thought she was retired and blood tests from March showed she had excessive calcium so I just kept it away from her. Her shell was hard, but definitely not a normal hardness, very weak. There was also no yoke. And a few meat spots. I am shocked. So now that this happened, what’s next? I am going to get some calcium in her through a pill and let her eat the eggshells and oyster shells but I’m shocked. She didn’t even show any signs! She had it like it was a normal poop

Is it normal if she is getting back into egg laying to have no yoke? I have pictures but she turned and went to eat it so I wasn’t able to crack it open in a cup or anything so hopefully you can see it well enough.

And now I have two hens, one 8 and one 9 year old, with ascites, still laying eggs.

@speckledhen @TwoCrows @azygous @Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive

 

[Eddie12109]

Also is this a meat spot?

 

[speckledhen]

Interesting that an egg that size has no yolk. Generally they are super tiny. Some call them wind eggs or other names. That at least means the oviduct is not blocked, which is a good thing.

 

[Eddie12109]

Oh so your thinking this is a fart egg? So it might not indicate something is going wrong internally that would create an egg with no yoke?

 

[TwoCrows]

I believe it's absolutely normal for older hens to not only lay occasionally but to have no yolk. This happened in a few of my 8+ old hens. Anything that was in the oviduct got sent down the tubes as if it were a yolk, it got encased, shell and all. In my hens cases, none of them continued to lay, maybe 2 or 3 more attempts, then they quit. Lash eggs are the only type of thing to worry about, meaning they have an infection somewhere in the oviduct.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Jacklyn, that is interesting about Eddie.

Probably is a large fart/fairy egg, but it probably won't hurt to make OS or egg shells available to her.
I agree, often if there's some type of "debris" (meat spot, oviduct lining, etc.,) that this can cause that material to become incased in a shell to be expelled.

Ascites is a symptom, so the fluid that you've been draining from her is the result of (we still don't know)? Could be reproductive and/or organ dysfunction related.

Anyway, glad she expelled it with no issues, that's a good thing!

 

[speckledhen]

Oh so your thinking this is a fart egg? So it might not indicate something is going wrong internally that would create an egg with no yoke?

Yes, that's what it seems to be, just larger than most I see here. All it indicates is that the oviduct is not blocked, by the fact that this shell passed through. It doesn't mean something else is not wrong. Older hens and younger hens alike can lay that type egg, healthy and not-so-healthy. As Wyorp said and I've mentioned to you as well, ascites is only a symptom of an internal issue, not the issue itself. I've had it resolve on its own in two hens that I recall that went on to live and lay later, but usually, they deteriorate after they begin to bloat like that. Sometimes it's cancer, sometimes internal laying, sometimes other things that are just not something you expect when you open them up. Not everything is textbook. And at her age, could be just a sign of her systems aging out and beginning to shut down slowly, who knows?

 

[Dhkoenig]

Oh my goodness, never thought she would get back into egg laying.

I have Eddie, my 9 year old hen who has arthritis, she can’t get around well. She also developed ascites a few weeks back.

The last time she laid an egg was most likely over a year ago. I thought she retired.

So this morning was normal, I was giving her her leg stretches because of her arthritis and when I do this, she is leaning against me and I have her leg in my hand moving it back and forth. She was growling at birds like normal and was not in ANY distress. And then, I thought she pooped on me but it was an egg!!!!! Oh my goodness.

So it’s not a normal egg, but she doesn’t have access to calcium because I thought she was retired and blood tests from March showed she had excessive calcium so I just kept it away from her. Her shell was hard, but definitely not a normal hardness, very weak. There was also no yoke. And a few meat spots. I am shocked. So now that this happened, what’s next? I am going to get some calcium in her through a pill and let her eat the eggshells and oyster shells but I’m shocked. She didn’t even show any signs! She had it like it was a normal poop

Is it normal if she is getting back into egg laying to have no yoke? I have pictures but she turned and went to eat it so I wasn’t able to crack it open in a cup or anything so hopefully you can see it well enough.

And now I have two hens, one 8 and one 9 year old, with ascites, still laying eggs.

@speckledhen @TwoCrows @azygous @Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive

WOW that is really crazy and so cool! How did you get the too much calcium diagnoses. Was it because of the arthritis that they checked this? Its wonderful that she laid one and hopefully she lays more. I am of no help to you on this just really fascinated by it. I wonder with the arthritis if it hurts her to lay? Well it sure is exciting and interesting. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Dhkoenig]

I believe it's absolutely normal for older hens to not only lay occasionally but to have no yolk. This happened in a few of my 8+ old hens. Anything that was in the oviduct got sent down the tubes as if it were a yolk, it got encased, shell and all. In my hens cases, none of them continued to lay, maybe 2 or 3 more attempts, then they quit. Lash eggs are the only type of thing to worry about, meaning they have an infection somewhere in the oviduct.

Hi Two Crows. I forget the difference between a fart egg and a lash egg. Can you remind me what a lash egg is? Thanks

 

[artbykarenehaley]

Hi Two Crows. I forget the difference between a fart egg and a lash egg. Can you remind me what a lash egg is? Thanks

A fart egg/fairy egg is a small egg with no yolk. Still edible.
A lash egg is material from an infection and definitely not edible, you will know if you get one that you can't eat it because they look gross. If one of your hens lays a lash egg, she has a medical issue that needs treated.