my first "lash egg" experience

[calvincoop]

Emma is almost 2 years old. she started laying around 3-4 months if I remember correctly. I'll post some pictures later when I can get on my computer.

 

[PurpleShoeWoman]

I have never had this "exact" problem, but I am wondering if giving some aloe vera juice wouldn't help. It is natural and has great healing properties. Used it for my Husbands Ulcerative Colitis with great results. And apple cider vinegar is good for them to, just add to the water.

 

[Chickenfan4life]

I saw all the pictures and... I'm gonna vomit...

I hope I never get these, because there's something about them that makes me wanna barf.

 

[Chickens R Us]

Looks Alien !!

 

[chippysmom327]

Anyone see a naked hermit crab before? That's what their tails look like. I have 25 tmi? Yeah, figured that.

 

[Tomtommom]

Fellow crabber here. Yup, does look like it's butt haha.

Honestly though, you can see some long stretched out yellow in there, elongated yolk?

The body has a way of encapsulating foreign matter. Like folks who turn out to have their embryo twin inside them, they body puts a fleshy barrier around it. Possible something similar to a badly formed egg?

 

[calvincoop]

update: hmmm where do I start. I lost Emma last April, almost a year ago. It's a late update I know. I still miss her very much she was such a sweet soul. So after she laid this "lash" she continued to have chronic problems and I always kept a close eye on her and if she was showing any signs of sickness or being uncomfortable, I would take her back to the vet. Eventually the vet had decided that the symptoms (distended abdomen, walking like a penguin, lethargic and not keeping up with the rest of the flock, also a fever) were that of egg yolk peritonitis and he drained some of the ascites from her abdomen and began treating her with antibiotics. I checked her temperature every day and it never came down. We continued with the antibiotics for almost a whole month and though the cost wasn't a issue it was expensive. The vet office I had been taking her to was designed more for cats and dogs, not chickens or birds, and although they did have one vet that treated chickens, his resources were very limited. I decided to take her to an avian vet and as soon as she saw her she knew what the problem was immediately and the only chance at recovery would be a complete hysterectomy. She also said that birds do not get fevers and I pretty much had been wasting my time and money treating her with antibiotics (she said it in a nicer way than I just did). I showed her a picture of the "lash"on my phone and she said it was due to egg binding which means her oviduct gets clogged and sometimes twisted over itself making it impossible for the yolk to pass through. It keeps getting backed up and by the time the bird starts showing symptoms it is usually pretty severe. She said it was basically old yolk that had been sitting for a while and basically started to cook while still inside of her. She also said she had never heard of it being called a "lash" before. I wanted to give Emma the best chance possible to recover so I agreed that she should have the surgery. The vet said that during surgery they try to get in and out in under 20 minutes because birds do not do well under anesthesia and anything over 20 minutes would be "borrowed time". Unfortunately when she opened her up the problem was more extensive than she could have ever imagined and there was a lot of tissue that required removal which ended up taking longer than she hoped it would. Emma was struggling to come out of anesthesia and she died just a few hours after surgery. The vet said she looked some of the tissue under a microscope and saw some very aggressive malignant cells that was likely was due to Mareks disease. We can't know for sure because we adopted her as a young pullet and did not know for sure if she had been vaccinated. I felt guilty that I hadn't taken her to the avian vet sooner but I am not mad and the first vet or anything, he was always very kind and loved seeing Emma every time I brought her in. I know now that I will always take my chickens to the avian vet though, and I have. I really hope this update can be of help to someone who may be going through the same issues.

My beautiful Emma:

 

[Tomtommom]

Sorry to hear. I hope the rest of your flock is ok? Did they get vaccinated? I have no experience with Marek's, but from what I gather it's no walk in the park. Closed flock and such from then on.

 

[calvincoop]

I have not had any problems with the rest of my flock. My husband did call the farm supply store we bought them from and asked if they knew about their vaccination status but we really couldn't get a straight answer. Nobody seemed to know which was weird. I would assume the would have been vaccinated. I know to always ask from now on. The tough thing is that they can only be vaccinated within the first couple of days after hatching.

 

[HenFriend]

Had a hen pass one of these some years ago. Didn't know what it was, she was a hybrid and had been treated by the vet for prolapse a couple of weeks before she passed it. Sadly she died not long afterwards, I no longer keep hybrids as I found they lay like mad and then burn out or have suffered from reproductive system related problems. Gross, but interesting to finally find what it was.