my first "lash egg" experience

[chickisoup]

Lash egg=result of Salpingitis. Not tissue. Think internal bumblefoot. It is the hen's body's attempt at walling off a viral or bacterial infection that either originated or entered the the ovaduct from the left bronchial. This "stuff", lump, in the center is pus, not egg. (again think of the "core" in a bumblefoot). Our own bodies do the same around a sliver or other foreign body. This is just happening in the reproduction system. Not always a death sentence for the hen but often is. If she recovers she may or may not ever lay normally again. Occurs far more often in hens engineered to be laying machines, sex-links etc. and those not allowed to take the winter off from laying. Do your own research, just be careful to go beyond "bloggers" and look at research done by veterinary professionals. It is an area that isn't well understood for the most part because remember, until we came along, most hens were in food production in one way or another and rarely lived past their second year.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Lash egg=result of Salpingitis.  Not tissue.  Think internal bumblefoot.  It is the hen's body's attempt at walling off a viral or bacterial infection that either originated or entered the the ovaduct from the left bronchial.  This "stuff", lump,  in the center is pus, not egg.  (again think of the "core" in a bumblefoot).  Our own bodies do the same around a sliver or other foreign body.  This is just happening in the reproduction system.  Not always a death sentence for the hen but often is.  If she recovers she may or may not ever lay normally again.  Occurs far more often in hens engineered to be laying machines, sex-links etc. and those not allowed to take the winter off from laying.  Do your own research, just be careful to go beyond "bloggers" and look at research done by veterinary professionals.  It is an area that isn't well understood for the most part because remember, until we came along,  most hens were in food production in one way or another and rarely lived past their second year.

Thanks for this. I think you have it right here, my girl has been acting sickly for a few days. I'm not quite sure when it first started, as we had a death in the family and I was otherwise occupied. I brought her into the house yesterday, and she laid one of those whoppers, and yes, it did stink. I did not dissect, but it's clear her body was trying to get rid of something. I will try to get some antibiotics for her, the kind for blackhead. I'm willing to try if it will help her live. I asked about taking her to the vet, but it would be $72.50 just for the exam. A bit too much for one little hen. So for now, we have her in a dog crate in the living room. Hopefully she will pull through.

 

[Wol1]

This is going to be long, but I've been through the ringer with this and have learned a lot that I'd like to share.
AnneInTheBurbs hope your girl is doing ok.

I've had four with oviduct problems, 3 Golden Comets and 1 Rhode Island Red. I know the Golden Comets are production hens, and my conscience is somewhat helped by the fact that our neighbor asked us to adopt them at 4 months as they didn't want them anymore. Not sure of RIR. I took the first 2 GCs and the RIR to an avian vet, The GCs had egg peritonitis, meaning they had a blocked and inflamed oviduct and eggs had backed up, gotten infected, and were spilling into their abdomens causing inflammation. He put them an antibiotic that also reduces inflammation of the oviduct. The first died anyway of liver failure from the toxic environment in her body, on the 2nd GC, I opted for surgery. He removed the uterus and as much of the oviduct as he could and sewed the oviduct closed around the "mummified" eggs that were adhered that he couldn't remove. Removing the uterus stops the signal to the brain to ovulate. She survived the surgery and was doing excellent. I took her back for a one week check-up and the vet was amazed and happy at her recovery. They took her in the back to give her another shot, and she died mid-lift by the vet tech. I can only guess an embolism from the surgery? He was as shocked as I was. It was horrible. Had to drive an hour home.. on the interstate, sobbing. She was such a sweetie she was named Sweetpea.
The 3rd GC is still alive. She has been laying soft-shelled eggs. Fortunately she is actually laying them rather than having them get stuck. I kept giving her Calcium Gluconate 23% solution (I bought it on the internet as it wasn't available locally), and she gradually started laying hard shell eggs, but I had to constantly give it to her. Seems she just had a chronic calcium deficiency. About two weeks ago I had the brain wave to force oyster shell down her. Held, lifted neck up, head beak up, pried her mouth open and popped them one at a time toward the back of her mouth. Took a long time, but I'm not giving her the calcium gluconate anymore and she is laying hard shell eggs. They are misshapen, though. I think they are taking too long to move through the oviduct. Apparently they need calcium for the contractions to move the egg along and lay it. I've forced oyster shell into her three times now. I'm hoping her calcium levels will build back up. I'm thinking of forcing her to molt so she stops laying for awhile while I build her calcium reserves up. I think part of why these production birds have this problem is that the constant laying depletes their calcium reserves to the point they can't lay properly. So far, I haven't had this problem with my Ameracaunas or Black Australorps that molt every year. Some of them just hit 3 years old.

The RIR is the first of the 12 RIRs to have problems. I think she is 2 yo. She started with an impacted crop. I took her to the vet who gave me a tube to put down her throat to fill her crop with water in the hopes that it would clear. I was told to massage the crop. Unfortunately only the liquid passed through. Finally had to have the vet empty the crop, as I just couldn't manage to do it. Then the crop started functioning again, but then she stopped eating. She almost starved to death, so I was carrying her with me around the farm in a pet carrier so she wouldn't die alone. I offered her the cabbage worms I was picking off the Brussel sprouts one day, and she gobbled them up and that was the turning point. I also put a GC in with her which encouraged her to eat. She continued to have very wet droppings, though. Then it was a matter of giving her a chance to eat her fill alone several times a day to build her strength up. I wormed her. However, last week I felt an egg in her tiny, skinny body. When she didn't lay it by the next day, I gave her calcium gluconate and oyster shell to no avail. Late last week her abdomen began to swell, to me, anyway. Took her to the avian vet. He didn't think it was inflammation and that things were limited to a few "mummified" eggs, what we are calling "lash" eggs. She isn't currently in laying mode (small dry vent, pale comb), but if she enters laying mode, she will get peritonitis as they will be forced up and out of her oviduct. I knew I had seen a medication listed in a formulary that stopped ovulation. There is also an implant called Superlorin (spelling?) that stops it for 6 months. I was considering those as options.

The maybe good news is that the vet let slip the antibiotic that he gives that also reduces swelling of the oviduct: doxycycline. I was reading about it and found that it was also the one that stops ovulation. Hallelujah! I ordered some last night from campingsurvival.com (competitive price and free shipping). I will now have it on hand to give at the first sign in the hope of reducing inflammation enough to move the egg material out before it becomes adhered to the oviduct. I also know now to get aggressive in giving calcium immediately and to put them in the dark to stop ovulation and force a molt. I will also stick to non-production breeds from now on. Got Red Sex Links last time to avoid any more roos, but I fear they may have this problem.

 

[Jjack88]

That looks like the thing that came out of the guy stomach in the movie Alien..

 

[dragonlady12]

We just had our first "lash egg." I have my suspicions about who laid it. One of my Rhode Island Reds, Roxy. She's been a bit thin recently, but foraging and eating and drinking fine. No other symptoms. Her abdomen is fine, she is acting normally, for her. No penguin walking or other visual symptoms. My flock is just plain nutty.

Anyway, we are concerned now about her because of all the bloody reading I've been doing on the web. I've stayed away from blogs, read Vet posts and some decent info here and the only chicken blog I read, The Chicken Chick. Anyway, my hubby and I cleaned out the entire shed yesterday, all the nesting boxes (Old recycled milk crates that the girls love) and the perches. We scrubbed them with bleach and rinsed and put in clean shavings for them. Our winter here in Northern Cali isn't really cold anymore, just wet at the moment (thank the gods). We have been trying to put them up a bit to keep them dry. (A couple nice guys at Lowe's gave me a pallet to get them up a bit so I had drainage.)

We just moved and we couldn't move the coop we built for them at our old place and are using an existing shed for them here. At least until Spring when we can build a nicer coop or really repair and make this shed Chicken and Turkey ready.

What suggestions do you guys have on this? We have various Antibiotics in the house as I have been building up a first aid kit over the last few months and since we have all sorts of animals, best to be prepared. What would you suggest? We have a couple that state use so many milligrams in a gallon of water but I have no clue how to measure out 200 - 400 mg of powder accurately. I'm so afraid of overdosing.

My hubby and I are bringing the one we think it is in and she gets what he calls the "Hen Hilton" in our room (dog crate with padding, personal food and water, and as he says, room service.) Not to mention, it's warmer in here. I want to up her food as she's been a bit skinny.

What other advice can you guys suggest? I'm learning. I'm still dealing with my broad breasted white turkey hen with bumble foot. ugh.

This lash egg thing, is is contagious?

 

[goofychickens]

My Blackstar chicken, Carly had this problem. She passed yesterday at 4 and a half years old.
R.I.P Carly
The lash egg thing.

Here is a pic of Carly, I miss her so much.

 

[chickisoup]

So sorry. She looks like she was very sweet.

 

[goofychickens]

she was very sweet , yes

 

[Nofowlplay]

We just had our first "lash egg." I have my suspicions about who laid it. One of my Rhode Island Reds, Roxy. She's been a bit thin recently, but foraging and eating and drinking fine. No other symptoms. Her abdomen is fine, she is acting normally, for her. No penguin walking or other visual symptoms. My flock is just plain nutty.

Anyway, we are concerned now about her because of all the bloody reading I've been doing on the web. I've stayed away from blogs, read Vet posts and some decent info here and the only chicken blog I read, The Chicken Chick. Anyway, my hubby and I cleaned out the entire shed yesterday, all the nesting boxes (Old recycled milk crates that the girls love) and the perches. We scrubbed them with bleach and rinsed and put in clean shavings for them. Our winter here in Northern Cali isn't really cold anymore, just wet at the moment (thank the gods). We have been trying to put them up a bit to keep them dry. (A couple nice guys at Lowe's gave me a pallet to get them up a bit so I had drainage.)

We just moved and we couldn't move the coop we built for them at our old place and are using an existing shed for them here. At least until Spring when we can build a nicer coop or really repair and make this shed Chicken and Turkey ready.

What suggestions do you guys have on this? We have various Antibiotics in the house as I have been building up a first aid kit over the last few months and since we have all sorts of animals, best to be prepared. What would you suggest? We have a couple that state use so many milligrams in a gallon of water but I have no clue how to measure out 200 - 400 mg of powder accurately. I'm so afraid of overdosing.

My hubby and I are bringing the one we think it is in and she gets what he calls the "Hen Hilton" in our room (dog crate with padding, personal food and water, and as he says, room service.) Not to mention, it's warmer in here. I want to up her food as she's been a bit skinny.

What other advice can you guys suggest? I'm learning. I'm still dealing with my broad breasted white turkey hen with bumble foot. ugh.

This lash egg thing, is is contagious?

Is it contagious? My Barred Rock passed this last week. She is on Tetracyaline.

 

[pfields]

Found this in my nest box a few days ago. It was firm on the outside and yellow on the inside. The yellow center smelled like egg yoke.