My friend Sally is sick..

[Mslssa]

She is the hen that has trouble making enough shell to cover her super sized eggs. 3 weeks and lots of egg and oyster shells later she was laying a beautiful egg every day. On Friday she was listless, slow , fluffed up and miserable with the diarrhea. Also no eggs for 3 days. I gave her a warm Epsom salt bath. (Who knew chickens liked baths?) Cleaned her vent and feathers and checked for a stuck egg but didn't feel one, just released more diarrhea. Crushed a tums and got it down her. She love treats but wouldn't eat anything, figured I'd lose her in the night but Sat she was back to normal except still no eggs today so it's been about a week. Her bowels are back to normal. Any idea on what happened?

 

[rebrascora]

She could have laid a soft shelled/shell less egg and it got eaten before you found it. They are really hard to pass and really knock hens for six and you would not feel it doing an internal exam because there is no shell.

I would give her a thorough exam for any abdominal swelling, particularly between her legs and around her vent and compare to another similar breed flock member. Cupping your hand and feeling between their legs whilst they are roosting at night is a good way to compare one straight after the other to get an idea if those feathers are hiding anything. It is surprising how quite significant abnormalities can be obscured by them.
What breed is she? I'm guessing she is a sex link or other high production bird that are prone to such issues. If she is needing regular calcium supplementation to keep her shell quality good, she may have a problem with calcium absorption or a defective shell gland although those extra large eggs are not helping her. Sadly there is not a lot you can do about the size, but if she is a pet and her long term wellbeing is more important than egg production and you have the funds, a hormonal implant would give her a break from egg laying and perhaps give her body a chance to recharge it's calcium stores without constantly being depleted. It would need to be a veterinary visit if you can find one that will do it and I believe runs about $100-150. Superlorin is one of the brand names and it is inserted under the skin behind the neck. Doing it at this time of year should take her through to moult. Does she normally lay through the winter or is she still young and you haven't had her through a moult yet?

 

[Mslssa]

She is Rhode island red. I've only been a chicken mom for a little over a month. The girls are about 1 1/2 years old. I don't even know when they should molt. And though she is my favorite hen, I don't see a visit to the vet in her future. Her diarrhea did appear to have egg in it

 

[rebrascora]

Moult occurs in their second autumn/winter, so she will be approaching her first proper moult in 2-3 months. Some start as early as July or August whilst others wait until the depths of winter to lose their feathers, silly birds! Usually the first moult will be mostly a neck moult. Some chickens lose their feathers almost overnight which can be pretty scary for someone who hasn't witnessed a moult and seen a bald chicken, others you can hardly tell that they are moulting other than the odd feather under the roost each night.

My finances do not run to vets for my chickens either but just giving you the options that are available.

Do you have a photo of the poop with the egg in it? Was it yolk or albumen? It may be that the egg broke inside her which is not good.... even a shell less egg.... because the contents can then harbour bacteria and allow infection to set in. I'm not one for antibiotic use unless absolutely essential but you might want to make preparations/enquiries about how/where to get some in case she takes a turn for the worse. Keep a close eye out for any abdominal swelling between the legs or around the vent. The fact that she is not laying is worrying and may indicate that an infection has already set in. Salpingitis (infection of the oviduct) causes the tract to become impacted with "lash egg" material, a fleshy mixture of egg and pus. Do a google search for lash egg images because you need to keep an eye out for her passing one. These build up in the oviduct and can become the size of a grapefruit and eventually it constricts the gut and the bird dies of toxic shock in a similar way to egg binding, because they cannot pass waste. Or because the oviduct is blocked and backed up, the yolks start dropping into the abdominal cavity (internal laying) where they can become infected and cause Egg Yolk Peritonitis or fluid builds up because of them (ascites). Sadly all of these ailments usually prove fatal, but if you can catch Salpingitis in the early stages it may respond to antibiotics.

 

[Mslssa]

Moult occurs in their second autumn/winter, so she will be approaching her first proper moult in 2-3 months. Some start as early as July or August whilst others wait until the depths of winter to lose their feathers, silly birds! Usually the first moult will be mostly a neck moult. Some chickens lose their feathers almost overnight which can be pretty scary for someone who hasn't witnessed a moult and seen a bald chicken, others you can hardly tell that they are moulting other than the odd feather under the roost each night.

My finances do not run to vets for my chickens either but just giving you the options that are available.

Do you have a photo of the poop with the egg in it? Was it yolk or albumen? It may be that the egg broke inside her which is not good.... even a shell less egg.... because the contents can then harbour bacteria and allow infection to set in. I'm not one for antibiotic use unless absolutely essential but you might want to make preparations/enquiries about how/where to get some in case she takes a turn for the worse. Keep a close eye out for any abdominal swelling between the legs or around the vent. The fact that she is not laying is worrying and may indicate that an infection has already set in. Salpingitis (infection of the oviduct) causes the tract to become impacted with "lash egg" material, a fleshy mixture of egg and pus. Do a google search for lash egg images because you need to keep an eye out for her passing one. These build up in the oviduct and can become the size of a grapefruit and eventually it constricts the gut and the bird dies of toxic shock in a similar way to egg binding, because they cannot pass waste. Or because the oviduct is blocked and backed up, the yolks start dropping into the abdominal cavity (internal laying) where they can become infected and cause Egg Yolk Peritonitis or fluid builds up because of them (ascites). Sadly all of these ailments usually prove fatal, but if you can catch Salpingitis in the early stages it may respond to antibiotics.

https://goo.gl/images/MNTvV9 I don't have picture of poop but it was albumin not yolk, she did give me one like this a couple of weeks ago

 

[Mslssa]

ago I haven't seen anything that looks like lash egg, but she has lost some neck feathers

 

[boskelli1571]

https://goo.gl/images/MNTvV9 I don't have picture of poop but it was albumin not yolk, she did give me one like this a couple of weeks ago

Looks like a lash egg - this girl needs appropriate antibiotics. Keep a very close eye on her, frankly it doesn't look good

 

[Mslssa]

Looks like a lash egg - this girl needs appropriate antibiotics. Keep a very close eye on her, frankly it doesn't look good

I guess that picture wasn't very representitve now that I look at it hers had regular egg inside.

 

[boskelli1571]

I guess that picture wasn't very representitve now that I look at it hers had regular egg inside.

Still keep a close eye on her, she may be laying internally as Rebrascora said.

 

[Mslssa]

Ok so today I got the lash
egg. What now. I'll be out of town starting tonight for 6 days. The husband is in charge. I don't even no where to start.