Nest Blob?

[Ted Brown]

Someone will know what this is; found in the nest boxes today, dark bits are dirt. Thanks.

 

[tlcmurphy]

It looks like lash material

 

[FrostRanger]

Might be a lash egg, do you know who laid it? And what does it look like when you cut into it?

 

[Ted Brown]

Do not know which hen. I still have but did not cut into.

I did a AI bot query - likely resulting from an infection & requires treatment. Correct? What is the treatment?

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

A hen lays lash eggs when she has infection—which causes inflammation—in her oviduct. As for the treatment, I am not sure. Apparently this can be deadly and a hen who continues laying lash eggs will likely not live past six months (according to Google, if that is correct). Some articles say hormone implants to stop them laying is the first step of treatment, but that is extremely expensive.

 

[FrostRanger]

You can try an antibiotic but depending on why she's laying lash eggs, it could be a long term issue. Regardless, you'll need to identify the bird laying it as healthy birds should not be given antibiotics. Know also there's a fair chance she may never lay normal eggs again

 

[rosemarythyme]

If you see another one, cut it open and photograph the interior so we can 100% ID it as lash material, as the interior should look similar in all cases.

Unfortunately treating it will be impossible if you don't know which bird it came from. If it's a bacterial infection, antibiotics can work, but if it's viral, there's no magic bullet to kill off the infection.

 

[Ted Brown]

Yikes. Have queried the ether and absorbed the news, thank you for responses.

I have 1 or 2 suspects - will remove them to isolation to observe, will cull at least one. I have more than 30 in my flock and 18 3 week old's in a brooder so bio health is my priority.

I will aggressively empty and clean the coop although I use deep bedding and drop boards w/PDZ (my run & coop are sized for 40 large fowl), normally no smell very few flies.

My covered run is sloped and sits on coarse gravel w/rocks therefore dry, wet edges only when we get a heavy rain. Feed & water in both run & coop

I have read that "salpingitis" is most likely cause and some reports that it is contagious. Treatable with antibiotics if bird is known but I will cull.

What other cleaning & preventative steps should I be taking?

 

[FrostRanger]

It's not contagious so deep cleaning isn't necessary. It's just something that happens sometimes, it's nothing you did or didn't do

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

Someone will know what this is; found in the nest boxes today, dark bits are dirt. Thanks.

View attachment 3894931View attachment 3894932

Lash egg. One of the hens must be sick.