New to laying hen. Soft shell egg and lash egg!

[Stephh0701]

She's also taken to laying down in the corner again.... I'm really at a loss. I did see her peck at her scratch earlier this morning so she's eating a little... maybe not enough though...

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you finely crush a hard egg shell, and mix it with about 1/4 of a cooked or scrambled egg? Feed that to her once a day for the next 3 days. If you have human calcium tablets or Tums, you may use 1/2 of one of those, but egg shells are calcium. That can help with firming up eggshells and helping muscle contraction to pass her eggs. If you can get hold of some human amoxicillin or buy some Fish Mox at your local feed store or online, you can give her 250 mg twice a day for 5 days.

 

[Stephh0701]

I do have tums, but her first two eggs had very firm nice shells. I'm really convinced this is an issue caused by breeding for high egg production. I'll give her the tum though and try to get her to eat some egg... she's rather picky at the moment. I might even have some amoxicillin left over from being sick last year but never taking the meds and just using homeopathic remedies, but if I give her that how long till we can start eating her eggs again (if she starts laying again soon). Here's her first egg... very thick shell.

 

[Eggcessive]

But if she had a soft shell last time, she may need the calcium. Have they ever been sick before with any sneezing? Many new layers will lay a shell-less egg now and then as they are starting out. For the record, blueberries is likely the cause of the colorful droppings. Red cabbage does that as well.

 

[Stephh0701]

So I only have doxycycline monohydrate. No amoxicillin unfortunately.

 

[Stephh0701]

I've given her the tums. So hopefully itll help out. They've never been sick before at all so I'm really at a loss. I'm just going to keep her inside for now and monitor her. I'm not sure what else to do at this point

 

[Eggcessive]

Doxycycline might be helpful, but I would hold off for now. The dosage is always hard to find for doxy, but I think it is 10mg per pound of weight daily. Since she is a new layer, let’s see if she starts feeling better in a day or two.

 

[Stephh0701]

Sounds good. I really would love to avoid antibiotics.. however I do realize it's sometimes necessary. Will keep posting updates

 

[getaclue]

Doxycycline is a great one to have on hand. It's a tetracycline/terramycin based drug, with a bit of a kick.

 

[TinaMarieofFL]

She's also taken to laying down in the corner again.... I'm really at a loss. I did see her peck at her scratch earlier this morning so she's eating a little... maybe not enough though...

Let her rest.

I've given mine the spa treatment. She has refused the B vitamin/calcium mixture I prepared. I will try again in a bit. Right now, she is very lethargic and just lying in a box. I am worried, after all, this is the 3rd time she's gone down. Only 18 months old.