Opinions on hen with laying issue

[Noreaster Egger]

1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
Olive egger...almost 1yr...normal weight

2) What is the behavior, exactly.
She has had runs for a month or so, but her laying had been normal (about 3-4 days on and 1 day off). A week ago we found one of her eggs broken in a box and we figured it simply just landed on the fake ceramic egg in there and cracked. The yolk was there and the broken shell (solid shell which is typical for her too). Today was about to be day 7 of no laying, but I gave her a Ca/Mg pill this evening and she started having contractions 15 mins later and went into the box. She came out after 10 minutes, drank some water, and then pushed a shelless egg out onto the ground.

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
A week

4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No

5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
No

6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
See #2

7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
Free ranging and fermented feed

8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Runs...no blood

9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Epsom salt bath and Ca/Mg supplements



I guess my question is, do you think she's out of the woods now? If she passes a normally sized, shelless egg does that mean there's probably no others backed up in her? There's been no sign of yolk or albumen in her stools and she typically has the strongest shells of any of my birds. She seemed a little more perky before bed after getting that bouncer out of her. Should I still be greatly concerned or more cautiously optimistic? Is it common for something like this to throw their reproductive cycle out of whack for a bit?

 

[Tlmcq]

Stress can cause her to slow down laying, but I would say she had trouble getting the shell less egg out. Keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't have another with trouble. Maybe the runs depleted nutrients needed for making good hard shells. If she has perked up that is good sign, just keep eye on her.

 

[Noreaster Egger]

Stress can cause her to slow down laying, but I would say she had trouble getting the shell less egg out. Keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't have another with trouble. Maybe the runs depleted nutrients needed for making good hard shells. If she has perked up that is good sign, just keep eye on her.

Thanks for the reply. I had a hen lay a broken egg in a nesting box a couple months ago and she had yolk in her droppings for a couple of days. For a week she had lethargy, stopped laying, and kept her tail down. She slowly improved after that, began squatting for a mount again, and eventually resumes laying. This seems eerily similar except I never noticed any traces of egg in her feces. Hopefully she gets a normal egg out by tomorrow.

 

[Tlmcq]

Her no shelled egg was probably the problem...It's good she had no yolk in feces as you were lucky with one before. Egg breaking inside can be very dangerous due to infection internally.

 

[Noreaster Egger]

She is looking pretty terrible today. She was apparently in the box this morning, but never laid. She has had her tail down all evening while free ranging. She just stands around in a hiding place, closes her eyes, and yawns. She ate some BOSS and mealies, but she looks very lethargic. I gave her another calcium pill and she took about half of it. At times it looks like she's contracting her vent again. I'm going to get a stool sample in tomorrow to find out what else is wrong. Hopefully it isn't too late...I probably wouldn't get the results until Friday or Saturday.

 

[Tlmcq]

If you can get her to eat Dandelion greens they are also high in calcium..So is comfrey. Mint, Majoram and Parsley are egg laying stimulants and help keep reproductive system healthy. Ginger is also a stress reliever and appetite stimulant. Plenty of fresh water with added vitamins/electrolytes. Hopefully this will help you get her thru at very least and give her a chance to recover. If you have any Nasturtium growing this is natural antiseptic and has antibiotic properties. Also warm baths help if she is egg bound.

 

[Tlmcq]

There are also some threads on here about chickens being egg bound that may help. I'll try to research some for you.

 

[Tlmcq]

http://fresheggsdaily.com/2012/06/egg-bound-hens-how-to-recognize-treat.html
Here's a link of cause and treatment for egg bound hens. Also has she been wormed? This may be the cause of her and your other girl getting egg bound...Parasites would deplete their nutrients. Peppermint, pumpkin seeds and Nasturtium seeds are all good for Parasites control and natural worming along with garlic and ACV in water. I usually always go with natural approach if possible, but with her decline you may want to buy medicine to worm her, if you have any of those mentioned above you can start with that until you can get to store for medicine. They will help and for future reference the seeds and mint can be used as prevention as well.

 

[Noreaster Egger]

Thanks for the tips and links.

I don't deworm my birds. They get the ACV occasionally in their water and get fermented feed everyday. I do suspect some kind of parasite or bacteria that is causing this. I've never seen and ondication of any kind of worm in her feces, but obviously that doesn't mean she is worm free.

I'm going to give her another electrolyte in her water tomorrow...it's been a few weeks since I did it last. I think the runs are taking a toll on her hydration. She is contstantly drinking water. I had been looking into planting those spices, garlic, and nasturtium so it's funny you bring them up.

She never had a calcium issue up through last week. She was putting out 4-6 solid olive eggs every week. She has always picked at her oyster shell on the side. She has a chance to pick at dandelions all day, but doesn't really mess with them. She did pick at a few leftover cooked brussel sprouts this evening though. I've noticed her eating less feed the past few days so maybe it's just a drop in nutrition across the board. Hopefully she can give me a good sample to bring to the vet tomorrow.