please not again.

[TomandBarbara]

For the past week my Columbian Blacktail,Abigail, has been laying huge eggs. The photo shows her usual on the left.
We've had 3 like the larger since but with a spot of blood on the shell.not a lot though.Hubby and I had been assuming that it was because they were large. She had a spot of blood on her vent (which is bald) so we bathed her(which she loved)separated her and gave her yoghurt with calcium boost. She has been eating and drinking happily but this morning when I checked her the was no shell just the egg contents.ive bathed her again

but don't know what else to try.

 

[TomandBarbara]

Update...warning graphic image.


Well I've bathed her again and considering what's happened Abigail is remarkably calm.
How it looks is while attempting to lay the egg has split and it's contents spilled out ( the mass in the nest box)
While bathing her I noticed what look like a burst balloon protruding from a rather swollen vent which turned out to be the remains of the shell.She had obviously strained so much to pass that she has injured herself. See picture.

After cleaning her in salt water and drying her with hairdryer (great help) I sprayed antibacterial spray and applied a heamaroid ointment to her vent and the tissue.Within a minute the swelling had subsided.
She has happily eaten probiotic yoghurt with added calcium and I've put her back in the quarantine coop and covered it to darken. She has food and water and seems to be eating and drinking.
What else should I do now? Is this likely to happen again or will she heal?
From a very worried chicken mum.

 

[polish hen]

There's no way of knowing for sure...but yes it's likley,especially since she's had what looks like a prolapsed vent. What breed is she?, it looks as though she could be a RIR or a sexlink? ,if so I doubt she'll stop laying long enough for her vent to heal and regain it muscle tone, so I'd suggest getting her into a avian exotics vet to see if they can get her a suprelorin aka desorelin implant (it stops the birds laying cycle) and is excellent for using on hens with serious laying issues as there lives are saved buy it...but of course it's not always practical unless it's a pet and you apsolutley want to and don't care if you get eggs from this bird again. It lasts anywhere from 4 to 6 months and needs to be replaced or the bird could be watched to see wheather she's able to lay normaly again after she's had that time to heal. Most important thing right now is watching to see if she's got any sort of infection brewing because of the egg bursting inside her and if she starts acting sickly, lathargic of her food ect I'd get her into a vet asap as peritonitis is starting to set in and she needs antibiotics (really good ones like for example baytril)

 

[TomandBarbara]

The egg seemed.to have popped as she was laying.the contents were all in the nest box with a collapsed soft shell halfway out so I don't think any egg got inside her.I was able to gently remove the shell as I bathed her and apart from where the end burst was intact.over the past 5 hours the prolapse hasn't come out again.
I've taken all layers pellets out and she now has a green diet...just leaves and her water which has electrolyte solution in.
Her coop is now dark but still a little allowing her to see where water and perches are though.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Glad you were the prolapse went back in.

Offer her some extra vitamins like Poultry Nutri-Drench or Rooster Booster Poultry Cell. Make sure she is eating her normal feed well and give some extra protein like scrambled/hard boiled egg, tuna, mackerel or meat. If you are doing so, offer oyster shell free choice for added calcium.

Watch her over the day to see if the prolapse stays in, you can apply some more hemorrhoid cream or honey if needed.

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/04/prolapse-vent-causes-treatment-graphic.html

 

[polish hen]

Just leaves?, she still needs nutrition. Are you trying to stop her from laying?. In my opinion this isint a good idea because it could make her very weak and sickly...she needs to eat enough to sustain herself, it's really really hard to stop a hen from laying and this may just make her problem worse because she is clearly lacking calcium to begin with and the next time she lays the egg may not make it out intact and cause a serious infection. I whould give extra calcium at this point, either in the form of liquid calcium glubonate or tums cut into two halves and give one half in morning and one at night, also it whould help to try to cut her daylight hours buy a few hours a day but still continue to feed her pellets

 

[polish hen]

A birds laying cycle is regulated mostly buy hormones and daylight is a factor but hormones are extreamly powerfull and it's almost impossible to stop her from laying in the way that your trying to do, it could prove fatal because although her prolapse is staying "in" that dosent mean it's not infected and she needs nutrition now more than ever to help her body fight it...just keep her on her regular diet, don't try to enrich it in any way other than with extra calcium because this could encourage her to lay even more eggs!, and you want to try to minimise the number of eggs right now and try to give her time to recuperate, so slowly start reducing daylight hours to simulate winter months