buffy-the-eggpile-layer
Crowing
- May 29, 2019
- 837
- 1,289
- 251
Hi, Everyone. My EE, Easter, is a little over 4 y/o and has, this past month, been struggling with recurring cases of EYP which thus far has been treatable. She's been an odd case all her life. Here's a snapshot of her history.
Easter is pint-sized with an unstoppable will to survive. She's the smallest of my flock (we nicknamed her "Toothpicks" for good reason), yet lays the most eggs by far--and the second biggest eggs of everyone. We knew within her first Spring of laying that she would be a special case. She's hardwired to lay an egg every single day without a break, which eventually turns into laying eggs less than the 24-hours apart, which then turns into shell quality issues: thin and shell-less eggs. Her first Spring, she ended up on this path until an egg eventually broke inside of her, causing EYP. I worked with a vet who was certain she'd pass away. Her crop stopped functioning and she was down to skin and bone. The antibiotics prescribed (ampicillin) didn't work. I kept on fighting for her, and she fought, too--surprising everyone by eventually--after months--fully recovering. I credit her recovery, in part, to a hardcore molt she went through which forced her to take a break from laying for the rest of the Fall/Winter.
The next Spring/Summer, her patterns of overproduction resumed. I learned that reducing her access to sunlight to 7 hours per day slowed her down enough that she'd only lay one egg a day and keep from laying thin or shell-less eggs. Her shells were still a little bumpy and fragile, but never enough to cause an issue. That worked for the entire season and she molted again. Victory!
However, this Summer, we weren't so lucky. The same pattern took place, and I again limited sunlight to prevent her from laying too frequently and suffering from ensuing egg quality issues and infection. She was doing very well, until one day, I got sloppy: I didn't check on her for a whole afternoon, only to find out later that the covering I used to block out the sun from the basement window had fallen off--and she was in full light all day. After that day, she suddenly stopped laying but otherwise seemed okay. Then, when a few days passed, I noticed her crop had ballooned and she was very still with clear fluid dripping from her vent--signs that have become red flags for me due to her past issues. She eventually ended up passing one regular egg followed by one broken soft-shelled egg. It didn't seem that the soft-shelled egg had broken inside her because I did not see yolk coming from her vent, so I was hopeful. Yet, she very quickly showed signs of an EYP infection: watery yellow poop, small amounts of fecal matter, fever, crop stasis, and inappetence. I immediately got her on Baytril and turmeric (an anti-inflammatory substitute). Within a few days, she was better. Within five, she semed to make a full recovery.
That was two weeks ago. I'd since continued preventing her from too much sun, hoping that doing so would keep her from laying so she could take a much-needed break. She didn't seem to be actively laying, because she wasn't squatting or being as loud as she would be, though she was very upbeat and energetic. Unfortunately, two days ago, I knew something was wrong again. Her crop was super full and her poop became watery. Then, yesterday evening, she began struggling to lay egg material. Eventually, after an epsom bath and a few hours, she passed one fully enclosed soft-shelled egg and one wrinkled and bunched up egg membrane that seemed kind of old or something (I was hoping the latter was from her infection two weeks ago). Her poop directly after this contained pale yellow fluid, so I got her on baytril ASAP.
This morning she's talkative and will eat, though I think she may be trying to lay again. She's passing some watery but normal-looking poop. Here's the thing: where do I go from here? I'm going to complete her round of antibiotics, maybe shortening it to the minimum 3 days (vs 5) if she seems fine. Aside from that, I wonder if keeping her from sun at this point is working against her--perhaps she needs it to re-initiate normal laying? Or should I continue on the same schedule she's been on all summer, keeping her from the sun 9:30 - 5:30? Should I give her extra calcium supplementation every day, or will this trigger her to lay when she otherwise might not? And, why does it seem like every time she lays, it's a soft-shell egg, and the laying of that soft-shelled egg causes infection? Will it be like this forever now? Before I could always get her back to laying normal eggs, but I'm worried the might have a permanent issue forming eggs now.
I don't believe she's internally laying (thankfully), as I've unfortunately dealt with that many times before. She's not swollen and it seems what she lays comes out, even if it's defective. Please let me know what you think the underlying issue could be, and how I might support her full recovery going forward. Thank you!
Easter is pint-sized with an unstoppable will to survive. She's the smallest of my flock (we nicknamed her "Toothpicks" for good reason), yet lays the most eggs by far--and the second biggest eggs of everyone. We knew within her first Spring of laying that she would be a special case. She's hardwired to lay an egg every single day without a break, which eventually turns into laying eggs less than the 24-hours apart, which then turns into shell quality issues: thin and shell-less eggs. Her first Spring, she ended up on this path until an egg eventually broke inside of her, causing EYP. I worked with a vet who was certain she'd pass away. Her crop stopped functioning and she was down to skin and bone. The antibiotics prescribed (ampicillin) didn't work. I kept on fighting for her, and she fought, too--surprising everyone by eventually--after months--fully recovering. I credit her recovery, in part, to a hardcore molt she went through which forced her to take a break from laying for the rest of the Fall/Winter.
The next Spring/Summer, her patterns of overproduction resumed. I learned that reducing her access to sunlight to 7 hours per day slowed her down enough that she'd only lay one egg a day and keep from laying thin or shell-less eggs. Her shells were still a little bumpy and fragile, but never enough to cause an issue. That worked for the entire season and she molted again. Victory!
However, this Summer, we weren't so lucky. The same pattern took place, and I again limited sunlight to prevent her from laying too frequently and suffering from ensuing egg quality issues and infection. She was doing very well, until one day, I got sloppy: I didn't check on her for a whole afternoon, only to find out later that the covering I used to block out the sun from the basement window had fallen off--and she was in full light all day. After that day, she suddenly stopped laying but otherwise seemed okay. Then, when a few days passed, I noticed her crop had ballooned and she was very still with clear fluid dripping from her vent--signs that have become red flags for me due to her past issues. She eventually ended up passing one regular egg followed by one broken soft-shelled egg. It didn't seem that the soft-shelled egg had broken inside her because I did not see yolk coming from her vent, so I was hopeful. Yet, she very quickly showed signs of an EYP infection: watery yellow poop, small amounts of fecal matter, fever, crop stasis, and inappetence. I immediately got her on Baytril and turmeric (an anti-inflammatory substitute). Within a few days, she was better. Within five, she semed to make a full recovery.
That was two weeks ago. I'd since continued preventing her from too much sun, hoping that doing so would keep her from laying so she could take a much-needed break. She didn't seem to be actively laying, because she wasn't squatting or being as loud as she would be, though she was very upbeat and energetic. Unfortunately, two days ago, I knew something was wrong again. Her crop was super full and her poop became watery. Then, yesterday evening, she began struggling to lay egg material. Eventually, after an epsom bath and a few hours, she passed one fully enclosed soft-shelled egg and one wrinkled and bunched up egg membrane that seemed kind of old or something (I was hoping the latter was from her infection two weeks ago). Her poop directly after this contained pale yellow fluid, so I got her on baytril ASAP.
This morning she's talkative and will eat, though I think she may be trying to lay again. She's passing some watery but normal-looking poop. Here's the thing: where do I go from here? I'm going to complete her round of antibiotics, maybe shortening it to the minimum 3 days (vs 5) if she seems fine. Aside from that, I wonder if keeping her from sun at this point is working against her--perhaps she needs it to re-initiate normal laying? Or should I continue on the same schedule she's been on all summer, keeping her from the sun 9:30 - 5:30? Should I give her extra calcium supplementation every day, or will this trigger her to lay when she otherwise might not? And, why does it seem like every time she lays, it's a soft-shell egg, and the laying of that soft-shelled egg causes infection? Will it be like this forever now? Before I could always get her back to laying normal eggs, but I'm worried the might have a permanent issue forming eggs now.
I don't believe she's internally laying (thankfully), as I've unfortunately dealt with that many times before. She's not swollen and it seems what she lays comes out, even if it's defective. Please let me know what you think the underlying issue could be, and how I might support her full recovery going forward. Thank you!
