Shell-less eggs, rough shells, and diarrhea? Egg Drop Syndrome???

[GRB73]

Has the problem resolved? My girls have the same symptoms. Messy bums and diarrhea. My Wyandotte keeps producing shell-less eggs. They pop out like wet balloons. Yuck. When she does lay, the egg is chalky, white and thin shelled. I was suspecting egg drop syndrome as well but then read it is rare in the US???

I cut out treats and offer oyster shells on the side along with their layer feed. Still the problem persists. I'm baffled.

 

[chickenmomma16]

Has the problem resolved? My girls have the same symptoms. Messy bums and diarrhea. My Wyandotte keeps producing shell-less eggs. They pop out like wet balloons. Yuck. When she does lay, the egg is chalky, white and thin shelled. I was suspecting egg drop syndrome as well but then read it is rare in the US???

I cut out treats and offer oyster shells on the side along with their layer feed. Still the problem persists. I'm baffled.

Unfortunately the hen that had the rough shells (and she would drop 2 eggs hours apart one rough shell one shell-less) was eaten by a coyote. Her eggs were not improved by cutting out water additives. I did start free ranging them more (then the coyote grabbed that hen) and it seemed to improve the poop issues. I think she had a glitch in her egg duct maybe? My other birds seem to have improved slightly with their poop issues too after allowing free ranging and the ground dried up too so their run wasn’t muddy anymore. I don’t know what helped but I’m not having issues. I also offer grit 24/7 inside the coop.
Are you sure they don’t have vent gleet? Do they have access to grit? Do you add anything to their water? Sometimes if I give them fruit scraps they will get the squirts

 

[GRB73]

I think it may be vent fleet. I never knew about this. Thank you! Do you know the best way to treat? Some suggest acc in the water and a little yogurt

 

[chickenmomma16]

@GRB73 I followed this article when I had a hen with Vent Gleet:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/vent-gleet-aka-nasty-chicken-butt.64647/
I syringed the Epsom salt all at once right before bed and had fresh probiotic water, and some plain yogurt waiting for her in the AM. She had crazy poop that night but improved! I washed her bum after the Epsom salt treatment and trimmed her butt fluff too. I’ve heard that a rooster can spread it in a flock of hens. Don’t know if that was true or not. But I did separate my nasty chicken butt hen to treat her.

 

[GRB73]

The Epsom salt syringe makes me nervous. I read that you can drown a chicken if you squirt liquid into the wrong area of their mouth. Do you have tips on how to do this? Thank you!

 

[aart]

The Epsom salt syringe makes me nervous. I read that you can drown a chicken if you squirt liquid into the wrong area of their mouth. Do you have tips on how to do this? Thank you!

Yes, it's risky for sure.
Here's how to...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/safely-administering-oral-medications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

 

[Adamczak]

I keep ending up with all these weird situations

So, I have been having issues with a few things in my flock. One is, a few hens have messy bums, soft poop/diarrhea. I thought this was a separate issue from the shell less eggs I have been getting. I also have one hen that lays very rough shelled eggs.

So the other night, I was out in the coop after dark collecting eggs, locking up and there was an egg on the poop board. I have been getting eggs on the floor, in the run, and on the poop board. They were all roosted for the night so I made a mental note of what hen was directly over the egg on the roost as it was a very rough shell and I was interested in knowing who was doing the rough egg shells. I slipped it in my pocket and went about my things in the coop and that same hen laid a shell less egg right in front of me! Just plopped out!

I know EDS (Egg Drop Syndrome) is rare in the US but hear me out. We live on/around some wet lands. And recently the ducks have been back from their winter homes. They are said to be asymptotic but carriers of EDS. I’m nervous this is what I May have in my flock now. Could it be? Has anyone heard of this before? It seems to fit my current issues minus the rough shells (I think).

FYI My hens diet is this:
Nutrena All Flock pellets
Free choice Oyster shell and Grit offered in 2 separate containers
I switch off with adding ACV, Molasses, (equine)RedCell, and a electrolyte/probiotic Mix, in their water and also offer plain water.
Minimal free range currently but I have been getting them out more the last couple days. (Its really high predator traffic right now)
Minimal snacks, maybe once a week if that.

Hi
I am having the same issues and live in an area that sounds similar to yours.(Sierraville,CA) One of my hens I ended up putting down because she stopped eating for a few days she had an insanely red bottom and I know I had not got an egg from her in weeks. One day I had to pull a "shell-less egg" out of her vent it was stuck and just hanging..diarrhea had no shell and was gelatinous...so gross. I have others who are still laying but the eggs are inferior to any that I got early in the spring before the water came on my property. Many dropped eggs on coop floor with no shells some shells are deformed and yolks are pale. I feed them great food and they free range for grass and bugs I also upped the calcium with no luck. I'm trying to figure out how contagious this is from chicken to chicken? Do I need to cull the rest of the flock that drank the water? Then I introduced 6 young birds before I realized what was going on. Are they sick or we won't know until they start laying lame eggs? I also have 5 hatchlings that I am keeping away from everyone else at the moment but will eventually want to put them together. I have been being extra diligent about cleaning the poop and spraying the coop. It wasn't super clear but i picked up that the virus is transported through feces. I also read it usually affects chickens that lay dark eggs and that is who died first. Now the other brown layers are showing pale and thinning eggs. I've asked in some facebook groups with no luck. Any information anyone else wants to share I'd love to hear...
I know my post is not super helpful but I think we are in the same boat.

 

[chickenmomma16]

Hi
I am having the same issues and live in an area that sounds similar to yours.(Sierraville,CA) One of my hens I ended up putting down because she stopped eating for a few days. I have others who are still laying but the eggs are inferior to any that I got early in the spring before the water came on my property. Many dropped eggs on coop floor with no shells some shells are deformed and yolks are pale. I feed them great food and they free range for grass and bugs I also upped the calcium with no luck. I'm trying to figure out how contagious this is from chicken to chicken? Do I need to cull the rest of the flock that drank the water? Then I introduced 6 young birds before I realized what was going on. Are they sick or we won't know until they start laying lame eggs? I also have 5 hatchlings that I am keeping away from everyone else at the moment but will eventually want to put them together. I have been being extra diligent about cleaning the poop and spraying the coop. It wasn't super clear but i picked up that the virus is transported through feces. I also read it usually affects chickens that lay dark eggs and that is who died first. Now the other brown layers are showing pale and thinning eggs. I've asked in some facebook groups with no luck. Any information anyone else wants to share I'd love to hear...
I know my post is not super helpful but I think we are in the same boat.

The hen that was laying poor eggs, (no shells, porous, and laying 2 eggs within hours of each other, and super poopy) was killed by a coyote a couple weeks after I posted this. I still get messy poops but eggs have all been normal since she was killed. Thankfully I don’t think it was EDS because my remaining hens have all been fine. I took out all water additives and it seemed to help a little. And I make sure they have plenty of grit and oyster shells available at all times.