Sick chicken lash egg

[Chicken's up north]

so I have 3 roosters and 20 +hens for the last 3 months been only getting 6 eggs a day use to way more. Breed of chickens black star and buff Orpington half and half. So it been hot here in Montana last 2 months so I thought that might be part of reason. I have some new chicks about eight weeks old I was going to introduce to older chickens. So before the introduction I decided to worm chicks some are very old and I have never done it hoping it would bring some egg production up. Some hens have some poopy buts. And roosters have been a little rougher on some hens pulling feathers out. So same day as worming a hen started walking like penguin and roosters were jumping on her over and over. I removed her and kept her locked up next day she layed a lash egg. If this chicken does have a ovaduct infection would the rooster be spreading it? Should I cull this flock ? I'm tired of the poor egg production don't know what to do.

 

[chickens really]

What do you feed?.....Are these free range Birds?

 

[Isaac 0]

Welcome to BYC!

Can you post a pic of the lash egg?

 

[rebrascora]

Since the roosters do not have a penis and there is no "penetration" as such during mating, I would doubt that there is much risk of infection being spread to other hens via that means.
The age of the hens may be relevant and their diet could be an issue with lack of production, as well as the heat. We are also approaching the season of moult, ( I have a few that are already underway) so it is the time of year for egg production to drop off but obviously this has been an on going problem for some time for you, so there may be a number of factors at play.

If the new chicks are just 8 weeks you have a way to go before they start production, so you might as well hold onto the old girls until then or perhaps start culling those that are clearly not laying now, if they are purely for egg production and not pets.

Not sure why you are keeping 3 free loaders in the form of roosters if egg production is your goal though. I would be inclined to whittle them down to one. The girls will be happier with just one and may lay more eggs as a result. Tag team mating which seems to be what you are describing with this hen that laid the lash egg, is almost certainly going on with the other hens too and that will stress them.

 

[Eggcessive]

A lash egg is caused by salpingitis, an inflammation of the oviduct, sometimes as a result of bacterial infection. E.coli from the vent, mycoplasma, or salmonella can be common, either moving upward from the vent opening , or coming down from an air sac infection. Here is some interesting reading:
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/134/salpingitis/
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2014/12/salpingitis-lash-eggs-in-backyard.html
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/disorders-of-the-reproductive-system/salpingitis-in-poultry

 

[Chicken's up north]

These are range birds. But last 2 weeks I locked them in coop and set lights on a timer for 16 hours a day. Before I locked them in they would free range and eat layer mix from companion feed (Murdochs) . We had some wild cats constantly stealing eggs but it was only 2-3 a day, I didn't mind until the poor egg laying started.

They are probly about to molt I thought it would be a good time to worm since moulting should be soon.

I have been planning on getting rid of two of the roosters but thought I would see what happens after I worm the flock once. Now I'm just going to wait a couple months since I wormed and get rid of the roosters. We did find a worm in the poop of the chicken who layed a lash egg. I don't have a picture of the lash egg. It looked the light color brown of a egg and was about the size of a quarter.

Should I clean all the buts of the chickens that look dirty and trim feathers would that help ?

I did read a lot about salpingitis. But I couldn't find anywhere if it was transmitted by roosters. I thought I read it was able to be spread from there environment to there vent so I don't know why a rooster breeding couldn't do it.

This is the first time I've had buff Orpington chicks thought it maybe the breed laying less.

I planed on using the buffs that get broody to hatch there own chicks. I didn't have any broody this summer.

Thanks for the replys

 

[Eggcessive]

Trimming and cleaning the messy feathers is a good idea. Flies in summer heat can lay maggot larvae in cake-on droppings, and that can lead to flystrike.

 

[Chicken's up north]

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• Chicken's up north
• Aug 14, 2017

Lash egg after worming

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• Chicken's up north
• Aug 14, 2017

Lash egg after worming

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• Chicken's up north
• Aug 14, 2017

Lash egg after worming

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• Chicken's up north
• Aug 14, 2017
• 4

Lash egg after worming

I thought the lash egg got thrown out but here some pics

Is it possible it's a mass of worms ?

 

[coach723]

That definitely looks like a lash egg. There is a lot of conflicting information on causes, other than a general inflammation/infection of the oviduct. I have read many threads about hens who have had it that have not been kept with roosters at all. I think if it was something easily spread by roosters then the occurrance would be much, much higher than it is. The articles that Eggcessive linked for you are very good info. I know they say that it may be treatable with antibiotics if caught early, but I personally have not had a cure, just an extending of life. If you want to try to treat, then doing that with the help of vet would be best. They can test to see if the infection responds to meds and which ones.
Unfortunately it has often progressed too much by the time you see the lash egg, but given the option, I personally would try, that's just me. I wouldn't cull the flock for this. I think your laying issues are probably from another cause than this. If you did have a worm problem that was causing them not to lay it can take a while for them to start laying again. Also many birds will be starting to molt at this time of year and it may not be obvious yet. And molting will often stop them laying until the molt is complete. I have several hens that are already well into a molt. And if your temperatures are high that could also contribute. Days are beginning to get shorter and that also will contribute to a drop off in laying. And as rebrascora said, stress can hinder laying. And it's stress as perceived by them, not by us. Even having a predator around the coop at night can cause a stop in laying, whether it gets in or not.
I'm very sorry about your hen with the lash egg, I hope all the info shared helps you.