Sick Chicken? [Please help :(]

[Zach Brown]

Hi. So I have 8 hens that I love very much. One of them, Alice, has been acting weird recently. She always stays down in the bottom run, and doesn't come up when we call or have food. She comes up for bed very early as well and won't sit on a perch, but the floor. Also, she lays these weird mutant flesh ball things, which I don't think is good. We don't think she's egg-bound because we can't feel anything but anything is possible since we aren't nearly chicken experts. What do you think is happening to my dear Alice. Any help is appreciated!

Thanks, have a good day!

 

[Laodicia]

Hi. So I have 8 hens that I love very much. One of them, Alice, has been acting weird recently. She always stays down in the bottom run, and doesn't come up when we call or have food. She comes up for bed very early as well and won't sit on a perch, but the floor. Also, she lays these weird mutant flesh ball things, which I don't think is good. We don't think she's egg-bound because we can't feel anything but anything is possible since we aren't nearly chicken experts. What do you think is happening to my dear Alice. Any help is appreciated!

Thanks, have a good day!

Im no expert either. Im wondering what do you mean by flesh balls? Is it a shell less egg or a wind egg or a lash egg? (Maybe a picture? ) others will want to know.

 

[Zach Brown]

It's like a lump of flesh. Sloppy, squishy and like in a flat-ish cone meringue shape.

 

[nightowl223]

What is inside these "mutant flesh ball things?" And a picture would be very helpful. From just the description, it sounds like a lash egg, which isn't a good thing.

 

[Laodicia]

It sound like a lash egg... i have no experience with them at all but this seemed interesting.

https://thefrugalchicken.com/lash-eggs-salpingitis/

 

[rebrascora]

If they are lash eggs (google images of lash eggs to confirm) then she has an infection of the oviduct (salpingitis) which may well probably prove fatal in the next few months unless she is treated with antibiotics and even then the prognosis with this ailment is not good. You would be well advised to find an avian vet if she is dear to you. Early treatment is important to have any hope of success. You may also want to consider hormonal implants to stop her from ovulating and adding to the problem.

 

[Zach Brown]

I have confirmed it's a lash egg. The info on it doesn't sound very good. How do I get rid of the infection causing it? Alice is miserable and we'd hate to lose her...

 

[getaclue]

Antibiotics can sometimes work. I had one I treated with antibiotics, but after the initial dose, I reduced it to half and continued with it for another 10 days, then slowly reduced the antibiotics, until the chicken's immune system kicked back in. She resumed laying normally. It was not a one time thing. I had to do this several times over her lifetime, but she lived, and laid eggs over 5 years, so I must have done something right. Some of it depends on what is causing the infection. In my case, it was only the one chicken that was ever affected, so it was not caused by a disease going through my flock.