Sneezing Hen and shell-less eggs!

[tannysue88]

Howdy!!

I have a Cukoo Maran who I heard sneeze twice tonight and cough. She is at point of lay along with a few other girls. Two of the past three nights I have had two shell-less eggs on the coop floor. The Maran was roosted though. I also have a buff Cochin who has had diarrhea the past few days. I have been cleaning her up and have added ACV and electrolytes in their water....thoughts?!?!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Any runny noses, eyes, discharges, wheezing?
Signs of distress?
What is the activity level, lethargic, normal, slow, limping, staggered, etc.?
How old are they?
What type of food/treats do you give?
Do you provide oyster shell free choice?
Eating and drinking normally?
Have they been wormed, if so when and what type of meds did you use?
Any new members recently introduced to the flock, any new bedding, powders, environmental changes any mold/mildew exposure?
Do you have pictures?

 

[tannysue88]

Any runny noses, eyes, discharges, wheezing?
Signs of distress?
What is the activity level, lethargic, normal, slow, limping, staggered, etc.?
How old are they?
What type of food/treats do you give?
Do you provide oyster shell free choice?
Eating and drinking normally?
Have they been wormed, if so when and what type of meds did you use?
Any new members recently introduced to the flock, any new bedding, powders, environmental changes any mold/mildew exposure?
Do you have pictures?

I don't have pictures.
No discharge or any other outward signs of illness. Normal activity level in both birds, both eating, drinking, free ranging etc.
I haven't worked them since I've had them. About 6 weeks. The Cochin was hatched in early July and the Cukoo was hatched in May.
They eat a local producers lay pellets, I feed them back free choice egg shells and oyster shells. Food is also free choice. I feed them table scraps probably every few days but avoid the no no foods. Avacado, onions, citrus etc.
Wednesday it was 27 degrees at night and Friday the high was 78 and super windy. I did open up their coop Friday to air out and noticed their bedding, a mix of hay and pine shavings, looked a little wind blown. I also am putting ACV and electrolytes in their water for the first time. Started that on Wednesday!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The most common problem of soft shell or shell-less eggs is calcium deficiency. Since your girl is still fairly young it could be age related.

I would make sure the vitamins/electrolytes you are giving them have vitamins E, B12 and D as well as phosphorous and selenium as some of the ingredients.
I found some info that may be helpful in identifying some of the problems and causes of egg problems:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/common-egg-quality-problems
http://www.mypetchicken.com/backyar...-did-my-chicken-lay-a-shell-less-egg-H85.aspx
http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/causes-and-cures-for-soft-shelled-and-shell-less-eggs/

The sneezing and coughing are the most concerning. If you can, separate her from the flock so you can monitor her symptoms - see if they continue or get better/worse. There are several respiratory illnesses that begin/have those symptoms, I provided a link for those as well. It is possible that she may have had irritation from the hay,dust,feed and just needed to sneeze, but combined with cough I would watch it.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

As far as table scraps, mine love them! You want to make sure, especially if you are using layer pellets, that you limit them to no more than 10-15% of daily intake.

 

[tannysue88]

The most common problem of soft shell or shell-less eggs is calcium deficiency. Since your girl is still fairly young it could be age related.

 
I would make sure the vitamins/electrolytes you are giving them have vitamins E, B12 and D as well as phosphorous and selenium as some of the ingredients.

I found some info that may be helpful in identifying some of the problems and causes of egg problems:

 
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/common-egg-quality-problems
http://www.mypetchicken.com/backyar...-did-my-chicken-lay-a-shell-less-egg-H85.aspx
http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/causes-and-cures-for-soft-shelled-and-shell-less-eggs/

The sneezing and coughing are the most concerning. If you can, separate her from the flock so you can monitor her symptoms - see if they continue or get better/worse. There are several respiratory illnesses that begin/have those symptoms, I provided a link for those as well. It is possible that she may have had irritation from the hay,dust,feed and just needed to sneeze, but combined with cough I would watch it.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

As far as table scraps, mine love them! You want to make sure, especially if you are using layer pellets, that you limit them to no more than 10-15% of daily intake.

Thank you so much for your response! I had an out of town conference today and didn't have much time. When I got home this evening I sat out in the coop for awhile and she never made a suspicious peep! Totally normal behavior. I do still have the Buff Cochin with diarrhea but other than that she's great. Do you think wormer is necessary? I can isolate her for awhile if I need to just administer to the entire flock. I would prefer to worm naturally...if there is a way to do that. Also, I had 11 eggs and no shell-less tonight so that means one of the girls laying the shell-less has laid a normal egg today!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you so much for your response! I had an out of town conference today and didn't have much time. When I got home this evening I sat out in the coop for awhile and she never made a suspicious peep! Totally normal behavior. I do still have the Buff Cochin with diarrhea but other than that she's great. Do you think wormer is necessary? I can isolate her for awhile if I need to just administer to the entire flock. I would prefer to worm naturally...if there is a way to do that. Also, I had 11 eggs and no shell-less tonight so that means one of the girls laying the shell-less has laid a normal egg today!

Laying a normal egg is good news!
Hopefully it is just being young and she's working out the "glitches".
I would just keep an eye on the one that was sneezing, if it was windy and dusty, they can occasionally sneeze just like we do, but if you notice more sneezing, runny nose, eyes, separate her immediately.
About you Cochin, they have the really fluffy bum? Do you have a pic of her poo? Sometimes what is called "cecal poop" can stick to the fluff if they don't expel quite hard/far enough,

it is a sort of runny poo that is expelled about every 7-10 poos. Has she been eating especially watery treats (cucumbers, melon, squash) by any chance, anything that could just naturally cause diarrhea?
Anyway, I will link you with "the poop chart" and some worming info.
If you decide to worm, you can treat just her, but if she does have them then everyone else most likely does too. Worming "naturally" is controversial and the effectiveness is hit and miss. I won't get into that, so I will give you links to worming. Even Tilly's Nest has info on commercial wormers, she does have ideas of preventatives, but to get them under control if that is what the problem is a commercial wormer seems to be the most reliable and effective. Keep in mind that there is an egg throw away period when worming.

Poop info:
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=17568.0
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/02/whats-scoop-on-chicken-poop-digestive.html

Worming info:
http://www.tillysnest.com/2011/08/to-worm-or-not-to-worm-html/
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2015/11/control-treatment-of-worms-in-chickens.html

 

[tannysue88]

Thank you for all your help! I will try to catch a poo picture!

 

[tannysue88]

Here is a picture of a very recent poo.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

It looks like cecal poo to me.
Do all of hers look like this or does she have several normal and then one of these?

 

[tannysue88]

Great! That was my thought too after checking out the links you provided for me. I bathed her, my other Cochin who had some dried stuff on her fluffy butt and their hatch mate a partridge Cochin who sleeps on the floor and had matted feathers. Right after baths and blow drying they all within the few minutes they were on our porch let out this blow out, watery poo. I got super concerned for a second and then I realized they had had melon scraps this a.m.

I see the downside to caring so much about these birds, you become paranoid!

P.s. No sneezing, coughing or runny discharges from anyone!

Thank you for your help!