Soft egg dropped from roosting bar, vet prescribe Clavacillin 250mg twice daily, not chicken behaving ill

[Blessedwithhens]

Help! My 3 yo (favorite) chicken was put on antibiotics, 250mg Clavacillin 2x/day on Monday because she had a soft egg fall out while on the roosting bar on Saturday night- the shell was hanging off her while the yolk and white were on the ground (my Vet suspects an infection). (Side note: I took their oyster shells away the weekend before she dropped the soft egg for 3 days due to the city spraying from mosquitos.. which i wonder, could that have caused the soft egg dropping in the night). The prescribed Clavacillin has given her loose stools, and now 3.5 days in to the Clavacillin treatment she is lethargic and not herself- behaving live a sick chicken- standing there staring, hiding in coop, not swallowing up treats as fast as possible.
Any Suggestions?

 

[U_Stormcrow]

@Eggcessive ???

I am **NOT** an expert. Suspect the Clavacillan was offered more as precautionary than curative. Neither would just three days w/o supplimental oyster shell account for a suddenly soft egg. If there was an ongoing calcium deficiency, one would expect to see a continuation of soft eggs, yet you made no mention of that symptom. I assume its not present.

Also, Age? Breed?

and do you know what was being sprayed for mosquito control?

 

[TheOddOneOut]

I agree. Sounds like it was caused by the oyster shell being gone.
I’ve had soft eggs for no reason before.
No need to do expensive antibiotics when you’ve only seen one soft egg, that has an explanation.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Even just a soft egg (singular) w/o explanation. Even mature chickens still make an error maybe one time in 100, one time in 200... Drop two eggs in under (roughly) 25 hours, and its almost certain the second will be soft.

I don't think the oyster shell's lack was cause either. In the absence of additional symptoms, or repeat soft eggs, I'd have taken no action beyond increased monitoring of the bird (but as I recently noted on another thread, we all value our birds differently).

 

[nuthatched]

One soft egg? That's not unusual, it happens. I wouldn't have even thought about the vet.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

3 yo (favorite) chicken was put on antibiotics, 250mg Clavacillin 2x/day on Monday because she had a soft egg fall out while on the roosting bar on Saturday night- the shell was hanging off her while the yolk and white were on the ground (my Vet suspects an infection).

The prescribed Clavacillin has given her loose stools, and now 3.5 days in to the Clavacillin treatment she is lethargic and not herself- behaving live a sick chicken- standing there staring, hiding in coop, not swallowing up treats as fast as possible.

She may be having trouble with another soft shelled egg. Give her extra calcium. 1 Caltrate daily for 3-5 days, just pop it into her beak and let her swallow. See that she's staying hydrated.
The shell was hanging off her, so it was removed correct?

 

[Blessedwithhens]

Help! My 3 yo (favorite) chicken was put on antibiotics, 250mg Clavacillin 2x/day on Monday because she had a soft egg fall out while on the roosting bar on Saturday night- the shell was hanging off her while the yolk and white were on the ground (my Vet suspects an infection). (Side note: I took their oyster shells away the weekend before she dropped the soft egg for 3 days due to the city spraying from mosquitos.. which i wonder, could that have caused the soft egg dropping in the night). The prescribed Clavacillin has given her loose stools, and now 3.5 days in to the Clavacillin treatment she is lethargic and not herself- behaving live a sick chicken- standing there staring, hiding in coop, not swallowing up treats as fast as possible.
Any Suggestions?

Thank you ALL for your replies!!! In response to your questions, here More info:

@Eggcessive ???

I am **NOT** an expert. Suspect the Clavacillan was offered more as precautionary than curative. Neither would just three days w/o supplimental oyster shell account for a suddenly soft egg. If there was an ongoing calcium deficiency, one would expect to see a continuation of soft eggs, yet you made no mention of that symptom. I assume its not present.

Also, Age? Breed?

and do you know what was being sprayed for mosquito control?

The antibiotic is in case the was an infection that caused the soft egg, or in case the soft egg left any hint behind and could cause an infection.
Vet also recommended reducing daylight to reduce egg production to give reproductive tract a break. So since Monday (chicken’s name) has been brought in every night around 5:30pm to reduce hours and has not laid an egg since the soft egg incident on Saturday night.
On Saturday night, The egg shell was hanging off of her- I should have inspected to see if it was hanging off her feathers or still partially in her vent before I removed it. But yes, I did remove it. Not knowing if there was egg left inside of her is why I took her to to the vet. Which is why she prescribed Clavacillin 250mg every 12 hours.


I brought the chickens in the house each night they sprayed until daybreak then they went back out and I put food and water out with them. heres was was sprayed 3 nights in a row by the city for west Nile mosquitoes:


ACTIVE INGREDIENTS:
Permethrin: CAS [52645-53-1]......................... Piperonyl Butoxide Technical CAS [51-03-6]........ OTHER INGREDIENTS:................................. Total
30.0% 30.0% 40.0%
100.0% Contains 2.52 lbs. a.i. Permethrin/gallon and 2.52 lbs. a.i. Piperonyl Butoxide/gallon

https://www.fortworthtexas.gov/file...iance/health/documents/sprayproductenvion.pdf

again, I didn’t put the oyster shells or grit out during that time, so they were without for 3-4 days. They free range in our backyard all day.

 

[Blessedwithhens]

@Eggcessive ???

I am **NOT** an expert. Suspect the Clavacillan was offered more as precautionary than curative. Neither would just three days w/o supplimental oyster shell account for a suddenly soft egg. If there was an ongoing calcium deficiency, one would expect to see a continuation of soft eggs, yet you made no mention of that symptom. I assume its not present.

Also, Age? Breed?

and do you know what was being sprayed for mosquito control?

Sorry, I responded in the wrong place! Please see my response below.

 

[Blessedwithhens]

3 years old, Dominique I believe.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

The antibiotic is in case the was an infection that caused the soft egg, or in case the soft egg left any hint behind and could cause an infection.
Vet also recommended reducing daylight to reduce egg production to give reproductive tract a break. So since Monday (chicken’s name) has been brought in every night around 5:30pm to reduce hours and has not laid an egg since the soft egg incident on Saturday night.
On Saturday night, The egg shell was hanging off of her- I should have inspected to see if it was hanging off her feathers or still partially in her vent before I removed it. But yes, I did remove it. Not knowing if there was egg left inside of her is why I took her to to the vet. Which is why she prescribed Clavacillin 250mg every 12 hours.


I brought the chickens in the house each night they sprayed until daybreak then they went back out and I put food and water out with them. heres was was sprayed 3 nights in a row by the city for west Nile mosquitoes:


ACTIVE INGREDIENTS:
Permethrin: CAS [52645-53-1]......................... Piperonyl Butoxide Technical CAS [51-03-6]........ OTHER INGREDIENTS:................................. Total
30.0% 30.0% 40.0%
100.0% Contains 2.52 lbs. a.i. Permethrin/gallon and 2.52 lbs. a.i. Piperonyl Butoxide/gallon

https://www.fortworthtexas.gov/file...iance/health/documents/sprayproductenvion.pdf

again, I didn’t put the oyster shells or grit out during that time, so they were without for 3-4 days. They free range in our backyard all day.

Permethrin is terrible for fish. But generally not a problem for poultry and other avians. Kind of them to publish that for you. Piperonyl Butoxide is quite common in associtation w/ pyrethoids, but I'd need to look up its interactions with chickens. and on p44 of this, I'm comforted.