Soft Shell Mania

[Chickeemariee]

I have a hen that on day 1 of symptoms, I thought was egg bound, but then proceeded to lay a broken egg. Since then she has been slightly lethargic but still free ranging with the flock, just holding herself a little differently (not full penguin mode but similar stance). I have been giving her Calcium +D3 pill everyday since as well as eggshells and an egg/greek yogurt parfait for a little extra nutrients but she's currently sitting in the nesting box after laying a soft shell/broken egg this morning. What else can I do to help her/ what might be going on? no new hens or noticeable stress, she tends to be top of the pecking order but there's only 3 and they get along super well. We've had a bad storm this week (we live in Hawaii so just rain and wind). I think shell make it through but im worried there's something else going on to cause this. I have attached a few pics, the one in the grass was day 1, the one on asphalt looking ground is what she laid the next day and the wood is what I found in the coop this morning (day 4). There was also a soft egg in the box this morning that she might have laid yesterday or this morning.

 

[DemeterAD9]

Sounds more like a reproductive issue than a calcium deficiency. Ever heard of salpingitis? It’s an infection of the reproductive tract that causes inflammation and generally yucky feeling hens who often have runny poo, dirty butts, odd eggs and lash material (like the first photo).

You can try treating it but usually the damage is already done and the hen won’t go back to laying like normal. It often reoccurs as well. I had one hen have this issue and I decided to process her along with some cockerels. She was definitely suffering and while she was a favorite I figured it was for the best. Found lots of lash material inside blocking her oviduct completely so she could not lay despite have developing yolks inside her.

 

[Chickeemariee]

Sounds more like a reproductive issue than a calcium deficiency. Ever heard of salpingitis? It’s an infection of the reproductive tract that causes inflammation and generally yucky feeling hens who often have runny poo, dirty butts, odd eggs and lash material (like the first photo).

You can try treating it but usually the damage is already done and the hen won’t go back to laying like normal. It often reoccurs as well. I had one hen have this issue and I decided to process her along with some cockerels. She was definitely suffering and while she was a favorite I figured it was for the best. Found lots of lash material inside blocking her oviduct completely so she could not lay despite have developing yolks inside her.
View attachment 4311504

Do you think my first pic is lash like? When I first saw it that was my initial instinct but after looking at it it looked like a soft shell egg with a ton of calcium deposit (sand like sediment, it was not hard at all and did not have a scent-I still washed my hands and everything that it remotely came into contact with) she’s running around totally fine and picking at bugs with the rest of the flock right now.