Soft Shells

[6-Hens-and-Me]

There has been no improvement today. I used sterile saline and flushed her vent. Nothing. Her poop this morning was runny. Right now she is standing but closing her eyes.View attachment 3851415View attachment 3851416

I don’t believe this has been caused by as egg. And I
don’t like to say this- but I’m afraid it could be to late.. I would forget about her laying an egg and focus on her now. This is common and often has little to no fix when it gets this far.

Stop the calcium tablets as they can cause worse poop, do you have corn? If so feed that (if possible) because it will firm up that poop.

Use a syringe to get fluid into her… this is vital to keep her alive. Use poultry tonic (any) with vitamins with the water for nutrition as she may not eat. If you don’t have that, give her 1 syringe water and then half syringe of Apple Cider vinegar to flush her system.

She’s looking very lethargic. If you have a heat lamp put her under their and continue doing the things above

Unfortunately she’s not feeling well, and it has give very far very quick. Prepare for the worst, but try the things I’ve said because this happened to my hen and I did this and she came around!

I hope this helps

 

[Taylermartin]

Update this morning. I found a soft shell egg with green poop next to it. Her crop is full of water and she's not interested in eating. Is also doesn't want to leave the coop.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Update this morning. I found a soft shell egg with green poop next to it. Her crop is full of water and she's not interested in eating. Is also doesn't want to leave the coop.

It's good that she was able to expel the softie.

Please. If you are not giving her Calcium Orally, then give her a Calcium Tablet Now.



She is struggling to expel eggs. 9 times out of 10 when they have a softie that was hard to expel, they have another on the way!
Get Calcium into her. Leave her with her flock if she's not getting picked on. See that she has normal access to food/water.


The crop not emptying is often directly related to inflammation and struggling to push the egg out, once the laying issue resolves very often the crop issue resolves.

IF you are in the U.S. and you are having warm temperatures, I would not provide her extra heat at all.

Absolutely, her stance and her problems are related to laying/reproduction issues. This is the Main Function and Purpose of a laying hen = to produce eggs. Sadly, some hens start to have problems earlier in life than others, but hopefully with Care and Giving Extra Calcium Orally, you can get her through this crisis.

You mention she looks uncomfortable, likely she's trying to expel another large egg. I would definitely give her 1 Calcium Citrate with D3 tablet now and see if that helps her push the egg on out. Just pull down on her wattles and pop the tablet into the beak, let her swallow.

It would be nice, if you can answer these questions.

How much Calcium Citrate with D3 have you been giving daily (mg)?
You are giving this directly to her daily instead of mixing in feed correct?

 

[Taylermartin]

It's good that she was able to expel the softie.

Please. If you are not giving her Calcium Orally, then give her a Calcium Tablet Now.



She is struggling to expel eggs. 9 times out of 10 when they have a softie that was hard to expel, they have another on the way!
Get Calcium into her. Leave her with her flock if she's not getting picked on. See that she has normal access to food/water.


The crop not emptying is often directly related to inflammation and struggling to push the egg out, once the laying issue resolves very often the crop issue resolves.

IF you are in the U.S. and you are having warm temperatures, I would not provide her extra heat at all.

Absolutely, her stance and her problems are related to laying/reproduction issues. This is the Main Function and Purpose of a laying hen = to produce eggs. Sadly, some hens start to have problems earlier in life than others, but hopefully with Care and Giving Extra Calcium Orally, you can get her through this crisis.



It would be nice, if you can answer these questions.

Do you think antibiotics are necessary?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Do you think antibiotics are necessary?

What for?

Are you giving her Calcium directly NOW or not? She needs Calcium.

Did you read this??

It's good that she was able to expel the softie.

Please. If you are not giving her Calcium Orally, then give her a Calcium Tablet Now.



She is struggling to expel eggs. 9 times out of 10 when they have a softie that was hard to expel, they have another on the way!
Get Calcium into her. Leave her with her flock if she's not getting picked on. See that she has normal access to food/water.


The crop not emptying is often directly related to inflammation and struggling to push the egg out, once the laying issue resolves very often the crop issue resolves.

IF you are in the U.S. and you are having warm temperatures, I would not provide her extra heat at all.

Absolutely, her stance and her problems are related to laying/reproduction issues. This is the Main Function and Purpose of a laying hen = to produce eggs. Sadly, some hens start to have problems earlier in life than others, but hopefully with Care and Giving Extra Calcium Orally, you can get her through this crisis.



It would be nice, if you can answer these questions.

 

[Taylermartin]

Yes I've been giving her Calcium tablets

 

[Taylermartin]

Today has been almost the same as it has been. I did give her some Poultry Cell in the water and she drinks but still won't eat. She just stands in the same spot for 30 minutes and will move to a different spot and do the same thing. Her nose did seem moist but I'm not sure if it was from dipping it in water. I gave her a calcium tablet and now her comb seems to be more pale.

 

[6-Hens-and-Me]

Today has been almost the same as it has been. I did give her some Poultry Cell in the water and she drinks but still won't eat. She just stands in the same spot for 30 minutes and will move to a different spot and do the same thing. Her nose did seem moist but I'm not sure if it was from dipping it in water. I gave her a calcium tablet and now her comb seems to be more pale.View attachment 3854312

Nothing much else you can try…

Epsom salt bath should help.
Ginger and carrots can also help because they will adde the digestion of calcium and protein which can and most likely will help her… if she isn’t eating though, you must start getting vitamins into her; blend the ginger and carrots together with an egg, then try putting it in front of her, if she won’t eat it syringe feed her that solution, tonics and tablets for laying hens aren’t always good, like your experience. So try this ‘home remedy’ and it should help.

Make sure you get it into her today or it might be to late!

 

[Bawkbok]

Taylermartin, we too have an Easter Egger - 7 months old - that stopped laying for about 6 weeks when the heat cranked up. She was a consistent perfect layer before she stopped. She started laying again a week ago, beautifully shaped eggs, but soft shelled. I have been giving her Calcium Citrate with D3 for a week, when she started laying again, along with Durvet Layer vitamins in the water. She is healthy, gets protein every day, does not have worms, mites, etc. We see slight improvement in that she would drop the egg in the run on the ground and it would immediately break, recently to her dropping it on the ground and not breaking, it rolls away and I now have to cut the shell with scissors as my nail won't penetrate it so I see that as an improvement. This morning, she went to the layer again so we're hoping she will balance out in the next couple days. We can't do anything about the heat, which I think is a big cause for our issues. The Calcium Citrate with D3 is a horse sized pill so we crush it and dissolve it in the water. She is on a high quality layer feed that we've had no issues with. It took us 9 weeks to cure her of bumblefoot on both feet. I don't know if this is coincidence or not but once finally cured, all bandages off and foraging normally again, she started laying. We too are at a loss. Here's hoping for hard shells all the around. Good luck.