Solid, rubbery, deformed egg

[JeffandLori]

I have 11 laying hens that came in three batches:

• Three in March 2020
• Four in March/April 2021
• Four this Spring

All are ISA Browns. I get eight eggs a day from them. Once in a while it will be nine, but generally eight.

I had a bout of roundworm with some of them in June/July and treated with Valbazen. I think the final dose was around 7/29.

Lately someone has been laying a shell-less egg. Not entirely out of the ordinary as there have been thunderstorms. One of them seems to do that when the weather is bad.

The last couple of days I've only gotten seven eggs and then today I found this thing:

It was firm and rubbery, like a ball. It felt kind of solid, so I broke it in half before dropping it in the compost bin:

What the heck is this? It doesn't really look like a cluster of round worms, but I also don't know what else it is.

Everyone's disposition seems fine, when it comes time for their afternoon treat the minute I open the back door they come running and flying. It does appear one of them has some diarrhea as I saw a blob on the poop board. I've not seen any definite signs of roundworms on the poop-boards (they catch about 60-70% of their droppings. Some nights almost all.)

Any thoughts? Again, disposition across the flock is the same as it's always been. Everyone is active and busy all morning and evening. They chill in the shade during the heat.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I have 11 laying hens that came in three batches:

• Three in March 2020
• Four in March/April 2021
• Four this Spring

All are ISA Browns. I get eight eggs a day from them. Once in a while it will be nine, but generally eight.

I had a bout of roundworm with some of them in June/July and treated with Valbazen. I think the final dose was around 7/29.

Lately someone has been laying a shell-less egg. Not entirely out of the ordinary as there have been thunderstorms. One of them seems to do that when the weather is bad.

The last couple of days I've only gotten seven eggs and then today I found this thing:
View attachment 3249087
View attachment 3249088
View attachment 3249090

It was firm and rubbery, like a ball. It felt kind of solid, so I broke it in half before dropping it in the compost bin:
View attachment 3249085

What the heck is this? It doesn't really look like a cluster of round worms, but I also don't know what else it is.

Everyone's disposition seems fine, when it comes time for their afternoon treat the minute I open the back door they come running and flying. It does appear one of them has some diarrhea as I saw a blob on the poop board. I've not seen any definite signs of roundworms on the poop-boards (they catch about 60-70% of their droppings. Some nights almost all.)

Any thoughts? Again, disposition across the flock is the same as it's always been. Everyone is active and busy all morning and evening. They chill in the shade during the heat.

That's what's called a lash egg. It's really just layers of pus. It's a sign of serious infection and will more than likely ultimately be the miserable end of whoever laid it. I'm so sorry. .

 

[nuthatched]

One of your birds is extremely sick and need put down, especially if you've gotten multiple lash eggs.

 

[RoyalChick]

One of your birds is extremely sick and need put down, especially if you've gotten multiple lash eggs.

Don’t rush to cull the bird if she is not suffering.
I have one bird nearly two years post her laying two lash eggs.
She even went back to laying.
It is a sign of serious infection and most likely the outcome is bad. But not always.
You can also try antibiotics, just be aware that they may not be able to resolve the issue.

 

[nuthatched]

Don’t rush to cull the bird if she is not suffering.
I have one bird nearly two years post her laying two lash eggs.
She even went back to laying.
It is a sign of serious infection and most likely the outcome is bad. But not always.
You can also try antibiotics, just be aware that they may not be able to resolve the issue.

Very true. But Chickens hide illness so well, it's hard to tell if a bird is suffering unless she gets bad enough start acting weird. I don't like waiting for things to get that much worse.

 

[JeffandLori]

Great. Well, not really.

But other than putting three or four at a time into another coop, how can I tell which it is?

Also, is there any chance of this infection spreading to other birds?

Last question- what antibiotics would one try?

 

[Aunt Angus]

Don’t rush to cull the bird if she is not suffering.
I have one bird nearly two years post her laying two lash eggs.
She even went back to laying.

That's amazing! Did you treat it, or did her body just rebound?

 

[Aunt Angus]

Great. Well, not really.

But other than putting three or four at a time into another coop, how can I tell which it is?

Also, is there any chance of this infection spreading to other birds?

Last question- what antibiotics would one try?

She's probably underweight. I'd check body condition. She may also have an empty crop at bedtime. She will likely have an elevated temp, too, so you might be able to feel that she's feverish. For antibiotics: Baytril, Tylan, or Amoxicillan, I think.

 

[RoyalChick]

Maybe a trail cam in the nest boxes could help? If you can’t tell who it is, she probably isn’t suffering.
Enrofloxacin (Baytril) would be the antibiotic. It is of course off label for chickens but you can source it from All Bird Products for example. But you would need to figure out who it is. It isn’t the kind of thing that you want to give to all of them.

 

[RoyalChick]

That's amazing! Did you treat it, or did her body just rebound?

I took her to a vet who offered to euthanize her but agreed she wasn’t suffering. So I said I would come back if she looked poorly.
6 months later she laid a regular egg.
She doesn’t lay much any more she is three and a half.
She laid another lash egg just last month. This time I gave her Baytril. Hopefully she pulls through again, but if not I feel good that she got two nice years scratching around the yard after the first time.
I can’t find it now but I posted this on someone else’s thread and a few others with similar experience chimed in. So it does happen even if normally the outcome is bad.