Something you don't see every day - an egg by an eleven-year old hen

[azygous]

This pear shape lop-sided egg was laid just a while ago by Lilith my eleven-year old Wyandotte hen. Every spring, Lilith gets into a nest and gives laying a whirl just to see if she can still do it. Last year, her attempt nearly cost her her life when a thin-shell egg collapsed inside her with all of the attending horror - egg binding, vent prolapse, and infection requiring an antibiotic, calcium, and five days of prolapse and binding treatment until all the remains finally passed. So this was no small accomplishment for Lil. In fact, many younger hens that have suffered a collapsed egg inside end up never laying again.

The Light Brahma hen behind Lilith is Lady Di. She's twelve now. She hasn't tried to lay any eggs since she was seven. She's comfortable enough in her self image to remain retired and sedentary. My other Wyandotte hen, ten-year old Su-su laid an egg yesterday, but the shell was so thin, it collapsed when she got out of the nest.

Hooray for the old gals!

 

[MGG]

Wow!

That's awesome! Good job, Lilith! (But be careful!)

 

[GC-Raptor]

Nice job Lilith. Have a bug on me.. GC

 

[Mo'sMenagerie]

I'm so glad she passed the egg and survived the egg prolapse and binding treatment! How wonderful it must have been to find that egg She's a beauty! Do you have any information you could share regarding the treatment she underwent when she had the thin shelled egg collapse inside her? I'd be incredibly grateful for any advice or support while I try and save my girl Carmen from a similar situation...

 

[azygous]

To update this thread just so everyone knows that an eleven-year old hen should probably not try to keep laying eggs, Lilith got herself into trouble again with another ruptured egg. She just ran out of calcium in her body.

This time, the blockage and consequent infection and vent prolapse took eighteen days to resolve, and Lilith is lucky she's still alive. She was so sick that I thought I'd need to euthanize her.

For nearly three weeks, she was in the hospital crate, only going back to the run inside the crate for short visits with her cronies to perk up her spirits. She was losing fluids like mad due to the blockage, and she was actually a pretty good patient.

She's back to normal again, but next spring, I know she's going to try this foolishness all over again. I can barely wait.

 

[MGG]

To update this thread just so everyone knows that an eleven-year old hen should probably not try to keep laying eggs, Lilith got herself into trouble again with another ruptured egg. She just ran out of calcium in her body.

This time, the blockage and consequent infection and vent prolapse took eighteen days to resolve, and Lilith is lucky she's still alive. She was so sick that I thought I'd need to euthanize her.

For nearly three weeks, she was in the hospital crate, only going back to the run inside the crate for short visits with her cronies to perk up her spirits. She was losing fluids like mad due to the blockage, and she was actually a pretty good patient.

She's back to normal again, but next spring, I know she's going to try this foolishness all over again. I can barely wait.

Poor girl! You clearly did an excellent job treating her. I'm glad she's back to normal (for now)! It's incredible she pulled through.