Tell me about your internal layers

[twistie]

160 battery hens all from hatchery's and 80% of them have died from internal laying, worn out poor souls, its ripe, and wrong,

 

[mg15]

Erica, you can imagine that I've beat my head against a wall trying to figure all this out, consulted knowledgeable people, all the while watching one hen after another suffer for months, then pass away.

The deaths began just after the original group hit their 2nd birthday, then one by one, they all went. I have three originals left who made it past 5 years old, but Lexie hasn't laid an egg in a year and I'm sure that stuff is backing up inside somehow.She has no stamina and will sit and rest, breathing heavily, when the others are still out roaming around. Reba is still laying, or was, up until a week ago, and now, she's been going on the nest, sitting and leaving so she may be on her way as well. Sunny stopped laying a few weeks ago, but has not been back on a nest and other than being a tad to thin, she has no symptoms of this right now. At this point, they are considered elderly anyway so I'm prepared to lose the last three within the next year or so.

I have two hatchery Brahmas who are over 4 years old and they are still laying, no problems at all so far.


We have discussed the GM corn that has made its way into so many products as a possible cause, but I just don't know. In the meantime, I'll keep taking the best care of them I know how and hope that once most of the hatchery girls are gone, I won't see this again for many years.

HI,
I have just started to read the topic.
From the time you reported this, did you lose anymore of your birds?

do you suggest to buy chicks from a backyard farmer than a hatchery.

All the girls I have are from online sites. I hope this does not happen to me.
I lost nine girls to my dog two weeks ago. It gets expensive. The shipping is expensive the birds are not.

Thanks,
mg

 

[GreenMntRanger]

Just had a Silver Lace Wyandotte die.

a little over a year old

Symptoms: Lethargic, couldn't stand, "gooey" vent

Followed suggestion from early on in this thread...went to flush out her vent with cool water in the sink, she had what amounted to a seizure and died.

Did a necropsy and found a fully formed egg that she couldn't seem to pass and some ruptured tubes?

Does this qualify as internal laying?

 

[hennotrooster]

I have a Sussex (looks like a RIR) she will be two May 4th. Her sister stopped laying for the most part last year around this time, she drops an egg or two every now and then. Rachel stopped laying about a month and half ago she was given warm Epsom salt soaks and she did drop a funny looking egg but that was the last time she laid anything. I am now believing that she may be laying internally her abdomen was soft but it is hardening up so from what I have read she either needs to have a hysterectomy or be put down since she will continue to do this. I was also told by someone to retire her to the soup pot

, not sure if she would still be good for that or not but I have no interest in doing so. Seems as if 2 yrs is when this starts going. This was the last thing she laid. She was chasing the younger hens last week and knocked one of them off her perch. She eats well and drinks plenty she is in her own yard so I am able to tell how much she eats/drinks Rachel is very mean to the younger hens she mounts them and will not let them eat when she is with them. They like to fly into her yard to see what she has there and they rearrange her nest for her which upsets Rachel. So she beats them up. Not sure what to do but I do not want her to suffer so I guess I will have to have her put down.

 

[Gen9]

Here is the thread on my hen that is laying internally. I thought she was egg bound, then I thought EYP but none of my other hens have it. Started around the time she molted for the first time (my RIR went through a mini molt at 9 months age, but they didn't molt at 1 year. They molted at 18 months.) Her egg production went down. Then oblong shaped eggs. Thin shelled sometimes. Sometimes soft shelled. Sometimes just the yolk splat in the nest underneath the rest of the eggs. She was very bossy when it came to nests, bully all the others out of them. (I have 3 nests but they prefer to lay in one and they all fight over it. I would even move some eggs to another nest and she would move them BACK! For awhile I couldn't find out who was laying these weird eggs but now that she just over 2 years old & started getting sick I put all the pieces together to find that she has all the problems. I gave them oyster shell regularly. Their chicken feed is All Flock, and I was also giving them scratch grain. I bought her from a local garden center who gets their chicks from a hatchery. I need to find out which one. IMHO I think it may be due to poor genetic lines, or as someone mentioned... GMOs... such a shame.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/776851/lash-egg-warning-gross-pics/10#post_11125066

 

[nettifer]

ive just had to cull my warren after 3 months of treating her for everything

opened her up and she was filled with yellow fluid and had egg yolks floating in it but all her insides were full of white spots/ulcers

if i had known i would have culled earlier! i bought her at point of lay 12mths ago with 14 others from a farm that had 1000 free range hens, but i only have 5 of them left

 

[hennotrooster]

ive just had to cull my warren after 3 months of treating her for everything

opened her up and she was filled with yellow fluid and had egg yolks floating in it but all her insides were full of white spots/ulcers

if i had known i would have culled earlier! i bought her at point of lay 12mths ago with 14 others from a farm that had 1000 free range hens, but i only have 5 of them left

We had to put our hen down she was laying internally and was very bottom heavy the poor thing was having a problem walking it happened really quick for her she. Man this was really hard as hateful as she was she was mine and she did bring a lot of laughter and entertainment in her almost 2 years of life. Rachel was an excellent layer rarely missed a beat so when she stopped I knew something had to be wrong the picture in post 114 was the last egg she dropped after a warm soak. Miss her and call her sister by her name sometimes. Cried like a baby after ward. My kids say "mom it's a chicken" I say "no it was life that provided us with a nice gift daily and she made me laugh on top of it.". Glad they are all grown and on their own.

I couldn't open her up to see what she had going on in their even though I did want to, just could not do it.

 

[Peaches Lee]

Hello all, I'm posting a reply here in an effort to diagnose issues within my flock. I'm writing here because I suspect internal laying but I'm no expert, so maybe I could gain insight here. I have hens that are just seeming to drop like flies around here lately!

Not really, but I lost one hen just last week and now another is showing the same symptoms--so is this contagious or is this genetics at play?

Age--3 years

Breeds--Easter Egger and Golden Comet (Hatchery birds from TSC)

Symptoms--starts with messy vents, then abdominal swelling, followed by lethargy and ultimately death. No eggs are laid. Poop is watery to normal, green to yellowish. I did find a mass of egg or something, it stunk and when I pulled it apart it was layer upon layer of tissue.

Environment--free range, locked in 10x12 enclosure at night.

Food--Blue Seal Extra Egg Layer meal.

So, can all of these hens exhibit internal laying at about the same time considering they are all the same age, or do I have a disease?

 

[nettifer]

hi what you found was a lash, its the reproductve tract and usually they do better when it is out, its the henopause of the chicken! with internal laying they blow up like a balloon and walk up right like a penguin

some get it early , some get it around 2-3yrs old,but when they have layed a lash they stop laying , hope that helps, and good luck!

 

[MontanaMomma]

I have lost several of my small flock to internal laying. It is, indeed, a horrible thing. Two were Leghorns, both under 5 years old. Another was a Aracauna about 3 years old. I have seen swollen rears on almost all of my birds at one time or another, except my little Polish crested, who I suspect is a banty who lays small eggs. Does anyone know of a banty having issues with internal laying?

I am currently caring for a Buff Orpington, 3 years old, with a swollen rear. It seems to come and go in my flock, sometimes getting the best of them. When one stops laying, I always suspect another internal laying death is on the way. I have tried draining with no luck as well as penicillin shots in the past. Fingers crossed for Cutie, the Buff O who is getting amoxicilin. She is the only one now of age not laying in the flock.

I suspect the following is linked to internal laying:
1. Overweight hens (diet too high in fat/protein, not enough exercise)
2. Bad genetics/Indiscriminate breeding
3. Full size breeds bred to lay eggs larger and more often than they are equipped to handle
4. Not enough calcium
5. Stress and hormones

Good luck
MM