Tell me about your internal layers

[speckledhen]

Sorry to hear that, Lee. You know, my older BR girl who was wasting away during the time Rosemary was dying, Ivy? At the time, we thought we had nothing to lose and did 3 days of penicillin in a last ditch effort to save her. Surprisingly, Ivy rallied, started gaining weight, and now she looks fabulous and is laying again! I have no idea what happened exactly, but she was the same as the others, no meat on her keel, lethargic and weak, hadn't laid in ages, etc, all identical symptoms to the other four. Ivy turned 3 yrs old this month. I hope I never have to lose anymore to this awful thing, but there is definitely a pattern in this.

To answer a question someone asked, the internal layers usually stop laying weeks or months before they begin to decline rapidly. Rosemary hadn't laid an egg in eight months before her death.

 

[illinichick]

I also lost a red sex-link that was 1 1/2 yrs old this past week. I thought something was wrong when she started leaking whitish, grayish fluid from her vent. This went on for several months. I couldnt tell if she was laying or not. Her rear area looked swollen and just kept getting bigger and bigger. when we finally caught her last week, her whole bottom and back area was hard as a rock. My daughter held her while I hosed off her back area and tried to clean the crusty stuff off, her skin came off with it! I could tell that she was just miserable so my DH "put her to sleep". She was a hatchery bird from MM.

 

[SandraChick]

Sis had a white leghorn she got on a farm

She was about 1yo when she began internal laying (verfied by vet). Antibiotics and lots of care--she rallied. We made sure to shorten the day while she was inside to force her into her moult and thus stopping the laying process. She was also being teated for bumblefoot.

She was then well enough to go back to the flock. She laid eggs again...for about 3months and then began internal laying again. She lost the battle this time.

I thought that she had "stretched her canal" causing a pocket and the eggs would then not be able to pass (conjecture)...my theory of forcing molt was that their whole reproductive tract shrinks during that time--Hopefully shrinking the pocket back to normal.

I have no clue if this is correct, but I would do that to any chicken that was internal laying if possible.

As far as a pattern, and the possibility of feed being the problem. Has anyone thought that maybe it could be soy. Afterall- it does have natural estrogen!

I've never had an internal layer, but my flock eats Maybe a cup of feed a week and freerange.

Sandra

 

[TimeMist]

Breed - Brown Shaver

Age or suspected age - 2 years


If they were hatchery or breeder birds if known - Ex-battery hen

At first she didn't lay any eggs, then after a couple of months she started laying the odd shell less egg. This progressed to recently laying a shell-less egg nearly everyday. She has been sick for the past week with a swollen abdomen. She has passed a load od egg white (maybe 5-6 eggs worth of egg white) and now seems a lot happier. But I do know I'm on the slipperly slope to her imminent death.

 

[thebritt]

Quote:
I have a SLW, 7 yrs old (hatchery chick), that I'm trying to save, but it's not looking good. I feed everyone organic lay crumbles, but regular hen scratch ($$$). The crumbles don't state whether or not it's a GMO feed. It is added hormone free, however. I'm pretty confident that added hormones are a bad thing. That's why I stopped eating fast-food beef and factory farmed chicken 20 years ago. If the birds are allowed to free range, the lack of animal protein shouldn't be a problem, but we all know chickens eat bugs at the very least, and I saw my hens fighting over a dead sparrow! Thanks for starting this discussion - looks like there's a lot of this going around.

 

[HennyPenny2]

This thread scares me.

I have owned 3 sexlink hens for 3 years now (now have 6 3 week old chicks). My best egg layer suddenly out of nowhere just a week ago showing no symptoms at all before she died. She seemed fine one morning then that afternoon I came home and she was dead inside the coop. She was 3. I found this post because I have one of my other sex link hens that has had me concerned for a long time. About oh a year maybe more (time flies) she had jumped out of my arms from a fairly short distance and when she tried to get up she couldn't. It seemed she did something to one leg as she tried with the other to get up. I felt her leg and everything seemed normal but she would just kinda lean to one side and could not get up. For 3 months she was kept in a dog kennel on my bathroom where I would take care of her and fed her all kinds of treats and yogurt and added calcium. She would even lay though she had a very hard time trying to lift herself so I would help her. About the 3 month mark she finally was able to stand and I would take her out to see the other 2 girls to which she seemed so happy to see them and so did they. Eventually she was walking though not normal yet and had a very hard time trying to scratch. However she was soon back to her normal self again walking normal, scratching, ect (have no idea what had happened to her). However I believe it has been since her accident though I am not 100% sure of it but she has had this problem for at least a year and that is runny poo or dark poo like chocolate. She always has a messy bottom and it has just become the norm. She would do everything normally. However I would notice too that one of my hens would lay very thin eggs and I often would find it broke in the nest area if I didn't get to it intime. I have always thought it to be hers and contributed it to the injury she had. Well one day about a month ago I noticed what looked yolk coming from her vent. I am certain she broke and egg inside her as she was also fluffed up and just sitting in the coop. I took her inside and gave her a warm bath and put her in a kennel with some antibiotics in her water. She would poop out or push out from her vent what looked like more yolk mixed with the white of an egg. She was eating and drinking. After 2 days I ,let her free range in the backyard with the other two girls and she would roam around and scratch but off and on would look a little fluffed and just stand there or sit then after a little bit go back to scratching and looking for bugs and eating grass. A couple days went on like this and then one morning I go out to get eggs and I see this nasty mass that looked like the broken egg that was in her and had finally passed. She looked completely normal again no more fluffing herself up. Well since then I have only gotten I think 1 of those thin shelled eggs and I still don't know if it was even hers or not. Well since then we have had a brand new larger shed and coop with new large run. That has been right after almost when this whole thing started with the broken egg and the my last to laying hens have not layed an egg since. However, I found on the second morning of then being in the new coop (which was only a week ago since we only just finished the run) a whole yolk and what looked like possibly the white was on the ground below the problem hen (Ginger) but no shell or that could tell. BUt unlike last time she has not fluffed herself up and seems just fine other then her poo which hasn't been normal for a very long time. BUT then these past 2 day the 2 of them have been making such a squacking and carrying on that I don't know what their problem is. At time Hannah (my other hen) makes the cry like she just layed an egg. I run out and check and nothing. They seem upset and I don't know what's gong on. I am worried too about losing Ginger to this internal laying and wonder if that is what is wrong with her and if that is what killed Abby.

i hate to lose another so soon and be left with one till my new chicks are older. I know this is a very looong post but I have been so concerned and baffled about Gingers condition and why Abby so suddenly died and wonder if it's this internal laying which is new to me. Any thoughts?? Thank you for reading.

 

[EweSheep]

I've lost two Salmon Faverolle hens, roughly about two years old from a private breeder whose lines came from Catalupa Farms....reasons are unknown.

I know I've lost alot more of hatchery bred birds due to internal laying than I do with private breeders birds. Of course it happens to breeder's birds but less frequently. My friend and I had Ideal's Spitzhaubens which everyone of them except for one, died from some form of internal laying or this disease mentioned in the Spitzhauben forum.

Right now I do not have any hatchery bred birds, all breeder birds and none lost so far. They may not be as productive as the hatchery bred birds but neverthanless, they live a little longer.

 

[HennyPenny2]

How would I find a breeder? I would like to get some but all I know of is online hatcheries or feed and seed. Do breeders sell pullets at say 17 weeks of age or so?

 

[EweSheep]

Quote:
You can find them on search or look at the ones in Eggbid or in here at the Sales section.

 

[regina1994]

I lost 2 RIR about last July and had symptoms just like most of you but at the time had NO idea what was up..they were 1 1/2 y old at the time. then this past month lost 5 more of the same batch of RIR now 2y old all with same symptoms...lethargic, tucked tail, waddle, hard swollen abdomen, some day eating others not...all fluffed up with pale comb and runny weird poo and iky butts...I have younger other breeds all with NO symptoms only the original batch of RIR's. Thought egg bound and did what that suggested and getting tired of my kitchen being a permanent chicken hospital. All just r GONE one day when I go to let them out to free range. The last one I euthanized cause she looked awful and couldn't bare to watch it all again for the 6th time...I then opened her up to find a huge mass of off yellowish white matter the size of a grapefruit with the consistency of...uh.. tofu...do u think this is internal laying too?? I have 2 RIR's left out of the original batch of 13 all were day old hatchery chicks. I feed them layer pellets, scratch grains and grit and oyster shell, along with food scraps occasionally. They were FANTASTIC layers but not pleased with only a 2 y life span ending in pain and misery!!!