Timeline of internal laying - UPDATE

[missypebble]

How is your buttercup doing?

 

[emvickrey]

I found this thread while doing research on one of my hens. I'm positive she is an internal layer. She "passed" some small bits of a rubbery substance. I sent it off to a lab but got no results. She passed a large one that on first sight looked like a broody poop. Since then she's passed a few more smaller ones. She has been ill since August of 1012. i've given her several rounds of terramyacin and a combination of vita pro b, replamin and another that I can't recall the name of but it is vitamins, minerals and amino acid. When she passes these rubbery masses she's not feeling well and week afterwards for a little while. But I believe it's the concoction I put in her water thats keeping her going. She doesn't have a swollen abdomen as if she's building up with fluid. She eats and poops. She does walk as if she's sliding on ice but we have wood floors. I suspect it may be because the floor is slick. She's been living in the house since I discovered her sick. Everytime I take her out in about 30 minutes she's on her side and acting like she's dying. I bring her in and in a few hours she's back up on her feet.

I read in several articles that hysterectomy is the only cure. Although I bought her for breeding stock I don't want her to die. If I can find a cure other than surgery I sure would like to know what it is. She is a beautiful sweet girl and if she is another house chicken then so be it.

 

[Gingersprite]

emvickrey & happy chooks, how did either of your situations turn out?? I have a 4 year old Golden Comet whose sister Ginger died in her first year due I think to the fact that her eggs were just enormous for her body, some sort of "hybrid anomaly" is what I'd call it, she didn't get egg bound but she just died suddenly one day and her vent hole was huge when I found her. Sad.
Anyway her sister Minnie also lays large eggs but no probs until this Fall when I noticed she had a sudden bout of swelling in her abdomen & her crop was full first thing in the morning so things weren't passing...So I took her to the vet and they said I caught EYP early enough (dx. confirmed by drawing out thick yellow fluid from her cavity) that she had a chance & they prescribed Metacam & an antibiotic I can't remember the name of, anyway it worked wonderfully & then she went into moult & stopped laying thank goodness.
But...now she is back to where she should be laying but I know her eggs and she is not laying any good ones, though I found 2 yolks in the roost (frozen solid) that I can only assume are hers. That and her abdomen has expanded, though this time she is not behaving differently (my first clue last go around). I was hoping she wouldn't lay again! So I started the antibiotic again but just wondering about how others have faired & if she has a chance. Thinking of taking her to vet to get the hormone shot to take her out of lay again but..conflicted. Let us know how you all are doing!
Thanks for reading this (those who waded through it!

 

[emvickrey]

My hen passed away while I was at the Newnan show. DH decided he would save on energy since I wasn't home all day and turned the heat down. She couldn't tolerate the cold and thats why I kept her inside near the heater. He didn't tell me she passed till I got home. I wasn't real happy with him for not taking the care I had done for so many months but the end was going to happen eventually. She was doing fine when I left. If he had informed me she wasn't doing well I would have told him what to do.

I was told to first get the hen out of production mode by limiting her light to 8 to 10 hours a day and limiting her feed as well. Not to feed extra protien as we do with layers. I had done all that and she seemed to be doing fine. I had also gone on down to Florida for vacation after the show so I was gone from home for a week.

So my internal layer is gone after 6 months of fighting for her life.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Mine apparently wasn't an internal layer. (or at least not yet) She quit laying for a few months, then started back up again like nothing was ever the matter. She started back up this spring after her molt, and laid for a while, now she hasn't laid again for a few weeks now. She's still acting healthy.

Her eggs are normal and no rubbery masses.

 

[Gingersprite]

emvikrey,

I am very sad to hear this and so sorry for your loss. I'm sorry it took me so long to respond, I thought I'd get an email if someone responded, so I didn't see your note until I logged back in. You did everything you could and that's frustrating about DH but I know the same would happen here...he just isn't as "in tune" with them as I am. I'm sure your girl appreciated all the love and special attention she got for as long as she could hang on, so kudos to you for that!
My Minnie is ok, still no eggs, now she has a very uncharacteristic poopy butt, and in the meantime I had another "perfectly healthy" Buff die suddenly in my arms with a deflated egg in her vent and a purple comb! So I had posted this in my Yahoo Henpecked group and there is some suspicion of worms? I've never wormed them, they are all 4 years old. So I PM'd Dawg53 who seems to be the resident expert to ask him about how to proceed with worming all 7 and we'll go from there...you really learn to appreciate the stable times when things are awry!
Thanks again and I am sorry for the loss of your dear hen.

Shelagh

 

[Gingersprite]

Happy Chooks,

Now there's some good news and thanks so much for the reply!

Shelagh

 

[SuperChickRuth]

Hi, all, I've just been reading through your posts, and I know it's an old thread, but I need some help.

We've got a gal, Ruth, who's sister recently passed away from ascities. (Sorry if it isn't spelled right, I'm really tired right now) And they were probably "sisters," from the same... what would you call it, group? I don't know, but ...
Anyway, she's got a swollen abdomen, and recently passed a "soft shelled egg." She's a Barred Rock, and has not laid her quota of eggs.

Does this sound like Internal Laying? I think it probably is, and I was wondering if it's too late to do anything. Are there any home remedies that would extend her life?

Right now, she looks great, except that her abdomen is swollen. So... Advice???

~SuperChickRuth

 

[JLS84780]

Update:


After 33 days of not laying, my buttercup has now started laying normal eggs again. She laid 2 days in a row, skipped yesterday, so we'll see if she lays today. They are small eggs, like pullet sized - but are complete with strong shell and no internal defects in the egg.

Now I'm really confused.

Do you remember what happened after that? I have a hen who has been in the laying box every morning with nothing to show for it for a week. I'm thinking she's internally laying. So far no outward signs of disease except none of the hens are interested in veggies anymore. They don't scratch the ground much either, but do dust bathe. I've almost lost 3 hens since I changed to a 20% organic feed: egg bound, water belly and now this. Can that be part of the problem? I've never had so many issues when I had chickens in CA, now I'm in southern UT. Argh!