What came out of my chicken???

[doris13]

I had a red sex link chicken that recently died but she left me with some unanswered questions so I thought I'd come here to try to sort it out. I got her when she was about 3 months old. She developed a limp soon after she came here but I never felt anything that was broken and she didn't seem to hurt when I was feeling around. She got around just fine but with a pronounced limp. In fact, even with her limp, she survived 2 bobcat attacks that took a couple of her more aggressive and able-bodied roommates.

She started laying at the normal age but what was abnormal was that she laid a huge egg every single day for about 10 months. She then stopped laying and didn't lay anything for a month. The next thing that came out of her was the bizarre thing in the first attached picture. It was soft and covered with a membrane with what looked like chicken skin under the membrane. The larger part was about 2 1/4" in diameter. The next day she started laying again every day for the next 4 months.

She then took another break of about a month. The next thing that she laid was the thing in the 2nd picture. It was firm but pliable but I have no idea what the heck it was. After that she never laid another egg and died about 2 months later. She appeared to be sick and sluggish one day and she died the following morning after getting down from the coop.

The other chickens that she was raised with were an ameraucana, a black ameraucana and a black sex link. They've never been exposed to roosters.

Any ideas?

 

[My 3 Babies]

Maybe its one of these?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/a-couple-chicken-problems-and-how-to-fix-them

 

[doris13]

Thanks for your reply and the link to some great information.

I thought about egg binding when she would stop laying but her abdomen was always soft when I felt it. She never did have a prolapse but she did have diarrhea for about a week before she died. I always fed her organic layer food with oyster shell supplements. They also got dried meal worms and scratch grain for a treat along with fruit and veggie scraps. They also have a large area to free range and eat grass and bugs and worms.

 

[Happy Chooks]

It looks like a lash egg, basically petrified egg. It is a sign of internal laying, which is common in high production breeds.

 

[doris13]

I looked up lash eggs and I think you may be right. It sounds like the way she would act just before passing one. It breaks my heart that she might have been really uncomfortable before she died. She was my best chicken buddy and I really miss her. Thank you so much for helping me solve this mystery.