WHAT is THIS??

[DHC4570]

This is my first post. I do come here for information, and have since I started raising chickens 6 years ago. I still need to go to the new member section to introduce myself but suffice to say I have a 4 acre Homestead in Southern Arizona with 34 hens, one rooster, a goat, a horse, two barn cats, three dogs and two rowdy little boys. Most years I have a 16 ft by 34 ft garden but the last two years it has been a temporary goat pen and a brooder container for my last batch of chicks. My wife and I stay busy.

I found this in a nesting box last night. It is kind of soft and squishy like a hard-boiled egg. I have not cut it open yet. Any ideas on what this could be? All the girls look healthy but I'm running a feather fixer mix with my standard layer mix and several of the girls have had diarrhea pretty much non-stop with it. On the plus side, everybody's plumes look great! I had a couple of girls that look like they just came out of the spin cycle, more like zombie chickens than live girls. Everyone looks good now.

Thanks in advance!

Dave

 

[chrissynemetz]

I'm not really sure? Do cut it open and take pictures. I've never seen anything quite like that, but I'm sure somebody will be along who might know

 

[glassdragonfly]

Might be a lash egg,some of the others will know more.

 

[Ebony Rose]

Assuming that came out of one of your hens, I'd venture to guess that it's a lash egg. Pictures posted of that material once you've cut it open will help determine what it is.

 

[DHC4570]

I was kind of thinking it was probably some form of egg. I went ahead and cut it open and it looks very meaty. Not much smell but it is cold.

 

[nuthatched]

Ew, I hope the hen's ok.

 

[DHC4570]

Assuming that came out of one of your hens, I'd venture to guess that it's a lash egg. Pictures posted of that material once you've cut it open will help determine what it is.

Now that I look at it the internet and all its wisdom (sarcasm), I think you are probably correct. My schedule the last two weeks has been crazy so my hens do not get their evening outing to forage like they normally do. I do that so that I can check them out and then let them stretch your legs and eat whatever they can find. At this point, they all look normal but I will have to wait and see.

 

[DHC4570]

Now that I look at it the internet and all its wisdom (sarcasm), I think you are probably correct. My schedule the last two weeks has been crazy so my hens do not get their evening outing to forage like they normally do. I do that so that I can check them out and then let them stretch your legs and eat whatever they can find. At this point, they all look normal but I will have to wait and see.

Things should slow down this weekend. I'll let the girls out like I normally do and see if anybody is not looking healthy. That said, all of my girls looked good and I went in one night to feed and one was laying on the ground dead. It would have been more heartbreaking except she has not laid a single leg the entire time I've owned her. (I know that because of the color of eggs you should have laid - green).

In the end, my hens are livestock and a food source for my family. That is their primary function.

 

[Ebony Rose]

That's definitely a lash egg. Sadly, that means that (at least) one of your hens has a reproductive tract infection or disease; likely salpingitis.
It's good that she passed this material, but should this become a regular occurrence, it would be cause for concern.

https://thepoultrysite.com/disease-guide/salpingitis offers the following (with a couple of spelling corrections):

Salpingitis is an inflammation of the oviduct. It is a complex condition of chickens and ducks associated with various infections including Mycoplasma and bacteria (especially E. coli and occasionally Salmonella spp.). Infection may spread downwards from an infected left abdominal air sac, or may proceed upwards from the cloaca. The oviduct is a hollow tube joining the normally sterile environment of the body cavity with the cloaca, which normally has many millions of potentially pathogenic bacteria. The control of infection in this area is probably achieved by ciliated epithelium that mostly wafts a carpet of mucus towards the cloaca. Anything that damages the epithelium or disturbs normal oviduct motility is likely to increase the likelihood of salpingitis. Systemic viral infections that cause ovarian regression or damage to the oviduct or cloaca, are especially prone to increasing salpingitis.

Signs

• Sporadic loss of lay.
• Death.
• Damaged vents, leaking urates.
• Distended abdomen.
• Some birds may 'lay' a caseous mass of pus (which may be found in a nest or on the egg belt).

Post-mortem lesions

• Slight to marked distension of oviduct with exudate.
• May form a multi-layered caseous cast in oviduct or be amorphous.
• Peritonitis.

Diagnosis
Use the signs to select birds for culling and post-mortem investigation.
Lesions.
Bacteriology of oviduct.

Treatment
Birds with well-developed lesions are unlikely to respond to medication. Use of a suitable antimicrobial may be beneficial for birds in the early stages and if associated with efforts to minimize risk factors.

Prevention
Control any septicaemia earlier in life, use healthy parent flocks, immunize effectively against respiratory viral pathogens common in the area.

 

[DHC4570]

That's definitely a lash egg. Sadly, that means that (at least) one of your hens has a reproductive tract infection or disease; likely salpingitis.
It's good that she passed this material, but should this become a regular occurrence, it would be cause for concern.

https://thepoultrysite.com/disease-guide/salpingitis offers the following (with a couple of spelling corrections):

Salpingitis is an inflammation of the oviduct. It is a complex condition of chickens and ducks associated with various infections including Mycoplasma and bacteria (especially E. coli and occasionally Salmonella spp.). Infection may spread downwards from an infected left abdominal air sac, or may proceed upwards from the cloaca. The oviduct is a hollow tube joining the normally sterile environment of the body cavity with the cloaca, which normally has many millions of potentially pathogenic bacteria. The control of infection in this area is probably achieved by ciliated epithelium that mostly wafts a carpet of mucus towards the cloaca. Anything that damages the epithelium or disturbs normal oviduct motility is likely to increase the likelihood of salpingitis. Systemic viral infections that cause ovarian regression or damage to the oviduct or cloaca, are especially prone to increasing salpingitis.

Signs

• Sporadic loss of lay.
• Death.
• Damaged vents, leaking urates.
• Distended abdomen.
• Some birds may 'lay' a caseous mass of pus (which may be found in a nest or on the egg belt).

Post-mortem lesions

• Slight to marked distension of oviduct with exudate.
• May form a multi-layered caseous cast in oviduct or be amorphous.
• Peritonitis.

Diagnosis
Use the signs to select birds for culling and post-mortem investigation.
Lesions.
Bacteriology of oviduct.

Treatment
Birds with well-developed lesions are unlikely to respond to medication. Use of a suitable antimicrobial may be beneficial for birds in the early stages and if associated with efforts to minimize risk factors.

Prevention
Control any septicaemia earlier in life, use healthy parent flocks, immunize effectively against respiratory viral pathogens common in the area.

Great information!! Thank you! I probably need to install some kind of camera system in my coop but until then I need to get back to letting them out every night to see who looks healthy and who doesn't. So far, I've had no more lash eggs. I will see how it goes.

Thanks again to all!