Rubber eggs, if truly shell-less, can be nutrition related (i.e. D3, phosphorus, calcium, manganese), but since none of her other birds have a problem, it is most likely disease related. In fact, feeding additional calcium may do more harm than good.
Newcastle disease, IB, AI, Egg drop syndrome and many other diseases can cause this issue. A necropsy with lab work will tell.
I'm not sure how someone can insist it's not Marek's without lab work or even a cursory necropsy. Marek's can have a wide range of symptoms or sometimes none at all - just sudden death.
More chickens die from Marek's virus than any other disease. It is so common that one can safely assume their chickens are infected whether they show symptoms or not.
Some birds carry the resistance factor B21 and breeding for resistance is the best defense.
Stress will reduce a flock's resistance. That can be from crowding, moving or the natural stress from maturing. That's why 10-25 weeks is the optimum time for the disease to represent and why chicks shouldn't be raised with adult birds.
The six herpes viruses that cause Marek's survive in dust and litter for years.
If it is Marek's, your friend may want to do nothing more than cull affected birds. The rest will be resistant. There is no cure once succumbed.
IMO, that's pretty reasonable. In MO, I pay between $75 and $100 for a complete workup of the bird. It is well worth it to know what killed a bird, what actions, if any, I need to take and whether other birds are at risk.Hey I contacted Kansas State University, who does necropsy's in my State and they said they don't test for Marek's themselves but they send it out to a lab. It's $12 to get the necropsy and $60 to have it sent to the lab for Marek's testing.Does anyone know of a lab I could directly send it to instead of going through KSU?
One can bite the bullet and pay for the necropsy or chew gum and watch birds continue to die while guessing and stabbing in the dark.
If I have one bird die, I either do a cursory necropsy myself or what I usually do is send them off to Columbia, MO. If I had more than one bird die in short order, I'd definitely get the lab work done. I've driven the 6 hours round trip several times (sometimes all night) to take a live bird there for euthanasia and necropsy. If the bird is dead, they will send me a FedEx label for shipping. They will add that reduced cost to the necropsy bill.
If your friend is unable or unwilling to opt for the necropsy, they should at least cut the bird open. Of the 4 forms of Marek's, the skin form will cause enlarged feather follicles. The nerve form (likely) will cause progressive paralysis, labored breathing, diarrhea and weight loss. The ocular form will cause misshapen pupils, grey iris and emaciation. The visceral form will cause tumors in most organs, especially lungs, ovary and heart along with enlarged liver.
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