Worms??? in egg? *gross pic*

[gracejr]

What on earth is this? We have a new egg layer, I can't for the life of me figure out who it is. Thread on that here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/726898/whose-egg-is-this#post_10014376

Anyway, I cracked open the egg last night to see if maybe it was just a fart egg or something. This is what I saw... This stuff was all around the outside of the yolk, and there was something inside the yolk as well that looked the same. The egg was fresh yesterday, so I doubt it was an embryo. Plus, no blood vessels. Another suggestion I got on FB was chalaza, but I thought that was just the two tiny bits on the ends that hold the yolk? The only thing I could think of was worms, but wouldn't a wormy egg indicate a *very* sick chicken? I'm still new to the chicken thing, but everybody appears healthy to my eye. What on earth is this? (Also, if you can help me figure out WHO is laying this, it would be appreciated! Got another one today, though I haven't opened it yet)

 

[Azriel]

Looks like a tape worm to me. Did it have what looked like segments, or was it just 1 long strand? It might not hurt to worm the flock, but i really wouldn't know how a worm would get inside of an egg.

 

[gracejr]

It seemed like one continuous thing, for the most part, not segmented, and no tapering at either end that I could tell. I had to stop examining it though because it was grossing me out.

 

[my sunwolf]

Looks like a worm to me. With a really bad case of worms, you can get them in the eggs. They are already in the digestive tract, so it's not too hard to understand how they got into the egg, but it does mean that the hen who laid that egg probably has WAY too many worms for her system to handle and the whole flock should be wormed. You won't necessarily know if a chicken has worms, though you're right that they usually look a little worse for the wear when they're that heavily infested. Not to mention, they're pretty young to have worms that bad (am I right that you raised them from chicks and that they just started laying? none of them adopted?).

 

[Azriel]

I'm sorry, i'm laughing at that, but I would be grossed out to. Is this a new pullet laying? If so, I would guess its just normal getting the kinks worked out of her system.

 

[gracejr]

Yes, whomever it is, this is a new layer.

The Rocks and Sexlinks we got as chicks this spring. Everyone else we got as pullets.


To worm them, what do I need, where do I get it, and how do I do it? We are going in town today to get a Christmas tree, so can pick something then.

If it's not worms, what else could it be?

 

[my sunwolf]

I have never seen something like that in an egg that is not worms

and even then only pictures, never in real life. I have also never wormed before because I do the pumpkin seed prevention and honestly haven't had chickens long enough to have encountered worm problems.

Consider the fact that I might be wrong before you choose to worm the whole flock. I would love for people who know more about worms to comment on this!

You could take fecal (of even egg I think) samples to the vet for analysis, but that gets costly.

If you're doing natural, use Verm-X, though if this is a serious infestation I'm not sure that would work.
You might have to go with Wazine, which you can get at a farm supply store or online, or Valbazen, but with these products you can't eat the eggs for 10-14 days after treatment.

I can't figure out which of your flock would lay an egg that color/size, though I have to say my sex-links tend to lay weird eggs.

 

[gracejr]

They've been getting both pumpkin and seeds, we had a bunch of them here that we didn't wind up eating, so gave to them. Otherwise, I've never tried worming them. (Obviously)

 

[gracejr]

Well, here is her egg from today. Still strange, but not nearly as gross as yesterday. Thoughts?

 

[gracejr]

Oh, and I heard back from their breeder. It is Tigerlily, one of our EE, who is actually a Marans/EE cross. So that explains the shell color anyway!