Chickens with multiple symptoms…need advice please!

[Scoobette13]

Hello all! I have 6 hens. One is a Lavender Aracauna (think that’s how it’s spelled…my neighbor gave her to me, I have a rooster of the same breed Princess and Cogburn, both are healthy), a hen who is the niece of the above hen and other half is New Hampshire Red - Louise), the others I bought from a 4H student a few months ago and I’m not sure what breed they are but they have the same rust chest and black body as Louise does.

Several months ago Louise was diagnosed with Lash Egg. I’ve treated her and it seems as long as I add NutriDrench to her water she will lay eggs although the shells are not thick, they are pretty thin and bumpy.
One of the 4H chickens (they were all of laying age when I got them) had a bit of diarrhea when she came. I thought maybe she was stressed due to new surroundings and gave her time. I usually switch between NutriDrench and a Pre/Probiotic in their water each day. She had gotten worse over the past couple of weeks and it is sticking to her butt. Last month I saw worms in a couple of poo piles in the roosting box so I treated everyone and did the 2nd treatment about 10 days later.
A couple of days ago I noticed one of the brown eggs (Louise lays bluish ones) in the poo box with a soft shell, along with a couple other gals now having diarrhea as well. Today I went out there and there are 4 soft eggs in the poo box! They are all eating and drinking, non of them are acting like they are sick in any way. I’ve tried to google diarrhea +soft shell eggs +pasty butt but nothing comes up at all that helps since they don’t act sick. I’m at a total loss. Has anyone had this experience??!
They roost up on a natural tree branch in the coop, we’ve built boxes under them that I fill with Sweet PDZ and scoop out every day just like a kitty litter box. The door opens automatically early in the morning and they free range all day but they have access to several water’s and food. I have crushed calcium in bowls plus another egg supplement since Louise won’t touch the crushed stuff. I also give them Dried soldier fly larvae as a treat (thrown and scattered so they have to hunt for it and don’t get too much). In occasion I give them pure pumpkin with cinnamon, oregano but never and scraps from the kitchen unless it is plain lettuce or fruit that we haven’t eaten yet.
Sorry it’s long, but I figured the more info you had, the less questions you would have to ask.
Thank you so much!!!

 

[Eggcessive]

Are they on layer feed or all flock feed, and do you limit their treats? I prefer feeding layer feed when I have mostly layers, since it has 4% calcium versus 1% in all flock. Giving scraps or too many treats will reduce calcium, protein, and other nutrients. It may be that they are not taking enough of the crushed oyster shell. It sounds like Louise has salpingitis, and soft shell or lash eggs are the symptoms. They usually also have solid egg masses inside the abdomen. This as well as cancer and other egg disorders can be common in hens over 3 years old. I would give Louise human calcium citrate with vitamin D 300-600 mg daily in her beak to swallow for the next 7 days. That is available in the Equate brand at Walmart under $9, and at other drugstores, as well as the more pricey Caltrate.

 

[Scoobette13]

Are they on layer feed or all flock feed, and do you limit their treats? I prefer feeding layer feed when I have mostly layers, since it has 4% calcium versus 1% in all flock. Giving scraps or too many treats will reduce calcium, protein, and other nutrients. It may be that they are not taking enough of the crushed oyster shell. It sounds like Louise has salpingitis, and soft shell or lash eggs are the symptoms. They usually also have solid egg masses inside the abdomen. This as well as cancer and other egg disorders can be common in hens over 3 years old. I would give Louise human calcium citrate with vitamin D 300-600 mg daily in her beak to swallow for the next 7 days. That is available in the Equate brand at Walmart under $9, and at other drugstores, as well as the more pricey Caltrate.

Hi! Thank you for your reply. They are on Layer food. Louise is the oldest at 2 years. I took her to the vet a few months ago since I knew she was misdiagnosed by the first vet I took her to. She was diagnosed with Lash Egg and went through the whole treatment. Since she had been misdiagnosed, I was told that the damage may have already been done and she may never lay properly again. She had no masses at that time. She is a wonderful pet so I am actually thinking of taking her back to the 2nd vet to see if it’s possible to give her a hysterectomy so that she can just live out the rest of her life as the great gal she is.
I have already stopped giving them the high protein soldier fly larvae, other than that they very seldom get treats unless it’s a little fresh fruit or a little lettuce (my other chickens got fresh cabbage but I haven’t tried it on these girls yet).
Is there a liquid form of the calcium? I have the pill form and they are HUGE! I was crushing them into a powder and adding it to the water but the NutriDrench seems to work well most of the time even though her eggs are thin.
What concerns me more is all of a sudden the diarrhea and soft eggs with the other gals. My neighbor just stopped by so we could work on my bees and she said that it’s possible they are eating too many cicadas and overwhelmed with protein right now. I hadn’t thought about that. They do free range and it’s that season. Has anyone else who’s in a high cicada area had chicken issues?