Chicken laying lash "egg" is someting wrong with my flock?

[LYNNS CHICKENS]

Vent Gleet isn't really contagious unless a roo mates with her. I separated my hen for 3-4 days so I could control her diet. But another reason to separate them is if you have roo's.

 

[ADozenGirlz]

Thanks for the advice. Yesterday, my hen was acting completely normal again and her poo was normal as well. However, I am not sure if she is laying right now. Soo, do you think I should just wait it out and she if she continues to act fine? Is it common for a hen with salpingitis to go up and down? Professional help is not really an option fore me right now. What is the risk of my other hens getting sick. This is my biggest worry. I am raising four more chicks in the brooder right now and I would hate to have them get introduced to a virus when I bring them to the coop.

There is no way to know whether the bacteria or virus that caused the salpingitis is contagious without testing. If you read the article, you know what the possible outcomes are.

 

[Grain Gypsy]

Hey there Katie!

I just wanted you to know that The Chicken Chick herself (the one whose article I linked to above) is one of the posters giving you advice here. She is a seasoned professional when it comes to chickens, and she consulted an avian vet as a primary source for her article on Salpingitis (aka the only reason for lash eggs). What a treat!

Anyhow, that being said, since you don't have the resources to consult an aviary vet, it is safe to assume (from my understanding from the article) that the Salpingitis/Lash Egg is caused by either a bacterial or viral illness. You could choose to isolate your one hen until her symptoms improve (which would be helpful if the Salpingitis is viral or a bacteria that can be passed through the hen's poop). Or you could let her remain with the flock and hope that the Salpingitis is bacterial and specific only to the inner-workings of that particular hen and cannot be passed through feces. You won't know which one unless you go to a vety, so you'll just have to rely picking a course of action, hope for the best, and use the process of elimination to determine whether the Salpingitis was caused by viral or bacterial issues.

Keep us updated on how she progresses. Hopefully she has stayed in her upswing of health since you last updated us!

 

[Katieswan]

So

Hey there Katie!

I just wanted you to know that The Chicken Chick herself (the one whose article I linked to above) is one of the posters giving you advice here.  She is a seasoned professional when it comes to chickens, and she consulted an avian vet as a primary source for her article on Salpingitis (aka the only reason for lash eggs).  What a treat!  

Anyhow, that being said, since you don't have the resources to consult an aviary vet, it is safe to assume (from my understanding from the article) that the Salpingitis/Lash Egg is caused by either a bacterial or viral illness.  You could choose to isolate your one hen until her symptoms improve (which would be helpful if the Salpingitis is viral or a bacteria that can be passed through the hen's poop).  Or you could let her remain with the flock and hope that the Salpingitis is bacterial and specific only to the inner-workings of that particular hen and cannot be passed through feces.  You won't know which one unless you go to a vety, so you'll just have to rely picking a course of action, hope for the best, and use the process of elimination to determine whether the Salpingitis was caused by viral or bacterial issues.

Keep us updated on how she progresses.  Hopefully she has stayed in her upswing of health since you last updated us!    

Yes, I have taken the advice from the chicken chick and realize she knows what she is talking about when it comes to chickens. My chicken is still doing well and no more lash eggs. I also saw her sitting in a nest box with an egg under her). Good sign I think. However, I did notice she has lost some feathers on her belly. Maybe she is slighty broody? I am still monitoring the flock closely to see if there is an underlying issue.

 

[Grain Gypsy]

@Katieswan , so glad to hear she is still on the upswing! Maybe she is going broody?? We haven't had a girl go broody yet.

 

[snitker79]

Since this is a relatively updated thread. I'm going to post here as well. I have lost 2 ladies to what I think is this issue, but did not know to even look at this illness until I found a Lash Egg in the nest box today. Both girls that died, did so 1 year apart, but presented with similar symptoms to the OP. Tail down, watery poo, lack of energy to scratch and free range. I separated once I saw lethargy and lack of eating. sometimes they would get better and I would put back in with the group (just 5 total at the time). Sometimes the Epsom Salt treatments would help, other times not.

The second one just died 3 weeks ago. I know her abdomen was full of what I now know is probably this bound up egg stuff. She is currently frozen in my freezer (haven't been down to the in-laws farm yet to bury her) so I was going to talk to the vet school to see about either testing the one who laid the lash egg or the one who died.

When Autumn (lady who laid lash egg) started presenting with similar symptoms 3 weeks ago, the same time I was caring for Cali (one in the freezer now) I treated everyone with a wormer medication and antibiotics. I figured if they are going to die, I might as well pull out the big guns and try both at the same time since I had to wait on not eating their eggs anyways... So Autumn started acting better a few days after the treatments and then this. She is acting back to normal and pooing normal too.

I currently have 5 chicks in the house waiting to be big enough to go out with the others. I don't want to intermingle them until I know for sure what I'm dealing with.

From what I've gathered through researching is this: I won't know what I'm dealing with or how (if at all) to treat it until I figure out if it's bacterial or viral. Right?

I'm thankful that I might be on the right path to figuring out what's wrong with them anyways. Before I was grasping at straws as none of the other illnesses really fit their symptoms.

 

[ADozenGirlz]

Since this is a relatively updated thread. I'm going to post here as well. I have lost 2 ladies to what I think is this issue, but did not know to even look at this illness until I found a Lash Egg in the nest box today. Both girls that died, did so 1 year apart, but presented with similar symptoms to the OP. Tail down, watery poo, lack of energy to scratch and free range. I separated once I saw lethargy and lack of eating. sometimes they would get better and I would put back in with the group (just 5 total at the time). Sometimes the Epsom Salt treatments would help, other times not.

The second one just died 3 weeks ago. I know her abdomen was full of what I now know is probably this bound up egg stuff. She is currently frozen in my freezer (haven't been down to the in-laws farm yet to bury her) so I was going to talk to the vet school to see about either testing the one who laid the lash egg or the one who died.

When Autumn (lady who laid lash egg) started presenting with similar symptoms 3 weeks ago, the same time I was caring for Cali (one in the freezer now) I treated everyone with a wormer medication and antibiotics. I figured if they are going to die, I might as well pull out the big guns and try both at the same time since I had to wait on not eating their eggs anyways... So Autumn started acting better a few days after the treatments and then this. She is acting back to normal and pooing normal too.

I currently have 5 chicks in the house waiting to be big enough to go out with the others. I don't want to intermingle them until I know for sure what I'm dealing with.

From what I've gathered through researching is this: I won't know what I'm dealing with or how (if at all) to treat it until I figure out if it's bacterial or viral. Right?

I'm thankful that I might be on the right path to figuring out what's wrong with them anyways. Before I was grasping at straws as none of the other illnesses really fit their symptoms.

You are correct that you won't know how to move forward without knowing what caused the salpingitis. I don't know whether the lab will be able to help because the remains have been frozen, but it is certainly worth asking.

 

[Katieswan]

Since this is a relatively updated thread. I'm going to post here as well.  I have lost 2 ladies to what I think is this issue, but did not know to even look at this illness until I found a Lash Egg in the nest box today.  Both girls that died, did so 1 year apart, but presented with similar symptoms to the OP.  Tail down, watery poo, lack of energy to scratch and free range. I separated once I saw lethargy and lack of eating.  sometimes they would get better and I would put back in with the group (just 5 total at the time). Sometimes the Epsom Salt treatments would help, other times not.

The second one just died 3 weeks ago. I know her abdomen was full of what I now know is probably this bound up egg stuff.  She is currently frozen in my freezer (haven't been down to the in-laws farm yet to bury her) so I was going to talk to the vet school to see about either testing the one who laid the lash egg or the one who died.

When Autumn (lady who laid lash egg) started presenting with similar symptoms 3 weeks ago, the same time I was caring for Cali (one in the freezer now) I treated everyone with a wormer medication and antibiotics. I figured if they are going to die, I might as well pull out the big guns and try both at the same time since I had to wait on not eating their eggs anyways...  So Autumn started acting better a few days after the treatments and then this. She is acting back to normal and pooing normal too.

I currently have 5 chicks in the house waiting to be big enough to go out with the others. I don't want to intermingle them until I know for sure what I'm dealing with.

From what I've gathered through researching is this: I won't know what I'm dealing with or how (if at all) to treat it until I figure out if it's bacterial or viral. Right?

I'm thankful that I might be on the right path to figuring out what's wrong with them anyways.  Before I was grasping at straws as none of the other illnesses really fit their symptoms.

Sorry to hear your dealing with this too. My bird go laid the lash egg has been laying normal eggs since and acting broody. However she has had a day of looking unwell too. I have also had a couple other birds have ill days now. It comes and goes. I too have tried to treat with Epsom salt bath and that seems to help. I still don't know what is causing this and if it is the same thing for all birds. I feel worried everyday about there health but I don't have a vet near me and don't know of that would even help. It's frustrating. I have contemplated just culling the whole flock but feel bad if it's something I can treat at home and am missing. However, my girls don't seem to have any other symptoms except looking uncomfortable for a day and some egg sell quality issues.... Sorry I can't help but I do understand.

 

[lessismore]

So are the other eggs from the flock still safe to eat? I just culled a hen who had a large lash egg sick inside her. We thought she was egg bound (never started laying again after the winter, she's 5 years old) but found a huge lash egg and a few small ones behind it. She was still eating and stuff she just seemed lethargic and had a hard abdomen. I'm going to watch the test of my flock closely but I hope they are all fine! I've got a bantam rooster, 7 hens and 4pullets!

 

[ADozenGirlz]

So are the other eggs from the flock still safe to eat? I just culled a hen who had a large lash egg sick inside her. We thought she was egg bound (never started laying again after the winter, she's 5 years old) but found a huge lash egg and a few small ones behind it. She was still eating and stuff she just seemed lethargic and had a hard abdomen. I'm going to watch the test of my flock closely but I hope they are all fine! I've got a bantam rooster, 7 hens and 4pullets!

Yes, the eggs are safe to eat from the rest of your flock. Sorry for the loss of your hen.