What are these worms? - Now with pictures!

[party_in_the_coop]

Hi just joined now to ask what type of worm are these that I found in the bedtime poop of one of my laying chicken, directly under her roosting position.
The consistency looks very granulated, lots of fiber as if much was left undigested and it was lots!
Would greatly appreciate any advice on what type they actually are to better treat her.
Also do you reckon I should treat the entire flock of three two year-old hens and two pullets and four cockerels born in may?
Sorry I should've included a scale or measure but hopefully you can get the idea from the hay straw in the first picture.

Can't seem to upload pictures right now.
Finally managed to upload, sorry my connection is quite bad here!

 

[sourland]

I believe those are maggots - not worms.

 

[Swbertrand1]

Look like maggots to me too... An immediate examination of all the birds' vent areas is in order.

Flies can and will lay eggs on excrement that gets left on and around the vent area as well as on the skin of affected birds. This can quickly escalate into a larger problem where the maggots (hatched eggs of the flies) begin feeding on the flesh of the bird(s).

Examine them ASAP, and if they're found to have maggots in and around their vent, get them cleaned up right away.
Here's a good article about Flystrike and how to treat it that @Eggcessive had posted earlier this month:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/flystrike-in-backyard-chickens-causes/

 

[party_in_the_coop]

They also looked to me quite similar to maggots but them being grey and not the usual yellow-white put me off.
Just checked her vent, around it it seems all clean and working, she even had the courtesy of providing me with a fountainous functionality check while I was holding her on her back quite upside down and looking through the spread out feathers. Luckily it missed both my face and her tail, shooting out to the side.

So the problem would be more in the lines of flies laying maggots in her sometimes undigested poop, because only in that type of splatter like night poop I have seen them.
Should get a picture next time maybe it will help.

This hen has been having some calcium problems, laying shell-less eggs, broken shell-less eggs and also occasionally laying these while on the roost at night.
Her feathers have been looking worn out and all frayed at the tips for the last couple of months, I attributed that to the increased pressure on her since she is the bottom hen and the new chicks have made everyone more hierarchical.

I have given her crushed calcium tablets in puree, oyster shells and crushed eggs shells are available and also mixed in with the mixed grain feed but she doesn't seem too keen on it from what I've seen.
And I can't give them layer feed because of the young cockerels and pullets.
So apart from hand feeding her puree every evening I don't know how to help her,
and that I'm sorry but is not going to last.

Here a picture of an egg she laid a couple days ago with calcium formations, quite puzzled as I have stopped the tablets over three weeks ago when she sort of started laying solid eggs regularly, but the occasional soft one still appears.

 

[Swbertrand1]

They also looked to me quite similar to maggots but them being grey and not the usual yellow-white put me off.
Just checked her vent, around it it seems all clean and working, she even had the courtesy of providing me with a fountainous functionality check while I was holding her on her back quite upside down and looking through the spread out feathers. Luckily it missed both my face and her tail, shooting out to the side.

So the problem would be more in the lines of flies laying maggots in her sometimes undigested poop, because only in that type of splatter like night poop I have seen them.
Should get a picture next time maybe it will help.

This hen has been having some calcium problems, laying shell-less eggs, broken shell-less eggs and also occasionally laying these while on the roost at night.
Her feathers have been looking worn out and all frayed at the tips for the last couple of months, I attributed that to the increased pressure on her since she is the bottom hen and the new chicks have made everyone more hierarchical.

I have given her crushed calcium tablets in puree, oyster shells and crushed eggs shells are available and also mixed in with the mixed grain feed but she doesn't seem too keen on it from what I've seen.
And I can't give them layer feed because of the young cockerels and pullets.
So apart from hand feeding her puree every evening I don't know how to help her,
and that I'm sorry but is not going to last.

Here a picture of an egg she laid a couple days ago with calcium formations, quite puzzled as I have stopped the tablets over three weeks ago when she sort of started laying solid eggs regularly, but the occasional soft one still appears.

The fountainous display is hilarious! Glad she missed you! Glad to hear she's not infested with fly larvae too. So, what you're seeing could be the result of flies laying eggs in the stools of the birds at roost.

To her other issues: Reproductive issues are not uncommon in laying hens. That she's laying soft eggs is clearly a reproductive issue, but one I'm afraid I have no experience with. The difference in Layer Feed versus Starter Feed is possibly a part of the egg shell issue, but with calcium supplements, she should be responding short of a deeper issue.

Can the birds be separated so that the young birds get their feed and the older birds their own? I would guess not, or you would have done that. Perhaps, moving this hen to a segregated spot in the run might work so that she remains with the flock, but can be fed a diet of Layer Feed with additional calcium. In this way, the younger birds can get their feed, you can monitor this hen's feed intake, and put her up with the flock at night.

I'd like @Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock or @azygous to jump in here since they are far better with reproductive issues than I am... :-(

 

[Eggcessive]

I have had hens who ate layer feed and had crushed oyster shell and fed back egg shells, who still had shell-less eggs or other egg shell problems. One hen was injured by a dog. My other hens were exposed to infectious bronchitis virus, some when young. While the majority of most hen’s eggs were normal, some had calcium deposits, rings, soft spots, and other deformities. Wrinkled or corrugated egg shells, and other odd eggs can be seen with IB virus. Salpingitis can be one cause of egg shell problems. Here is a good article with egg shell problems and possible causes:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/common-egg-quality-problems.65923/

 

[Swbertrand1]

Here is a good article with egg shell problems and possible causes:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/common-egg-quality-problems.65923/

I read through that and watched the video. That's an awesome resource!

 

[party_in_the_coop]

I have had hens who ate layer feed and had crushed oyster shell and fed back egg shells, who still had shell-less eggs or other egg shell problems. One hen was injured by a dog. My other hens were exposed to infectious bronchitis virus, some when young. While the majority of most hen’s eggs were normal, some had calcium deposits, rings, soft spots, and other deformities. Wrinkled or corrugated egg shells, and other odd eggs can be seen with IB virus. Salpingitis can be one cause of egg shell problems. Here is a good article with egg shell problems and possible causes:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/common-egg-quality-problems.65923/

Thanks I found that article a couple days ago when looking to figure out the cause of that egg I posted.
What I don't comprehend is that she has been lacking calcium since I switched to regular feed, at first it was just one thin walled egg, then a week later another, then some shell-less, even though I had started feeding her calcium every day.
Then I give them oyster shells (had them on crushed eggs before with perfectly good shells, but also was giving layer feed)and try to slowly drop the calcium tablets.
And now it's been about a month I last gave her calcium, have been getting very occasional thin eggs, a couple dropped from the roost, and then a calcium covered egg.

Could she still be adapting to the new feed/oyster shells?
Or is she just a hen with a lousy calcium gland which could just barely get it done by eating layer feed?