Pottage Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 This time it is my favourite, little Nugget. I am so upset She was fine yesterday morning when I let them out, but by the time I got home from work she was hunched up in the corner and totally disinterested in the grapes I had for them. She's usually a speedy little thing and will chase them if I roll them across the garden and she's always the first girl to the treats. She just wanted to stand there with her head in her wing and sleep, both yesterday evening and this morning, though I did get her to take a few dried mealworms and a couple of beakfulls of corn. Our other chook, Lola, has just been treated for egg peritonitis and had an implant on Monday, so last night we gave Nugget some of her Baytril and Metacam. Nugget has a red belly, though not as red as Lola's was, and was dripping egg white type goo from her vent every so often, which is exactly what Lola had when she first had eyp. This morning Nugget is not much better. When I let them out at 6am her bottom and feathers were covered in eggy, pooey goop. I plonked her in the washing up bowl to clean her up. Shortly after that, she laid a soft shelled egg. I was surprised at this because there was still wet yolk in the coop, and the stuff on her feathers appeared to be quite fresh. More surprise was to come though, when 10 minutes later she laid *yet another* soft shelled egg The last time she laid a proper, hard egg that I know was hers was Sunday, though last night DH found a weak shelled egg in the nest box which of course could have been her or Lola. Nugget is usually a lay every other day girl. When I left for work she was withdrawn and just standing still sleeping. She was shivering too, now I don't know if that's because she was wet and cold from the bath or something to do with what is happening inside of her. To me, she looks pretty close to death. I picked her up and put her in the coop as it's warm and dry in there in the hope it will help her dry off. I never saw Lola shake like Nugget is at the moment when she was ill. As Nugget laid two eggs with shells this morning, does that mean she should have pushed out the remains of anything that was broken and/or without a shell or membrane inside her? Another less serious issue is with Lola. Whilst I was running around trying to clean Nugget and get the softies before they got devoured I noticed she has something hanging out of her vent. I thought it was a prolapse, but after a good look It seems to just be the soft membrane of an egg. A prolapse would be bright red and look like living muscle, right? She had an implant on Monday, so how long should I expect to wait until it stops her producing anything egg like? I've given her some metacam this morning (she's still on antibiotics anyway) as I read it can induce contractions to push the shell out, and after some Googleing on the way to work I'm going to try poking my finger up her vent to help her push out anything up there when I get home this evening. This chicken keep lark is so glamorous! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Pottage - sorry I can't say anything helpful I just wanted you to know that I really feel for you. It made me very sad reading about your poorly little girls. I really hope you manage to get them sorted out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Quite often a soft shelled egg bursts and the membrane leaves some time later Pottage. As you rightly say a prolapse, which does sometimes come with a broken egg, would be reddish, depending on the damage. Need to be careful removing the soft shell though because you could cause a prolapse. Not sure it is peritonitis though? She would be laying eggs into her abdomen and it sounds like she is still laying. However a red abdomen sounds like some kind of internal infection or problem? Baytril and Metacam would be the way to go I think and then hope it works. Poor Nugget. Hope she gets better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pottage Posted July 25, 2014 Author Share Posted July 25, 2014 I'm reading up on vent gleet, and wondering if it could be that as opposed to another case of eyp, though the eggy gunk coming out of her leads me to think it probably isn't. Could vent gleet cause her to be quite so ill and lay so many eggs in such quick succession? I guess I just have to wait for the vet to call me back. Hating being at work today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Vent gleet is extremely rare and stinks terribly. I think it is a symptom of yeast infection and antibiotics actually make it far worse. So I very much doubt it is that, unless they have been fed bread? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pottage Posted July 25, 2014 Author Share Posted July 25, 2014 I think possibly you, or someone else on this forum, said they would query Lola’s eyp diagnosis. My vet does seem good and Lola is now a normal chicken again (albeit she’s still on antibiotics) but it has crossed my mind that she may have jumped to the eyp conclusion just because Lolls is an ex batt? Lola laid a several “proper” eggs in-between spates of laying (if you can call it that) just an eggy mess with no shell or membrane. I’m not sure how I would know whether the eggy mess is coming from her egg making bits or from her abdomen/poo making bits though? Anyway, that’s by the by now as she has an implant. I’d rather she has that that keeps getting infections from whatever issues she is having. I’m wondering if they are getting enough sun light which is causing the shell issues, their run is mostly in the shade but I let them out first thing in the morning for about ¾ of an hour and from 4pm until they go to bed during the week, and then they are out all day on the weekends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pottage Posted July 25, 2014 Author Share Posted July 25, 2014 No, no bread. I am paranoid about impacted/sour crop! Bottom doesn't smell, the goo coming from her doesn't smell at all. She only had Beryl's (goodness that stinks!) on Tuesday, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Vent gleet tends to leave a white pasty mess around the vent feathers. I would try feeding her anything other than layers feed for a few days. Mixed corn, sweetcorn etc to try and interupt her laying cycle and give her system a chance to recover. Soft shelled eggs do take it out of them as they have nothing to 'push' against and it exhausts them. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimnpaula Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Perhaps an Epsom salt 'spa' treatment might help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pottage Posted July 25, 2014 Author Share Posted July 25, 2014 I've come home and Nugget is back to her normal self! Lola, however, has taken a turn for the worse again. She laid the broken soft membrane along with the yolk at about 5:30pm. I've had her in a warm bath fir 1/2 an hour and she is still having contractions and pushing out eggy goo from time to time. She had an implant on Monday so I'm hoping this will stop for her at least soon. It breaks my heart to see them like this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claireabella Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 That's really good news about Nugget. I'm sorry to hear Lola is poorly again They can be such a worry sometimes but she is obviously in very good hands with you and you are doing a great job. I hope she shows some improvement soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
