[Catsmuvva]

Dixie-Lee, my oldest ex-bat (with me for 2yrs 2mth) has just expelled an entire albumen & what looks like a cooked strand of yolk, no membrane to hold it together and no shell.

I've done a quick internal and there's no evidence of shell. She's looking a bit shocked at the moment...

 

[bantam novice]

Hello Catsmuvva,
I am not an expert however one thing you could try is giving her a warm bath.  This may help her relax and expell anything left inside her.  If she is still not back to herself she could have egg yolk peritonitis and will need a visit to the vet.
I am sure someone more experienced will be along to advise you.  In the meantime good luck and keep us posted.

[Catsmuvva]

Thanks - she took herself off to the ark about 1/2hr after I'd posted, thought she'd gone for an early night but sat in the nestbox instead. I'll leave her for tonight as she seems settled there - had a few dried mealworms when I offered them a few minutes ago but didn't appear interested in getting up.

I'll def be checking her over in the morning as she felt a bit light but her crop was 1/2 full. Maybe its her that's been laying the eggs with the gloopy albumen I mentioned in a previous post...    

Oh, I should add that the yolk wasn't expelled, it was trailing from her vent so I gently pulled it out & then checked for shell which I didn't find.

[Carla]

I'm having the same issues with my ex-batts at the moment. Soft eggs all the time, that seem to have just dropped out while roosting, weird sacs of 'stuff' hanging out Nellies vent that I have to pull out, leaving her looking very suprised  :blink: and the odd egg that is laid has nearly water like whites. They seemed upset by it at first, but they seem to be ok with it now, as if they're used to it?
I presumed it was them coming to the end of their laying days and their egg factory stopping working properly.
I'm not much use to you in the way of advice but I just think they're worn out

[Catsmuvva]

I'm happy to report Dixie-Lee looks much better this morning, tail & head up and trotting around with the others.

I'll be keeping a watchful eye on proceedings for the next few days though...

[bantam novice]

Good Luck to you and Dixie-Lee 

[CattinJ]

Hi,
I've had lots of problems with soft eggs/no shells from my ex bats.  You can usually tell if there's a problem as they go hunched/close their eyes and look pretty sick - this has happened on 2 occasions - once my poor girl laid 2 eggs in one go but only after we brought her in to the warm, stress free environment of our house, and once we had to rush one to the vets for antibiotics after laying problems.
Most of the time though, they bounce back just fine after laying a soft egg though it is quite exhausting for them it seems, and it can take them a day or 2 to be fully back to normal.
My ex bats have now finished laying and we had lots of weird bits coming out on a regular basis without it seeing to concern the chooks.  They are now retired ladies!

[Catsmuvva]

Hi all, I just wanted to update this post and it's good news!

Dixie-Lee is much better, back to her old self, and is getting very pally with my now 6 week old chick, Epic, through the wire of his/her daytime run.

One of the girls is currently laying odd shaped eggs, I suspect Dixie-Lee may be responsible...but eggs or no eggs I'm glad she's back to normal   

[NormandyMary]

So glad to hear that Dixie-Lee is much better today, but reading your thread makes me ask this question.
Is there anyone else out there in chicken land, who HASNT put their hand up a chooks bum? I havent done it and to be honest, I wouldnt know where to start, that's providing I could catch one in the first place of course!

[Catsmuvva]

Just a tip here, NM - use a finger, not the whole hand   

... and if you've got beautifully manicured nails get someone else to do it, we don't want the girls getting an unnecessary gynaecological procedure in the process