There is no end to the gross oddities that you're exposed to when you have chickens. Chicken keeping is not for the faint of heart. Or fainters in general. Partly because of the lash egg.
Now I'm not a farmer. I'm a regular gal in a regular house with nice shoes, an affinity for gold plated flatware and expensive haircuts. I also have chickens. So my shoes get chicken crap on them and I once left the grocery store realizing I had a piece of straw sticking out of my expensive haircut. That straw had chicken poop on it.
So even though the chicken poop part of me could handle what I found in the nesting box the other day, the nice shoes part of me was aghast and disgusted.
When you have chickens, most days things go without incident. It's just you and your gorgeous chickens as they romp in the straw, scratch in the dirt and dance in the sunshine (everything seen through a filtered lens in slow motion). No, seriously, they dance in the sunshine. For real. Then one day you go to the chicken coop and you find something new. Something unusual. Something horrifyingly gross.
Such was the case last Tuesday.
Last Tuesday I went to check the nesting boxes, (where the chickens lay their eggs) like I normally do.
And I found an egg like I normally do.
Only it wasn't an egg, it was a horrifying rubbery blob.
I knew right away I had a problem. One of my chickens clearly needed an exorcism. Barf.
Double barf.
The chicken owner part of me removed the offending rubber blob from the nesting box, but the gold flatware part of me refused to touch it.
This, dear readers, is a regular egg sitting beside a lash egg.
A lash egg isn't an egg at all, only it is.
I asked poultry vet Dr. Mike Petrik, The Chicken Vet, what the hell this is and what causes it.
This was our email exchange:
Dear Mike,
What the hell is this and do my chickens need an exorcism. I have some sage around here somewhere and I think I can find a priest.
Karen Bertelsen
Dear Karen,
This is the result of an egg partly forming, then getting "hung up" in the oviduct. If you squint, you can imagine that the bigger piece is the yolk and the funny shaped part is a collapsed membrane that is folded around some amorphous material. The membrane is the part where the shell would have formed and the amphorous stuff is the protein from the egg white, once the water is removed.
This often happens with sick chickens, since the first response to illness is to conserve resources. The egg stops whereever it is in the process. If you cut it open you can see the yolk is cooked. The result of a fever.
It is quite possible that this is from Cuddles and is a sign that she is fully recovered and ready to come back into production.
Mike Petrik
Okey doke. So let's cut it open!
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I'm losing count here but I think we're up to triple barf.
The inside of the disgusting lash egg.
And just as Mike predicted, some of it is cooked on the inside.
Now let's cut each half in half again.
Now you can really see the eggshell membrane in there.
So this was definitely an egg that was just about finished forming when something went awry.
The morning after this happened, Cuddles was back in the nesting box but she didn't lay anything. In fact she hasn't laid anything since. But she seems to be happy and healthy.
Other than that whole head spinning around incident yesterday.
Meh. I'm sure it was nothing.
Christine
you had me at exorcist!!!
Love it! Ima tink you n me? we gonna be friens!
Carmen DiCinque
BLESS YOU! This totally explains the incredible matter that I helped my chicken pass today, thanks to lots of coconut oil and patience. Poor Batman (yes, a hen) has some terrible hemorrhoids but hopefully will make it.
Katherine Ancheta Carino
Hi Karen,
I forgot to let you know that shortly after your reply my chicken DID lay again. Her eggs seem perfectly fine. She isn’t as plump as she used to be but it’s like nothing ever happened. Yay!
Karen
I'm glad to hear it. :) ~ karen!
Katherine Ancheta Carino
Thank God for your post!!! I am much like you, I love my shoes, I get fancy hairdos and may just get some gold flatware to go with the Chinaware. We just came home from dinner, I went out to retrieve the eggs where I found my Plymouth Rock in the nesting box. I moved her and found one of these. Oh my gosh! I thought I was going to lose my dinner! Thankfully, with your detailed (and entertaining) writing and pictures, I’m not as worried anymore. I scooped that thing up right away and buried it. She’s molting but acting normal. Hopefully she’ll be okay.
Karen
Good luck Katherine! Hopefully it was just an anomaly. Just keep your eye on her to make sure she's laying regularly from now here on in. ~ karen!
Katherine Ancheta Carino
Karen, did this chicken lay again? I read a few different articles regarding this with the outcome not being so bright.
Karen
Hi Katherine. She did not lay again after this I'm afraid. I ended up having to have her put to sleep but it wasn't for another 2 years. :) ~ karen!
Molly
This has been so helpful! My duck just laid something even worse than this, there was blood on it too. She is recovering from a raccoon attack where she suffered a fractured leg and a puncture wound. She has been healing well and after 2 1/2 weeks is beginning to use her broken leg. And then this happened. She is a year old and stopped laying last fall and never started up again, but never seemed to have a stuck egg, I checked. She has been on an anti-inflammatory for the leg. Hmmm, not sure what this all means, but it sure is interesting. The last few days she has made great gains in her mobility and food consumption. I'm feeling better about her situation after reading and viewing your post. Thank you for sharing :)
Karen
That's great Molly, thanks for letting me know. I'm not as well versed in ducks but I'm glad my chickens could help. ~ karen!
Gayle M
This just showed up on Pinterest when I signed in. Being the day after the Presidential election, I was certain it was a sign of the end coming. lol Gross but somehow interesting. While I don't have chickens, I sure learn a lot about them from you. Thanks for your wit and fortitude!
Karen
Thanks Gayle, lol. I'm not sure who voted for Trump because all of the comments I'm seeing as a Canadian are anti-ANTI-Trump. I'm assuming there are secret Trump supporters who are just laying low. Good luck with your country's lash egg. ;) ~ karen!
Mary
Karen,
I haven't found a lash egg but today one of my girls has a nasty mess on her backside. My husband just said we need to give her a bath. Any ideas? Did yours have a nasty mess on her backside?
Karen
Hi Mary. I've had messy, poopy bums before that's for sure. I deal with them in 1 of 2 ways. I either bring the chicken into the house and soak her in the bathtub until the poop loosens up enough that I can pull it away (wearing disposable rubber gloves!). The odd time if the poop is dry enough I can just crumble it off while wearing those every so helpful disposable gloves again, lol. A constantly poopy bum is sometimes a sign that something's wrong and your chicken isn't feeling well so just keep an eye on her. If she gets poop on her bum just as a fluke, it can also just keep building up because it just keeps gathering on the original blob of poop. Once you clean it off you might find she's fine. ~ karen!
Donna
Oh thank you Karen! Yes it does ease my mind some. I am so glad Cuddles is still doing well. I think/hope my girl is strong. :-) At least I can have hope. :-) Thanks for replying.
DH
Glad to hear that Cuddles is still among the living. I also read the Chicken Chick article. While I haven't had to deal with any lash eggs, it is good to know that there is a reasonable chance of survival for the hen. I don't really care if they never lay again. :)
Donna
Chicken chick said it was fatal ??? I'm hoping Cuddles is fine!
Karen
Yes, I've seen that article Donna. Cuddles seems perfectly healthy. :) She has never laid another egg though. With chickens unless they're VERY sick it's hard to tell. They're absolute experts at hiding symptoms that they aren't feeling well because they don't want to appear vulnerable to the other chickens. I'm sure her information is accurate, but just to double check I've sent an email to my chicken vet to see if he feels that a lash egg is a death sentence. I'll let you know when I hear anything back from him. ~ karen!
Donna
One of my girls laid the same thing today and I was just getting nervous from the article I red on chicken chick! I'm wondering how Cuddles is doing after all these months?
Karen
Hi Donna. I heard from my chicken vet. His opinion is slightly different than the article we both read. He feels a hen laying a lash egg isn't a death sentence and that many if not most chickens who lay a lash egg will live. If they are strong enough to fight off the initial infection chances are they'll ultimately be fine. Much like in humans, it's a matter of how strong the hen is and how strong the bug is. A strong, healthy hen has a fairly good chance of beating the bug. Of course, these are two different opinions from two very intelligent vets. I hope it puts your mind at ease a bit though. ~ karen!
rj Vbrg
If you have an inkling to knit or re-purpose a sweatshirt, Cuddles cuddlier
Hey. I know its cold up there.... ;)
Karen
LOL. Someone put that photo up on my Facebook page just yesterday. Where are its poor wings?! ~ karen!
rj Vbrg
Not totally related to the egg event, and possibly a reversal of your gag reflex, I offer.... the chicken sweater:
we have freezing rain down her (chickens are not mine but sister in law has some for her granddaughter to play with) and I know it is cold where you are... if you are apt to knit, Cuddles could be cuddlier!
Kathy Olding
I had a hen lay a Lash egg last night. I was keeping her in the house because I didn't know what was wrong with her. I didn't know if she was egg bound or injured by the rooster. She was alert and active and eating and drinking normally too. She is still in the house until she is better. Anyhow, she finally layed a Lash egg and I had never heard of it before until I posted it on a Chicken FB Group I am on. Someone said it looked like a Lash Egg. Mine did have egg yolk inside though.. it was gross too. I took pictures if anyone wants to see mine. :) they will have to email me at chesapeakes4us@gmail.com if they want me to show them :) She (hen) seems fine otherwise. Amazing how I learn things at my age
Karen
Aren't they strange things Kathy? (both lash eggs and hens, lol). I hope she continues to improve. My lash egg did have yolk, it was just hard to find and it was cooked from the fever she had! I'd actually love to see pictures of yours! (when did I become this person?!) karen@theartofdoingstuff.com ~ karen!
Tya B
Thanks for the information!
Jean
Triple barf is right. I've had two dogs and rabbit, and nothing like that has come out of any of them. Although the rabbit eats her poop. But that's healthy for a rabbit. Okay, the rabbit is a double barf. But your chicken wins.
Amy
Once, while gathering chicken eggs on the farm where I was living at the time, I stuck my hand in a high nesting box that I could not actually see into...and I drew back instantly horrified at feeling a soft jiggly blob that I felt certain was going to somehow come alive and devour my hand. Turns out, it was only an egg from a chicken who apparently did not get enough calcium and the shell of the egg never properly formed, leading her to lay a blob that looked perfectly like an egg but was soft and jello-y. Yikes...
Always make sure you can see what you are sticking your hand in...
Jess
Bit of both Karen, I'm hoping:-D
Jess
Well....WOW!! The thing is...the"egg" on the spatula kinda'looks like a tiny mumified guinea pig. Then after you've sliced it in two, like a diy-not-too-good-lookin'-but-totally-edible-eggroll. Or maybe I'm just hungry... ;-)
Karen
O.K., if that thing brings out any inclinations of eating or hunger in you, you must be STARVING. Or a bit touched in the head. :) ! karen!
Craig
It's a Chicken Nugget , sell it to KFC or McDonalds!