Lash eggs in chickens is one of the strangest and most horrifying things in backyard chickens.
Imagine you are going to collect eggs and find a rubbery, flesh-like blob instead of a normal egg.
If you’ve never heard of a lash egg, you’re not alone – but it’s important for all chicken raisers to understand what it is and when your hen lays one.
In this definitive guide, we’ll explain what a lash egg is, what causes lash eggs, signs of salpingitis, and how to treat and prevent this condition.
You will also get an FAQs section about lash eggs in a friendly, informative way, so you know exactly how to handle this situation in your flock.
What Is a Lash Egg?
A lash egg is not a real egg at all – it’s actually a bad product of infection. Simply put, a lash egg is an egg-shaped mass of pus and tissue that a hen’s body sheds from her oviduct when she has a serious infection there.
It often has a firm, rubbery texture and may look like a misshapen lump of cooked egg or meat.
These masses can be yellow, tan, or even have reddish spots, and sometimes have layered interiors that peel like an onion, which is formed by the accumulation of pus and bits of tissue.
They are usually covered in a rubbery film or fragile shell membrane rather than a normal eggshell.
The term “lash egg” can be confusing. Historically, old-time farmers used “lash egg” to describe a soft-shelled egg, but today it refers to these gross, cheese-like, infected masses.
Veterinarians call the material “caseous exudate” – essentially pus that has solidified into a cheese-like lump. In other words, a lash egg is the body’s attempt to wall off and expel an infection in the reproductive tract.
It often takes the shape of an egg as it passes through the hen’s oviduct and out of the vent (cloaca), just like a normal egg would,
Lash Egg Vs Normal Egg
Don’t confuse a lash egg with other odd eggs your hen might lay. Chickens can produce strange eggs occasionally (like soft-shelled “rubber” eggs or even an egg inside another egg) due to reproductive abnormalities, and those are usually harmless.
A soft or shell-less egg, for example, still contains yolk and egg white and typically results from a calcium deficiency or stress.
A lash egg mainly contains no yolk or white; it’s mostly pus and dead tissue. It is a sign of a serious infection, not a simple egg abnormality.
If you cut a lash egg open, you won’t find a normal yolk; instead, you’ll see layers of yellowish, cheese-like gunk and maybe traces of blood or eggshell fragments.
What Causes Lash Eggs (Salpingitis)?
Lash eggs are caused by salpingitis, which is an infection and inflammation of the hen’s oviduct. Essentially, some pathogen (usually bacteria) invades the reproductive tract, and the hen’s immune system responds by producing thick pus to trap the infection.
Over time, this pus hardens into a coagulated mass inside the oviduct – the lash egg. Eventually, the hen’s body may expel this mass, and that’s when you find the scary “egg” made of pus.
Bacterial infection is the most common cause. Organisms like E. coli, Salmonella, Mycoplasma gallisepticum (which causes respiratory disease), Staphylococcus, or Pasteurella can travel up the hen’s reproductive tract and cause a raging infection.
Often, these bacteria enter the oviduct from the cloaca (vent) – for example, if a hen has a respiratory infection or an abdominal infection, bacteria can migrate to the oviduct.
Vent picking (hens pecking at each other’s back ends) can also introduce bacteria like E. coli into the oviduct. In some cases, viruses such as infectious bronchitis or Newcastle disease can damage the oviduct, setting the stage for a secondary bacterial infection.
Hens that are older or high-producing are at higher risk. Salpingitis (and thus lash eggs) is most often seen in hens around 2–3 years old or more.
High egg production and hormonal stress on the reproductive organs also cause infection, especially if their nutrition is poor.
Obesity is another risk factor – overweight hens have weaker immune function and can get internal infections more easily.
When an infection takes hold in the oviduct, the hen’s immune system tries to isolate it by secreting a waxy pus. Over days and weeks, layer upon layer of pus and debris builds up, sometimes incorporating bits of yolk, egg white, eggshell, or blood into it.
The solid mass eventually passes as a lash egg. Often, it takes weeks or even months to form, showing that the infection has been active inside the hen for a long time.
Signs and Symptoms of Salpingitis in Chickens
The major issue with salpingitis is that frequently, chickens attempt to hide their malfunction. Because being a prey animal is something that they are, they mask signs of weakness with the intent of not drawing attention to themselves in the flock.
At first, a hen with salpingitis may look healthy. As the infection develops, she can become lethargic and may eventually pass a lash egg. The appearance of a lash egg is a clear warning sign that something is wrong, especially when paired with other symptoms of illness.
You may see:
Unusual egg production: Often, egg production becomes reduced. You may notice your hen laying fewer eggs, eggs with a very thin or soft shell, or simply stop laying altogether.
Abdominal swelling: When the oviduct becomes infected, it can become swollen or collect fluid/pus, and this will cause the hen’s lower abdomen to feel tight. You may feel abdominal swelling when gently palpating her abdomen.
“Penguin” position: A hen that is sick may hold herself upright, waddling on her legs with her legs apart and tail down, kind of like a penguin. This takes place because the swollen abdomen prevents her from walking normally.
Weak: The hen could also be moving unusually slow and un-energetic, trying to avoid the flock or staying on her nest most of the day. She may also look puffed-up and lazy, perhaps as a result of her ruffled feathers.
Weight loss: Despite a swollen abdomen, she may still be losing weight overall. Look at the breast muscle – a sick hen often has a notable keel bone in breast muscle wastage.
Drinking more water: Some hens drink a lot more water when they are ill, and you may notice she is frequently at the waterer.
Difficulty breathing: In some instances, the mass buildup could be pushing on internal organs, including the air sacs, resulting in poor breathing efforts (i.e., heavy breathing) or tail-bobbing due to breathing.
Pale comb, wattles: Her comb may appear pale or gray if this is a result of a chronic infection, indicating poor circulation or anemia due to the chronic infection.
Changes in chicken poop: She may have messy vent feathers due to diarrhea, or notice strange-colored drops due to an infection.
Remember that these are not all signs of salpingitis, and they could mean another illness. But any combination of reproductive issues (think lash eggs, soft eggs, etc.), and systemic illness is always alarming.
Can a Hen Survive After Laying a Lash Egg?
Discovering a lash egg can be scary because it means your hen has had a severe infection brewing. The natural question is: what now? Can the hen recover?
The outcome depends on how severe the infection is and how quickly treatment begins, but the prognosis remains uncertain. By the time a hen lays a lash egg, her body has usually been battling infection for months.
In many cases, the hen may appear very ill when the lash egg passes, or she might even act relatively normal if she’s one of the tougher birds.
Some hens do survive salpingitis, especially if the infection is mild or they receive prompt treatment. Most hens survive less than six months after a lash egg appears, as the infection often leaves lasting damage.
Even if the hen pulls through, she may never return to laying eggs normally. Inflammation can scar or block the oviduct.
That said, survival is not impossible. There are anecdotal reports of backyard hens living long, content lives after passing a lash egg – they just remain as non-laying pet chickens.
A strong immune system can sometimes ward off the infection. Treatment can improve the odds, which we’ll cover next. Just remember that a hen that has produced a lash egg is very sick – it’s a serious situation and not just a quirky egg.
If a hen with salpingitis does not pass the pus mass out (no external lash egg), the infection can continue internally.
In those cases, unfortunately, the hen often declines and may die from complications of the infection. On a post-mortem exam (necropsy), you might find a large amount of caseous (cheese-like) material impacted in the oviduct and even extending into the abdomen.
This internal buildup can compress organs, such as the intestines and lungs, leading to difficulty breathing and potential organ failure. It’s a harsh reality that salpingitis can be fatal if not caught very early.
How to Treat a Hen That Laid a Lash Egg
If you find a lash egg or suspect salpingitis, act fast. Treatment usually involves antibiotics and supportive care, but success is limited since the infection is often advanced by the time it’s detected.
- Isolate the hen:
First, separate the sick hen from the flock. This makes it easier to care for her (and prevents others from pecking her if she’s weak). It also allows you to monitor her food/water intake, as well as her droppings.
- Veterinary care:
If possible, consult a vet. A veterinarian can perform a test or even an ultrasound to determine if there are additional masses inside. They might investigate the lash egg or conduct lab tests to identify the cause of the infection, which helps in choosing the right antibiotic.
- Antibiotics:
Antibiotic therapy is the main treatment for bacterial salpingitis. Broad-spectrum antibiotics, such as tetracyclines, are often used as a first-line treatment. Others, such as amoxicillin, penicillin, or sulfa drugs, might be given to chickens depending on the suspected bacteria. It’s crucial to complete the full course of treatment as prescribed by the vet.
- Anti-inflammatories:
A veterinarian might also administer an anti-inflammatory (such as meloxicam) to reduce swelling and pain. This can make the hen more comfortable and reduce inflammation in the oviduct.
- Encourage removal:
In some cases, vets may try to help the hen expel the infected material with drugs that trigger oviduct contractions. This approach is risky—if the oviduct is blocked, contractions could cause it to rupture. Only a qualified specialist should attempt this treatment.
- Surgical removal:
Physically removing the lash egg mass or even removing the oviduct (salpingectomy) is technically possible but not commonly done for backyard hens. Surgery carries risks like any operation, and hens don’t always tolerate it well. It’s also expensive and usually only pursued for very valuable or pet chickens under the care of an avian specialist. In commercial settings, a hen with salpingitis would simply be culled rather than treated.
- Supportive care:
Ensure the hen is eating and drinking, especially if she is not. Offer her nutritious, easy-to-digest food. Keep her in a clean, warm, quiet area. Sometimes the hen’s body may need time to heal after expelling a lash egg. Some hens actually feel relief once the mass is removed, and after that, the vet gives them medicine to treat the infection.
However, Salpingitis often has a poor recovery rate, even with the best care. Many professional poultry farmers say that hens laying lash eggs mostly face reproductive issues. Therefore, treatment is the only option, but recovery depends solely on the bird’s health.
Note: Always follow vet guidance on what drug and dosage to give – some antibiotics like Baytril (enrofloxacin) are highly effective against E. coli but are not approved for use in laying hens in some countries.
How to Prevent Lash Eggs in Your Flock
Preventing lash eggs essentially means preventing salpingitis (oviduct infections). While you can’t control everything, good husbandry practices go a long way toward keeping your hens healthy. Here are some tips to reduce the risk:
- Maintain excellent coop hygiene: Clean the chicken coop regularly. Remove old bedding and droppings frequently, and ensure nesting boxes are clean and dry. Bacteria live in dirty, damp areas. By keeping the coop clean, you can reduce the pathogens that could cause infections. Disinfect the coop regularly, especially if you’ve had a sick bird.
- Provide a balanced diet with adequate calcium: Nutritional stress can predispose hens to illness. Feed a quality layer feed and limit treats. Plenty of calcium (via layer feed or oyster shell) helps prevent soft-shelled eggs that can break inside the hen, which can lead to infection. Lack of nutrition can weaken a hen’s immune system and also cause defects in egg laying, so good feed is key.
- Avoid obesity: Consuming too many treats or engaging in low activity can lead to hens becoming overweight. Over weight is a risk factor for egg-bin ding and infections. Allow your birds to forage outside more and limit high-calorie feed and treats.
- Good biosecurity: Limit exposure to outside diseases. If you introduce new chickens, quarantine them first to ensure they aren’t carrying infections like Mycoplasma or E. coli. Wild birds can also spread respiratory diseases – keep feeders and waterers clean and consider fencing to prevent wild birds from mingling with your flock.
- Respiratory health: Many cases of salpingitis originate as respiratory infections that spread internally. Vaccinating for common respiratory viruses (like infectious bronchitis) can help if available to you. At the very least, monitor for coughing, sneezing, or swelling around the eyes, and treat respiratory issues promptly.
- Probiotics and immune support: Some keepers add a small amount of apple cider vinegar (ACV) to the drinking water (e.g., 1 tablespoon per gallon) a few times a week, or use probiotic supplements, to support a healthy gut flora and immune system. While this won’t prevent a serious infection on its own, it may improve overall health.
- Reduce stress: Stress can weaken your chicken’s immune system. Provide plenty of space, keep a stable pecking order, and protect your flock from predators. Hens that are stressed or bullied are more prone to getting sick.
- Regular check-ups: Take note of each hen’s laying patterns and behavior. If one stops laying for an extended period or shows signs of illness, investigate sooner rather than later. Sometimes, using antibiotics for an infection could prevent it from developing into full-blown salpingitis.
Even with perfect care, remember that salpingitis can still occur in a backyard flock. There is no 100% guaranteed prevention.
It often strikes older hens or those that have had an underlying infection. Do your best with flock management, and stay focused.
Are Lash Eggs Contagious or Dangerous?
When you first see a bad lash egg, you might wonder if it can spread infection to the rest of your chickens or humans. Salpingitis and lash eggs are not contagious in the way a cold or flu is, but there’s a catch.
The condition of salpingitis itself doesn’t jump from hen to hen – one hen’s lash egg won’t cause another to lay a lash egg.
However, the underlying infection that led to the lash egg can be contagious. It depends on which bug is responsible:
- If a highly infectious bacterium like Mycoplasma gallisepticum or Salmonella were the cause of salpingitis, that germ could spread through the flock via respiratory droplets, droppings, or even shared water, and also have a chance to infect others. In this case, multiple hens would be at risk of developing infections.
- If the salpingitis was the result of an opportunistic bacteria such as E. coli from the hen’s own environment, it would likely remain as a solitary incident. Other hens are unlikely to “catch a lash egg” from her, although the same risk factors in the environment could still cause others to get sick on their own.
- Regardless, it’s a good practice to part ways safely between a lash egg and a sick hen. Discarding a lash egg should be done with gloves, and it’s recommended to clean/disinfect anywhere it made contact. A lash egg is simply a ball-like substance that comprises bacteria, and you don’t want it sitting around. You’ll also want to clean the nest box area and coop area with an appropriate disinfectant for proper management.
Is it harmful to humans? In general, a lash egg is unlikely to cause illness in humans through contact. The nature of the bacteria (i.e., E. coli or Staph) could be problematic for an individual with an open cut or if it is licked (i.e., ingested by accident). So, wash your hands well after handling a lash egg or a sick hen.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
A: A lash egg appears as a peculiar, rubbery deposit – usually beige, yellow, or light brown in color – about the size of an ordinary egg. It can appear slightly misshapen and feels solid and rubbery. Inside, it has layers of cheesy pus and possibly bits of egg tissue or blood. It certainly does not look or feel like a regular egg, which has a yolk and white.
A: Absolutely not! While a typical bird egg is a nutritious source of food, a lash egg is just pus, bacteria, and junk, and has zero nutritional value. IIt may contain harmful pathogens, and eating it could easily make you sick. Lash eggs usually stink because of the infection. You should treat it like biohazardous waste and dispose of it immediately – don’t even put it in your compost if you are a composter. Do not feed it to pets or other animals!
A: Lash eggs are the result of salpingitis, which is an infection of the hen’s oviduct. Bacteria (such as E. coli and Mycoplasma) or viruses sometimes invade the reproductive tract, leading to subsequent infections and inflammation, as well as the formation of pus. The hen’s body walls off the infection by forming a cheese-like pus mass, which is later expelled as a lash egg. It’s, in a sense, the hen’s way of trying to rid herself of an infection.
A: A lash egg is not a true egg, even though it takes the same path through the hen’s reproductive tract as an egg would. Unlike a true egg, a lash egg does not come from an ovary, and there is no yolk or albumen. A lash egg is really only a conglomeration of pus, infection, and necrotic tissue that has formed into the shape of an egg. You could think of it as an abscess that formed inside the hen and was expelled from the oviduct.
A: No, soft-shelled (or shell-less) eggs are different. A soft-shelled egg has normal egg contents (yolk and white) but either has a very thin shell or no shell at all due to a calcium deficiency, or simply an immature egg-laying condition occurring in young birds. It may feel rubbery, but it does not actually contain pus or infected tissue. Soft eggs and/or oddly shaped eggs appear occasionally, without signs of sickness. By contrast, a lash egg results from infection and contains no edible egg material.
A: It can be challenging because hens are good at hiding illness. Warning signs include stopping egg laying, multiple soft eggs, a swollen belly, lethargy, eating or weight loss, difficulty breathing, and standing upright like a penguin. If you see one or more signs, there may be an internal issue, perhaps salpingitis or egg peritonitis, and your hen will need to see a vet. Sometimes the first sign you will see is a lash egg in the nest, or the hen simply dies.
A: A lash egg itself cannot infect other chickens, but the bacteria behind it can. If the infection is caused by organisms like Mycoplasma or Salmonella, they may spread through droppings, sneezing, or shared water. To protect the flock, isolate the sick hen, remove and dispose of the lash egg, and thoroughly disinfect the coop. Not every case is contagious, but it’s safest to assume some are and always practice strong biosecurity.
A: While you can’t become ill from a lash egg the way you would from an infectious illness, you should still consider it as infectious material. The bacteria in the egg (for example, E. coli or Staph) can become a problem if swallowed or enter a cut. Be sure to always wear gloves or grab a paper towel to pick up the lash egg and wash your hands after. This kind of material tends to attract dogs and/or predators, so dispose of it in a sealed bag that they can’t access. And nobody should eat the material: it is not safe for consumption.
A: It’s difficult to treat a hen with salpingitis without a vet. If you have antibiotics from your veterinarian, give them as early as possible. Move the sick hen away from the flock, keep her warm, and provide nutritious food and clean water. No home remedy can cure a severe infection. Garlic or herbal supplements may support her, but they won’t remove the disease. The best option is vet-prescribed medication with supportive care. If a vet isn’t available and it’s legal, you may find antibiotics at a feed store, but results are uncertain. Sadly, many hens don’t survive salpingitis, even with treatment, which makes prevention and early action vital.
Summary
Finally, if one hen in your flock has salpingitis and lash egg, keep a close eye on the other birds. It’s not a widespread epidemic-type disease.
However, always remember that if one hen contracts an infection from a common source, another hen may also be susceptible.
In some cases, a vet may advise treating the entire flock with antibiotics, especially if a contagious bacteria such as Mycoplasma is involved.
This is situational – you wouldn’t medicate everyone for an isolated E. coli case, for example, but you would take steps to simply sanitize the coop and nearby.
Always consult veterinary guidance when making these decisions, as antibiotic overuse can lead to the development of antibiotic resistance.
In summary, lash eggs in chickens are a serious sign that your hen has been fighting a chronic infection.
While it’s an unsettling discovery, knowing about salpingitis and its signs means you can respond quickly and hopefully help your hen.
Keep your chickens healthy with good care, watch for warning signs, and don’t hesitate to consult a vet for something as abnormal as a lash egg.
Many backyard flock owners consider their chickens part of the family, so being informed is the best thing you can do for those feathered friends.
Below, we’ve answered some frequently asked questions to reinforce the key facts about lash eggs.
