Hen acting strange after laying egg

[halleyd591]

I posted last week about the same chicken that is having problems again today. Last week she was "sick" (straight tail, sleepy, standing around) for a day and was back to her normal self within 3 days. Today when I got home from work she was again straight tailed and looked sleepy but was still walking around. I picked her up and felt her belly which was very hard. I massage downwards to the vent and set her back down. Within 5 minutes she squatted and laid a perfectly normal egg. She then drank some water but is now just standing around straight tailed again.
What's happening?? She is 9 mos old and hasn't been laying long. I'm really not sure how long she has been laying..I have several chickens that lay white eggs so there's no way to tell for sure.
Why would she be having this behavior AFTER she lays?
Could she just be mortified by what's happening?
She is healthy other than what I have explained.
Any ideas?? PLEASE help. I'm worried about her.

 

[halleyd591]

Within an hour of posting earlier she laid another egg! Shelless...But another egg. The others ate it before I could get it! Someone please help

 

[azygous]

I've had two hens who did as your hen has done.

One was an EE who laid jumbo eggs, so huge I couldn't close the lid of the egg carton. She had been sitting on a nest for hours for a couple days straight without producing an egg. I gave her a warm soak and placed her in a crate in a quiet spot away from the flock.

In an hour she produced a normal, but huge, egg, then and hour later, a shell-less egg.

Currently, I have a Cream Legbar who lays eggs almost as large as that EE used to, even though she's a very tiny girl. One day she was acting sick, and I thought she was checking out. A few hours later, she had dropped a huge egg on the ground of the run. Within half an hour, she was behaving normally again.

If your hen lays abnormally large eggs, this could be her problem. It really seems to take a lot out of a hen to pass these huge eggs, and it doesn't get any better as they age.

 

[peopleRanimals2]

What Azygous described is called being egg bound- it's a real problem. In worst case scenarios hens can die

 

[halleyd591]

I know about being egg bound but she produced 2 eggs in an hr. Is it possible she could've been egg bound and just passed it and the other egg that was still developing just slid down too quickly from her pushing the other out?

 

[peopleRanimals2]

Yes, that's possible

 

[peopleRanimals2]

It's also likely that the 2nd egg was developed without a shell due to the stress, and it was just being blocked by the 1st egg.

 

[aart]

I don't know that I'd call it 'egg bound'.
New layers can have all sorts of funky eggs for up to a month or so from onset of lay.
I've seen that standing still with tail down staring off into space when a softshell is in the pipes...it must feel weird to them.

I'd not worry too much....keep an eye on her, and her vent and belly.

What and how exactly are you feeding?
How many birds do you have and how much space(in feet by feet) do they have???

 

[peopleRanimals2]

Also, hens can lay 2 eggs in one day. Usually the 2nd one has a very weak or no shell. That may be it.

 

[halleyd591]

All my girls get 18% layer pellets and free choice oyster shell and grit. They do get scraps occasionally and scratch on cold nights. I put 1 Tbs ACV to 1 gallon of water. I have 8 birds (5 are bantam) in a 6x4 coop with ample roosting space, 4 nest boxes and their run is 20x14.