I tried to find any mention of what's going on with my BR in previous forums, but didn't see anything. I posted something the other day, but someone just told me to give my hen a bath. I need more help than that, please!
My hens are all over a year old. I have 7 and one of them, Millie, is a Barred Rock. No one else is having the same problems. Millie had been one of my best layers last fall and winter. Then, late this spring her eggs started to get really big, so big that I often couldn't fit them into a regular egg carton. Because they were so big they seemed a little thin-shelled. I made sure there was extra egg shell available for everyone to eat. In the past month or so I have noticed some soft-shelled eggs broken in my coop. Sometimes they are in the nesting box, but most often they are in the coop itself. I can't tell who has laid the soft eggs, but I do notice that I don't have any typical Millie Eggs anymore It's been at least a month since I have seen an egg from her for sure.
2-3 days ago I noticed that her butt seemed a bit dirty. Yesterday I picked her up and checked it out. She seemed to have caked on egg yolk/white on her feathers near her vent. The vent wasn't blocked, it was just dirty and kind of caked up around it. I got a wet towel and got most of it off. Poor thing had to put up with me holding her upside down and washing her bum! Tonight I went to let my girls back into the coop after free-ranging for an hour or so and she was desperate to get into the coop and nesting box. When all of other hens had settled on the roost she was still in there. I opened the egg door and was petting her when I noticed that her butt seemed wet. I brought her in the house, checked it out and dried her off. Her vent just seemed very wet, which I've never seen before. While I was washing her butt I didn't notice any worms or bugs or anything, and everyone else in the group is laying fine.
Anyway, I am wondering if all of these things add up to a diagnosis of what's going on with Millie. I would appreciate any help in figuring out what's wrong with my girl.
My hens are all over a year old. I have 7 and one of them, Millie, is a Barred Rock. No one else is having the same problems. Millie had been one of my best layers last fall and winter. Then, late this spring her eggs started to get really big, so big that I often couldn't fit them into a regular egg carton. Because they were so big they seemed a little thin-shelled. I made sure there was extra egg shell available for everyone to eat. In the past month or so I have noticed some soft-shelled eggs broken in my coop. Sometimes they are in the nesting box, but most often they are in the coop itself. I can't tell who has laid the soft eggs, but I do notice that I don't have any typical Millie Eggs anymore It's been at least a month since I have seen an egg from her for sure.
2-3 days ago I noticed that her butt seemed a bit dirty. Yesterday I picked her up and checked it out. She seemed to have caked on egg yolk/white on her feathers near her vent. The vent wasn't blocked, it was just dirty and kind of caked up around it. I got a wet towel and got most of it off. Poor thing had to put up with me holding her upside down and washing her bum! Tonight I went to let my girls back into the coop after free-ranging for an hour or so and she was desperate to get into the coop and nesting box. When all of other hens had settled on the roost she was still in there. I opened the egg door and was petting her when I noticed that her butt seemed wet. I brought her in the house, checked it out and dried her off. Her vent just seemed very wet, which I've never seen before. While I was washing her butt I didn't notice any worms or bugs or anything, and everyone else in the group is laying fine.
Anyway, I am wondering if all of these things add up to a diagnosis of what's going on with Millie. I would appreciate any help in figuring out what's wrong with my girl.
