Is she holding onto her egg?

[labelle21]

Hello,

Firstly let me introduce myself as I am new here. I am Claire, I live with my husband, 3 children and now 4 chickens. We originally only had two, Amber our Amber Star and Sparkle our Spekledy. My husband decided they needed a better home as they were in a two tier rabbit hutch, so he built them a new one, once finished he realised as it was bigger we could get more, so two days ago we got Miranda our Black Copper Maran and Barbara our Cream Legbar.

Anyway to cut a long story short, our first two were bought in Dec and was told they were close to POL. However, we still haven't had our first egg!! We can't work out why, I would say our chickens are happy, they are kept warm and dry, are fed a mix of different foods and treats and are allowed to roam free whilst I am at home (most of the week).

Earlier on today whilst we were out in the garden with them, the wind blew and parted Sparkles back feathers and my husband and I could both see what looked like the tip of an egg. She carried on walking round for the rest of the evening and didn't seem interest in nesting. I was going to pick her up to take a closer look but my husband was worried that it may upset her if she was carrying an egg like that. Please advise me whether I am barking up the wrong tree, or any ideas on what we can do if this is not normal.

Thanks in advance.
Claire x

 

[heartsizedfarm]

If she's used to being handled, it can't hurt to pick her up and have a closer look. If you're sure it's an egg then, a little rub of olive oil might help smooth the progress. If she's heading to bed she'll probably lay it while relaxed and resting in the coop. If she roosts high, she'll drop it on the floor. Ha! That's what my young ones did with their first eggs!

 

[labelle21]

Thank you for your reply. I hope she does lay it tonight, that would make us thoroughly happy. Can't wait for our first egg. I am sure it was an egg (right colour etc), but it was a bit concerning that it seemed she was just holding it there. Is that normal behaviour?

x

 

[heartsizedfarm]

I really can't say for sure, since I'm not a professional, just someone with chickens. My hunch would be that it might well be normal for a youngster to not know they need to go and nest and give a bit of a push. So see if it comes tonight. If it doesn't then I would definitely catch and inspect. Two things could be complicating. The egg might be a bit too large for a youngster's vent. One of my youngsters first egg was ginormous and it caused some bleeding, but it came out ok. If you think that's the problem when you inspect in the morning then isolating her with a heating pad or hot water bottle under her might help. If you think the egg in her is broken, then that's also something you'll have to intervene with. You'll want to try to gently remove the egg without injuring her vent at all. If the broken egg has cut her or smells bad you may want to give her some antibiotics. Others on this site will I'm sure weigh in with expert and experienced advice. But don't stay awake all night worrying. Keeping chickens is not quite like cats and dogs. You do the best you can. You give good care, good food, good habitat, and usually that works out just fine. Once in a while, not. But it's hard to know what you would have to do to prevent those once in a whiles, so you let it go.

 

[heartsizedfarm]

Did she eventually lay her egg?

 

[labelle21]

Did she eventually lay her egg?

No she hasn't laid it. My husband said he took a look at her earlier whilst I was at work and he said there was a definite bulge. I shall see what I can do for her tomorrow (she was already in bed when I came back) and will ring the vets if necessary

 

[heartsizedfarm]

That's a good idea. She may be having problems with it and the vet will know how to treat it.

 

[heartsizedfarm]

Ask your husband if the swelling felt hard or spongy. If hard, she may be egg bound. You could google egg binding for some home made treatment ideas, but if she is she will usually be lethargic and obviously unwell. If the swelling felt spongy then google egg preritonitis to see if that fits with your hens appearance and behaviour. Both conditions are quite serious, though treatable, and I'm glad you've got a vet who'll get on board.

 

[heartsizedfarm]

Sorry, spelling: peritonitis.

 

[labelle21]

Thank you, you have been very helpful, my husband doesn't know as he didn't apply any pressure lol, think he was scared of hurting her, he did say though that she didn't seem to like being picked up. I will have a proper check of her tomorrow and make sure I get in touch with the vet if I cannot help her myself. I will keep you posted.