Hen laid "jelly" egg, still acting lethargic/ill

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goldcountrygirl

goldcountrygirl

Hatching
9 Years
Aug 21, 2010
9
0
7
Placer County, CA
Please help! One of my 6-month-old pullets was acting lethargic this afternoon and just laid a slightly broken jelly-like egg (her first egg ever). She is still acting listless and hunched over and won't drink or eat. Is there anything I can do to help her? Could there be egg pieces stuck in her vent? The egg was pretty soft, so I can't imagine there are shards in there. It was a hot one here today - 102 degrees - so I wonder if that has something to do with it...
 
The heat can be a bit part of it, not to mention the poor dear just laid her first egg. Soft-shelled eggs aren't unusual for the first egg from a young pullet, so I wouldn't worry too much about it at this point. If you feel you'd like to do something (and don't we all?) I'd recommend palliative care: putting some electrolytes in her water and giving her a bit of free feed oyster shell to boost her calcium.

Let us know how she does.
 
I agree not to be too concerned about the egg, but her condition is concerning, when i have had an overheated chicken I've brought her inside and set her on a cool wet towel, and feed her something like a scrambled egg or pasta, some treat she likes, and return her when she seems better to the coop, or keep her inside a ventilated box overnight, with some bedding material. Just a rest from the stress and the heat may help.
 
Good news! After hanging out in the house for half an hour, she's eating scrambled eggs and watermelon and acting almost like nothing happened...and I couldn't be more relieved. As a terrible hypochondriac, I assumed she had some horrible disease (not that being overheated is something to sniff at, of course).

Anyway, thanks for the quick advice, guys! Chickens are not for the faint of heart, but they sure are fun when things are going good
smile.png
 
P.S. I've been giving them oyster shells and no one else has had a problem with soft shells yet, so hopefully this works itself out. Maybe her body is just getting used to the process?
 
That is great news, and so true about chickens! That girl will remember being in the house and how nice it was, so be prepared, lol. I do keep a fan in the coop for the hot days (ran all summer) and I insulated my coop which keeps it cooler in summer and warmer in winter, just a plug for that. Best of luck!
 

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