Am I Doing This Correctly? Pic added

[Aunt Angus]

8 month old standard Cochin (Iris) had egg yolk and albumen coming from her vent this afternoon when I came home from work. She eats layer pellet and free ranges in a fenced yard part of every day (grass mostly). She's acting lethargic, and appears to be trying to expel something, like she's having contractions.

I soaked her, gloved and lubed up - couldn't feel an egg or any shell. I'm thinking shelless egg. She's only been laying a couple of months, so maybe?

So when bathing her, I also noticed her crop was empty. After I blowed her dry, I offered her egg yolk with some wet pellets and a crushed Tums. She didn't take it.

I am tempted to bring her inside tonight for observation and to make sure she gets food/water, but don't know if that's a good idea or what else I should be doing. Advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm going to say that was what she was trying to pass. Hopefully she will start perking up.
Do you have Poultry Nutri-Drench or Poultry Cell on hand? If you do, then direct dose her at 1cc per 3 pounds of weight. Try to get some extra calcium into her. You can crunch up a TUMS and stick the little pieces in her beak or I grind it up finely and sprinkle over scrambled egg. (Tums does not mix well or dissolve in water, don't waste your time LOL Believe me, I've tried). Watch to see if she's drinking, you can also make her a little wet soupy feed she may like that.

IF she is moving about a little and no one is bothering her, I would leave her with the flock. Some don't mind separation, but I've found that most of mine do better if they can hang out, even if they find a quiet corner. Sometimes a buddy may even come and sit with them for a while.

 

[Aunt Angus]

She is doing much better! She's wandering the yard and eating again. I won't feel 100% assured until she lays a good egg again. And she's an inconsistent layer, so that might not happen for days. Good thing I can tell my girls' eggs apart.

Thanks, everyone, for helping. I read about these little problems constantly so that I'll be prepared when they happen in my own flock. But reading about them and experiencing them are two different things! Even though I've seen lots of posts about this exact thing and I had a pretty good idea of what was going on, I was sure worried last night.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Will you be able to catch her in the morning easily if she needs your help?
If so I would keep her in the coop.

Oh, yes. She's no problem. I handle her when I need to; she just doesn't like it at all - Lol! When I went out there just now, she was already on the roost, so I left her there. She's unhappy and hunched and looking like someone just kicked her puppy. I have a super important meeting at work tomorrow, so I'll have to get her up early.

I know sick/injured birds are inevitable, but I don't like it one bit.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Do you handle them often? If so I would keep her inside tonight and offer food early in the morning.
She may need a rest.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I'm going to run out there and see if she's roosting. If she's still on the floor, I'll bring her in. Poor little Iris.

 

[21hens-incharge]

It is heading toward dark there now isn't it?

That may be part of the food refusal.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Oh, yes. She's no problem. I handle her when I need to; she just doesn't like it at all - Lol! When I went out there just now, she was already on the roost, so I left her there. She's unhappy and hunched and looking like someone just kicked her puppy. I have a super important meeting at work tomorrow, so I'll have to get her up early.

I know sick/injured birds are inevitable, but I don't like it one bit.

She got up there on her own, that's good!

Might just have to keep an eye every chance you get for a few days.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Iris's crop was empty this morning. Yay!

Now, I hope she will lay a nice, normal egg. Then I will relax.

Maybe.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm baaaaaack.....

Iris hasn't laid yet. She usually lays every other day. It's been 3 days since the shelless egg. When should I start to worry?

Also, since I've been keeping a very close eye on her, I've noticed that Zinnia, my BR, had been kinda mean to her. I'm wondering if Iris hasn't been eating enough pellets because Zinnia chases her off from the feeder. Iris just goes into the yard and free ranges. I'm wondering if that contributed to her egg mishap by depriving her of calcium and whatnot.

2 questions arise:

1) Is it possible Zinnia's pecking is contributing (or even causing) Iris's egg problems?
2) Would getting more feeders help? I only have one at present because I only have 4 birds. I also ordered a scale from Amazon so I can track her weight better to see what's going on with her diet.

Ok, 3 questions:
3) Is there anything else I should be doing?

TIA

I would give her a little more time before I started to worry. If you can catch her
you can always give her a treat of egg and sneak some calcium into it. If you are really good, then you can also direct dose her with Nutri-Drench or Poultry Cell. LOL I usually do give mine vitamins and calcium for a couple of days.

If you have room, it won't hurt to add a feed station, I do have a couple that like to be food monitors, but the lowest birds seem to find a way around that. I DO have multiple feed stations though so there is a difference there.

Stress could cause some egg laying issues, but Iris has not had any problems before correct? Zinnia may be picking at her a little because Iris is still not feeling well. Chickens spend a lot of time watching one another and note any subtle differences.
If Zinnia is not drawing blood, I would be inclined to leave them be and work it out.

It's good that you will have something to weigh them. My suggestion when weighing would be to do it first thing in the morning before she's had anything to eat/drink. I feel like this is the best time to get a consistent reading. For example if on day 1 you weigh her in the morning when the crop is empty, then weigh her in 3-4 days at night when she has filled her crop, your weigh in will automatically be different just because of food/water - make sense?