I lost a hen back in May, to what I believe was internal laying. She stopped laying one day, and then started having crop issues and repeated soft shelled, and no shell yolk messes. It went on for about two months, and she lost so much weight.
Anyhow, a second one is now starting to show the same symptoms. Like the first one, she is an ISA Brown, about 21 months old. Yesterday, she was lethargic, but roosted with the other two overnight. I checked her this morning, and her crop had not emptied during the night. She spent most of the day going to the nest repeatedly to lay an egg, and even acted like she laid an egg, but she had not. She would then go back out into the run, get a drink of water, and stand around hunched up again for some time before repeating the process.
I have three hens, and did get three eggs today, so I’m sure she eventually laid the egg. But even so, she was still rather hunched up this evening before going to roost. She is clearly not feeling well.
She did eat and drink this evening before roosting. I plan to check on her in the morning, and if her crop has not emptied, I will crate her in the coop to monitor her droppings.
One thing to note...she has laid a couple of soft shelled eggs in the past week. I don’t think she is lying internally yet, but this is how things started with the one I lost back in May.
Anything else I should consider? I don’t think she has a sour crop. Her crop was full and squishy this morning, maybe a little doughy.
My little flock of three ISAs are reaching the two year mark, so I have been expecting the losses. They were good to start with I guess, but their breeding certainly puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to reproductive issues.
Anyhow, a second one is now starting to show the same symptoms. Like the first one, she is an ISA Brown, about 21 months old. Yesterday, she was lethargic, but roosted with the other two overnight. I checked her this morning, and her crop had not emptied during the night. She spent most of the day going to the nest repeatedly to lay an egg, and even acted like she laid an egg, but she had not. She would then go back out into the run, get a drink of water, and stand around hunched up again for some time before repeating the process.
I have three hens, and did get three eggs today, so I’m sure she eventually laid the egg. But even so, she was still rather hunched up this evening before going to roost. She is clearly not feeling well.
She did eat and drink this evening before roosting. I plan to check on her in the morning, and if her crop has not emptied, I will crate her in the coop to monitor her droppings.
One thing to note...she has laid a couple of soft shelled eggs in the past week. I don’t think she is lying internally yet, but this is how things started with the one I lost back in May.
Anything else I should consider? I don’t think she has a sour crop. Her crop was full and squishy this morning, maybe a little doughy.
My little flock of three ISAs are reaching the two year mark, so I have been expecting the losses. They were good to start with I guess, but their breeding certainly puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to reproductive issues.
