Broody behavior in older Isa Brown?

[Eggcessive]

Sick or bullied hens will sleep in nest boxes where they feel more comfortable. She may be suffering from one of several reproductive disorders that older hens have. They can have internal laying/salpingitis, infection, cancer or other problems. Is her lower belly swollen under her vent? Has she lost weight in her breast area? Is her tail position down? Can you post any pictures of her poops? Is her crop filling up during the day and emptying by early morning? Can you get her eating some mushy moistened feed and egg? Do not mix grit into feed, but put it in a separate container nearby.

 

[mac853]

Sick or bullied hens will sleep in nest boxes where they feel more comfortable. She may be suffering from one of several reproductive disorders that older hens have. They can have internal laying/salpingitis, infection, cancer or other problems. Is her lower belly swollen under her vent? Has she lost weight in her breast area? Is her tail position down? Can you post any pictures of her poops? Is her crop filling up during the day and emptying by early morning? Can you get her eating some mushy moistened feed and egg? Do not mix grit into feed, but put it in a separate container nearby.

Her tail feathers are mostly up during the day. I don't really think she's swollen. She's definitely lost some weight overall, i'm not sure if it's just the breast area. I cleaned their poop already today so maybe i can tomorrow but it's runny and yucky. Should i make her a scrambled egg?
Maybe it's a combo of old age and the one Australorp being mean to her. That chicken was very mild tempered but then one day just became a total bully to everyone and she was humping another hen the other day...

 

[Eggcessive]

My hens would always eat scrambled egg and wet chicken feed. That would give her some energy, and you can add a little water to it as well.

 

[mac853]

My hens would always eat scrambled egg and wet chicken feed. That would give her some energy, and you can add a little water to it as well.

Okay thank you!

 

[mac853]

Sick or bullied hens will sleep in nest boxes where they feel more comfortable. She may be suffering from one of several reproductive disorders that older hens have. They can have internal laying/salpingitis, infection, cancer or other problems. Is her lower belly swollen under her vent? Has she lost weight in her breast area? Is her tail position down? Can you post any pictures of her poops? Is her crop filling up during the day and emptying by early morning? Can you get her eating some mushy moistened feed and egg? Do not mix grit into feed, but put it in a separate container nearby.

I have an update. I attached pics of her poop from in the nesting box. She spent most of the day in the boxes today... but I found this really tiny egg (pic attached and egg next to a regular egg for size comparisons) in one of the boxes. Do you think it could've been hers?

 

[MamaPoult]

Tha

I have an update. I attached pics of her poop from in the nesting box. She spent most of the day in the boxes today... but I found this really tiny egg (pic attached and egg next to a regular egg for size comparisons) in one of the boxes. Do you think it could've been hers?

That is interesting, do you have any other new layers? If not that is most likely hers.

 

[mac853]

Tha

That is interesting, do you have any other new layers? If not that is most likely hers.

I believe all of our new babies from last summer started laying over the fall

 

[MamaPoult]

I believe all of our new babies from last summer started laying over the fall

ok well that egg was pretty small, even for a new layer. It was most likely hers if she was in that box.

 

[Eggcessive]

Tiny, fairy, or fart eggs can be a common thing in hens with a reproductive disorder or it can be a glitch. Some are really tiny, some are just smaller. They may or may not have a yolk. Here is a link about abnormal eggs and possible reasons for them:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/common-egg-quality-problems.65923/