Can't find a similar egg bound post so here is mine

[It takes alkines]

My question is: Is it possible she is egg bound? Or is this something that happens after breaking broodiness before she starts laying again. But I'm not sure she was broody to begin with! I don't know if I am missing something.

Info:
I have a 7-8 mo old BO who I thought went broody. Last week I would find her in the nesting box sometimes in the afternoon when I came home from work, which was odd for her and I assumed she sat there all day. She has not laid in almost a week. I've been home the past few days working on building a larger run, and observed her going to the box to sit and then coming out and acting normal. She will do this a few times a day. Apparently, I was wrong to assume she sat there all day. I guess I just happened to find her there when I got home from work.

I don't think she's broody. She roosts with the others and only spends a little time in the box when she's in there. She's fine with me picking her up from the box and once I remove her she stays out of it for a long time.
She looks and acts fine, though these are my first chickens. I'm going by the symptoms I've seen online in articles and here on the forums and I don't notice any. Vent looks fine, but I'll be checking again later after looking up how to. Eating fine, drinking fine. Just want to make sure I'm on top of why she suddenly stopped laying (though she is young, I know) and visits the box frequently without laying an egg. Or, just let her be, she's fine.

 

[azygous]

You're right. She isn't broody. But it does appear she's having egg issues. This happens. The thing is to recognize it and help her, which you did. And we are.

If she's still behaving normally, not lethargic and acting like she's in pain, there's every reason to hope she can get past this and start laying normally. What I do the minute I see a hen is having trouble laying, spending extended time on a nest without producing anything, or having other strange problems with her eggs, is to start her on calcium therapy. If there's even a slight imbalance of calcium and the other necessary nutrients, the egg can get hung up.

I use calcium citrate with D3 added. 400mg per day until normal laying resumes. Recently, I had a young layer the age of your girl go through several weeks of laying two eggs simultaneously. This wasn't an admirable feat. Her body was only secreting enough calcium for a shell for one egg, and the other one, being shell-less, was in danger of getting hung up because they're much tougher to pass through the oviduct.

Every other day she would go to the nest to lay, and there would be one normal egg, and one smashed egg beneath it. One day, she passed an egg while in the run that looked more like a conch shell than an egg. I knew it was hers because I saw it come out. It was about a week after than that she began laying normally again, one egg every other day, instead of two. So, it would appear the calcium supplement has done its job, and she no longer needs it.

Give it a try. It may be what she needs to get things right again.

 

[It takes alkines]

You're right. She isn't broody. But it does appear she's having egg issues. This happens. The thing is to recognize it and help her, which you did. And we are.

If she's still behaving normally, not lethargic and acting like she's in pain, there's every reason to hope she can get past this and start laying normally. What I do the minute I see a hen is having trouble laying, spending extended time on a nest without producing anything, or having other strange problems with her eggs, is to start her on calcium therapy. If there's even a slight imbalance of calcium and the other necessary nutrients, the egg can get hung up.

I use calcium citrate with D3 added. 400mg per day until normal laying resumes. Recently, I had a young layer the age of your girl go through several weeks of laying two eggs simultaneously. This wasn't an admirable feat. Her body was only secreting enough calcium for a shell for one egg, and the other one, being shell-less, was in danger of getting hung up because they're much tougher to pass through the oviduct.

Every other day she would go to the nest to lay, and there would be one normal egg, and one smashed egg beneath it. One day, she passed an egg while in the run that looked more like a conch shell than an egg. I knew it was hers because I saw it come out. It was about a week after than that she began laying normally again, one egg every other day, instead of two. So, it would appear the calcium supplement has done its job, and she no longer needs it.

Give it a try. It may be what she needs to get things right again.

Thank You! I will try calcium.

 

[BYChickies]

Azygous, how did you give the Calcium with D3 to the one chicken only?

 

[azygous]

My chickens happen to be peanut butter addicts. They nibble the peanut butter bait on the hot wire (it's off during the day) around the run I have for bears, and have become addicted. I know, how sad.

Anyway, I crush the 400mg tablet with a hammer and then fold it into a dab of peanut butter, natural, no sugar added, and the chicken thinks it's a treat. They eat the very last little crumble not to miss any precious peanut butter.

Just watch out, they will try to clean their beak on you.

 

[BYChickies]

Thanks! I'm sure my lady will gobble it up. Probably ought to have a nugget of peanut butter for the other two at the same time hahaha.