Hi BYC! I'm a new chicken owner, I've had 6 chickens for about a month. I'm having an issue with my chicken Philomena who is about 25/6 weeks old and is laying eggs.
I first noticed 3 days ago that she laid a soft-shelled egg inside the coop during the night, it was a deformed looking egg that cracked easily when you picked it up, but it still had a thin shell.
The next day she didn't come running up to me when I came into the run. I had her favourite treat (peaches) and she was uninterested, walking around slowly with her head tucked into her body. She took a few bites of the peach but then stood there looking miserable.
She then went into the nest box laid a completely goopy looking egg, it was like the egg was inside a water balloon instead of a shell. I wondered if she needed more calcium (we have a little red grit holder inside the run at all times, we keep oyster shell and grit inside it). I decided to make it more accessible to the chickens. I took the lid off and I offered her oyster shell and grit in my hand and she ate it. She gradually perked up throughout the day, she started behaving normally and eating and drinking properly. I noticed her butt was starting to get pasty.
The next morning she came last out of the coop and isn't eating or drinking. She laid another egg in the coop, this time it wasn't goopy like the last egg but it looked like it broke on the way out.
She seems more alert and less visibly in pain, I've separated her from the other chickens and I gave her a 10 minute warm epsom salt soak. I tried to massage her abdomen, I'm still new to owning chickens so I don't know an effective way to do it. But it felt soft down there, I couldnt feel any hard obstruction like an egg. I just offered her a tiny peice of watermelon with a crushed up vitamin D tablet on it, she ate that and she accepted some food and water that I held up to her. She also did a big clear and watery poo while I was watching her. I also noticed that her butt seems to be constantly tensing, I took a look at her cloaca and looks fine from my understanding, maybe a little red. It's definitely not prolapsed.
(She's still wet from the bath).
Thank you to anyone who can offer me advice, I live in Ireland and I don't live near any vets that see chickens. She's my favorite chicken and I'm worried she isn't going to make it
I first noticed 3 days ago that she laid a soft-shelled egg inside the coop during the night, it was a deformed looking egg that cracked easily when you picked it up, but it still had a thin shell.
The next day she didn't come running up to me when I came into the run. I had her favourite treat (peaches) and she was uninterested, walking around slowly with her head tucked into her body. She took a few bites of the peach but then stood there looking miserable.
She seems more alert and less visibly in pain, I've separated her from the other chickens and I gave her a 10 minute warm epsom salt soak. I tried to massage her abdomen, I'm still new to owning chickens so I don't know an effective way to do it. But it felt soft down there, I couldnt feel any hard obstruction like an egg. I just offered her a tiny peice of watermelon with a crushed up vitamin D tablet on it, she ate that and she accepted some food and water that I held up to her. She also did a big clear and watery poo while I was watching her. I also noticed that her butt seems to be constantly tensing, I took a look at her cloaca and looks fine from my understanding, maybe a little red. It's definitely not prolapsed.
(She's still wet from the bath).
Thank you to anyone who can offer me advice, I live in Ireland and I don't live near any vets that see chickens. She's my favorite chicken and I'm worried she isn't going to make it
