All of my birds are close to 6 months and two (maybe three) have started laying. One of my Naked Necks (who hasn't started laying) was acting strange, lethargic and half-standing with her breast-bone resting on the ground. I typically give them the run of the yard and today was not different, I had let them out for about three or four hours, until I heard some form of bird of prey above and decided they had been outside long enough. I went out to make sure they were fed for the afternoon and noticed her acting strange but everyone else was fine. I was concerned because the weather here has gotten colder and started raining in the last week or so and I thought she might be getting a cold or respiratory infection. She had no desire to eat or drink so I took her in the house to do some research on BYC and cook her something warm to see if that might help. After reading on here I was guessing she was constipated or egg bound so I forced her to drink some water & apple cider vinegar which she would drink only if I dipped her beak. I checked her oviduct & felt her abdomen but I didn't feel anything any different than I did on the other Naked Neck (who wasn't happy about her impromptu check-up). She finally pooped on the floor, twice, but very watery and no typically greenish/brownish mass but I was thinking at least something was moving. Then she started grunting (I had no idea chickens could grunt) and dropped her very first egg on the dining room floor. It was soft (no shell) and I couldn't see a yolk when I held the egg up to the light. I was taking her back out to the coop when she dropped a yolk on my shoe. No shell, just a yolk and quite a bit of egg white. The egg she had laid had yolk material but no defined yolk, more like a semi-scrambled egg.
I checked on her before I turned their lights out for the night and she was eating and drinking and seems to be back to her normal self. I guess she heard me when I said she was going to spend the night in the cat carrier if she didn't eat something before bedtime.
I guess somewhere in her inner workings the egg got held up or something. They are all on layer feed and have been for a couple of weeks so I don't see a calcium as being an issue. At this point I'm no longer all that concerned since she seems to be doing much better.
Chickens are weird.
I checked on her before I turned their lights out for the night and she was eating and drinking and seems to be back to her normal self. I guess she heard me when I said she was going to spend the night in the cat carrier if she didn't eat something before bedtime.
I guess somewhere in her inner workings the egg got held up or something. They are all on layer feed and have been for a couple of weeks so I don't see a calcium as being an issue. At this point I'm no longer all that concerned since she seems to be doing much better.
Chickens are weird.
