Do you think hens get depressed?

[thechickenkeeper]

Hi there, the reason i ask this is, twice this week, poor Nellie has laid a soft egg, and on both days she has been very withdrawn, today the second day, she spent most of it asleep, however yesterday when she laid a normal egg, she was fine, in amongst it with the others, has anyone else's birds suffered the same?

 

[MissPrissy]

I wouldn't call that depression.

Soft shelled eggs can be just a hiccup in the plumbing or it can be an indication that something is wrong with the chickens health.

When a chicken sits off alone, hunkered down and sleeping and not doing normal chicken activity I would be looking for indicators of illness and/or disease.

This behavior plus the soft shelled eggs would have me looking more closely at her and taking proactive steps with her. Add raw organic apple cider vinegar to the water. Make sure oyster shell is available with free choice feed. I would feed her a little extra protein and some yogurt to promote good probiotics, etc.

Kep an eye on her.

 

[thechickenkeeper]

thanks Miss Prissy