Hi everyone, I'd appreciate the thoughts of more experienced folks than I on this. Last night at close-up/night check, on of my girls leaped off the roost and headed straight for a nestbox. She's usually a very early-morning layer so it was odd, but we were short one egg yesterday so it was possible she needed to lay. She was doing all the usual laying behaviors (tossing shavings around, getting herself settled, tucking the marble egg we have for "encouragement" under her). I hung out with her to see if she would lay and then help her back to the roost so she wouldn't be floundering around in the dark. After over an hour, still no egg, and she was clearly sleepy. (Her eyes would close and she'd start to rest her head on the edge of the nest box, then would pull herself up like "No! Can't sleep -- must lay!!") I decided to let her spend the night on the nest box, figuring it was better to have an intact, poopy egg than one broken under the roosts, and I'd check her first thing.
When I got out there first thing this morning, she was walking back and forth on the nestbox perch doing the whole "Which one shall I use?" behavior. There were 2 eggs laid in the one she spent the night in, but I could tell from the colors they were not hers. The disturbing thing was that there was no poop; she had spent 9 hours up there without pooping, even though her crop had emptied. I kicked everyone else out of the coop (they were acting strangely, like something was off), lubed up a glove with baby oil, and took a look. Her vent was full and pulsating as if she were about to lay, but no signs of redness or anything. When I felt inside there was no egg (though she was having pretty strong contractions), but she did poop finally -- a decent-sized one, but certainly not overnight's worth. Other than its timing there was nothing odd about it and it was no stinkier than usual. Her abdomen did not feel particularly swollen or full. I let her go and she hopped out of the coop to follow the others, whom I had distracted with a piece of bread. She was miffed she had missed out on the bread (i.e., her personality was its usual self) and gobbled up some scratch. I watched her move and she was doing so normally (no weird stance or anything), though I could see her vent pulsating. I put everyone back inside and she ate, drank, and went out into the run with everyone else. So I decided I'd see how the morning went.
I checked on her about 2 hours later; she was walking around and going in and out of the run with the others like normal, though when she came in she would like up at the nestboxes. Someone else was using the nestbox she wanted so I didn't have a chance to check if she had laid. I'm going to go let her out on her own to see how she moves, if her vent is still pulsing, and if she's pooping. Does the above behavior sound like the early stages of eggbinding, or maybe something else? I have seen the other threads about eggbinding and treatment, and they are certainly how I will proceed if necessary, but her behavior wasn't quite matching that of the chickens in those posts.
Finally, the girl in question is a sex-link hybrid from TSC who is just shy of being one year old. Until now she has been a consistent, diligent layer and otherwise has had no other health issues.
Thank you in advance for any suggestions on what this could be!
When I got out there first thing this morning, she was walking back and forth on the nestbox perch doing the whole "Which one shall I use?" behavior. There were 2 eggs laid in the one she spent the night in, but I could tell from the colors they were not hers. The disturbing thing was that there was no poop; she had spent 9 hours up there without pooping, even though her crop had emptied. I kicked everyone else out of the coop (they were acting strangely, like something was off), lubed up a glove with baby oil, and took a look. Her vent was full and pulsating as if she were about to lay, but no signs of redness or anything. When I felt inside there was no egg (though she was having pretty strong contractions), but she did poop finally -- a decent-sized one, but certainly not overnight's worth. Other than its timing there was nothing odd about it and it was no stinkier than usual. Her abdomen did not feel particularly swollen or full. I let her go and she hopped out of the coop to follow the others, whom I had distracted with a piece of bread. She was miffed she had missed out on the bread (i.e., her personality was its usual self) and gobbled up some scratch. I watched her move and she was doing so normally (no weird stance or anything), though I could see her vent pulsating. I put everyone back inside and she ate, drank, and went out into the run with everyone else. So I decided I'd see how the morning went.
I checked on her about 2 hours later; she was walking around and going in and out of the run with the others like normal, though when she came in she would like up at the nestboxes. Someone else was using the nestbox she wanted so I didn't have a chance to check if she had laid. I'm going to go let her out on her own to see how she moves, if her vent is still pulsing, and if she's pooping. Does the above behavior sound like the early stages of eggbinding, or maybe something else? I have seen the other threads about eggbinding and treatment, and they are certainly how I will proceed if necessary, but her behavior wasn't quite matching that of the chickens in those posts.
Finally, the girl in question is a sex-link hybrid from TSC who is just shy of being one year old. Until now she has been a consistent, diligent layer and otherwise has had no other health issues.
Thank you in advance for any suggestions on what this could be!
