Egg binding?

[homeontherange12]

We have had 2 chickens die unexpectedly in the past week. One of them was laying very large eggs and we think she got egg bound. (We didn't know who was laying what at this point) The other one was laying very normal sized eggs. We thought she might have been going broody because she was spending a lot of time in the nesting box, now we suspect she was egg bound. She wasn't acting differently otherwise. In the past week or so we have getting up to a few eggs a day with blood streaking on it. They're out ranging for a couple to several hours a day, they're getting scratch and peck feed and they have access to oyster shells but it doesn't appear that they are eating them. They have roosty's mixed in with their feed as well. Is this a nutritional deficiency that's causing egg binding (calcium, etc)? Or is there other things to consider? Thank you! (They were born late March)

 

[Wyorp Rock]

We have had 2 chickens die unexpectedly in the past week. One of them was laying very large eggs and we think she got egg bound. (We didn't know who was laying what at this point) The other one was laying very normal sized eggs. We thought she might have been going broody because she was spending a lot of time in the nesting box, now we suspect she was egg bound. She wasn't acting differently otherwise. In the past week or so we have getting up to a few eggs a day with blood streaking on it. They're out ranging for a couple to several hours a day, they're getting scratch and peck feed and they have access to oyster shells but it doesn't appear that they are eating them. They have roosty's mixed in with their feed as well. Is this a nutritional deficiency that's causing egg binding (calcium, etc)? Or is there other things to consider? Thank you! (They were born late March)

Welcome To BYC

I'm sorry for your losses, if you lose another, it would be a very good idea to investigate further to find out what may be causing the deaths so frequently. Your state lab can do a necropsy and give you a report of their findings or if you are up to it, you can do your own informal investigation to see if you find anything obvious. Link to labs are below.

If you are feeding a loose whole grain type feed, try soaking it or fermenting it so it's more incorporated and birds will have a harder time picking out just the things they like. Sometimes they don't eat all the components which then can lead to some deficiencies.

If you have another pullet/hen that seems to be struggling expelling an egg, then you can give her 300mg Calcium Citrate+D3 once daily for 3-5days to see if that makes a difference.


https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry...f5HVJbPNqodsfrrf-gK-HoSFghPlwrc7AIUVMc0AsXOMa