Egg bound...help

[dfrank423]

So I have only had my chickens for 5 months. This hen has been laying for 3. It's been hot so I figured there was stress. Today I only got 2 eggs from 3 hens. I didn't worry, thinking it was heat stress although it has been nice the last two days. About an hour later I found a 3rd egg in the run. It had that chalky calcium coating. I noticed one has a diry behind and now we got a shell less egg, so it is all over with? I am going to clean her up because the other two were interested in her behind. Sorry for the newbie question. Here are a few pics. She still is postured weird

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

She looks like a sex links which are egg laying machines. It seems quite common for the to lay two eggs a day occasionally. I take a hands off approach to my chickens for the most part, so I would just keep an eye on her, and hope she straightens out again. Good call on the cleaning up of her bum though, you don't want to attract pecking or flies.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

heat stress although it has been nice the last two days
now we got a shell less egg, so it is all over with

Hi @dfrank423 Welcome To BYC

What type of food/treats do you feed?
Do you provide oyster shell free choice?

Dehydration and lack of calcium can contribute to laying difficulties. Since you are having hot weather, watch to see that she is drinking enough.

If she continues to lay soft shell eggs or if she becomes a bit "off", provide her with poultry vitamins like Poultry Nutri-Drench and extra calcium.

It's not always over when you see a soft shell egg. Sometimes in production birds it can be a sign of things to come, but first you need to assess your feed, treats, environment, etc. Some things can be corrected, while other things like "genetics" can't.

 

[dfrank423]

She looks like a sex links which are egg laying machines. It seems quite common for the to lay two eggs a day occasionally. I take a hands off approach to my chickens for the most part, so I would just keep an eye on her, and hope she straightens out again. Good call on the cleaning up of her bum though, you don't want to attract pecking or flies.[/QUOTAhe is a sex link. We are near Moyer's chicks who is reputable so we went with them. A lady at the feed store told me she has some lay two a day. I didn't believe her. I am worried about her. We are out now but gonna give her another look when we get back.

 

[dfrank423]

Hi @dfrank423 Welcome To BYC

What type of food/treats do you feed?
Do you provide oyster shell free choice?

Dehydration and lack of calcium can contribute to laying difficulties. Since you are having hot weather, watch to see that she is drinking enough.

If she continues to lay soft shell eggs or if she becomes a bit "off", provide her with poultry vitamins like Poultry Nutri-Drench and extra calcium.

It's not always over when you see a soft shell egg. Sometimes in production birds it can be a sign of things to come, but first you need to assess your feed, treats, environment, etc. Some things can be corrected, while other things like "genetics" can't.

Hi @dfrank423 Welcome To BYC

What type of food/treats do you feed?
Do you provide oyster shell free choice?

Dehydration and lack of calcium can contribute to laying difficulties. Since you are having hot weather, watch to see that she is drinking enough.

If she continues to lay soft shell eggs or if she becomes a bit "off", provide her with poultry vitamins like Poultry Nutri-Drench and extra calcium.

It's not always over when you see a soft shell egg. Sometimes in production birds it can be a sign of things to come, but first you need to assess your feed, treats, environment, etc. Some things can be corrected, while other things like "genetics" can't.

We use purina layer pellets. I have not used oyster shells because there is so much back and forth about it and it is in the pellets. Also sometimes one of them would lay with the chalky shell so I wondered if giving it would hurt.

The only treats they get are the occ meal worms which I did give the other day. I put a frozen water bottle in their waterer to encourage drinking. I did give some lettuce leaves and a frozen 1/4 ear of corn on Tuesday.
I think I have some nutridrench on hand etc I will add some

 

[OwO]

Chances are it's not egg binding. There seems to be a lot of false info around that suggests hens being egg bound is common. Of course it's a possiblity, but it's far more likely to be Egg Yolk Peritonitis, which is extremely common. Feel her abdomen, if it feels bloated then that is the main way to tell if she has EYP. I would definitely suggest using oyster shell, however it may be difficult to get them to eat it since they haven't had it before.

 

[dfrank423]

Update... so she was fine it seemed. Don't think she was bound per se. Had the super calcium one in the run, then shell less one later that day. Zero the next day (cause she was working OT lol) then normal. Until 3 days ago. Same scenario. Heat wave, random extra calcium shell in run, shell less later that day. Nothing next day (which was yesterday) today got an egg with brown specks. She seems totally find and happy. So not sure if anything is wrong really or just reacting to the heat?