?Egg bound hen

[Crankkt]

I have been dosing daily with a calcium tablet. She still has not laid. I have noticed her get in the box and act like she is going to lay. You can actually see her pushing and depending on the direction she is you can (for lack of better words) see her tail pulsating.

She did this again this morning when I was out and when she got out of the box, there was a few small drops of blood on the shavings.

Her vent looks pink and healthy. I could not palpate any masses on her abdomen.

Any thoughts? She was laying through the summer and fall. She stopped when the days got shorter. I have been in school until recently so only observed this behavior during the day since then.

 

[azygous]

How long as she been getting the calcium? If it's been seven days, I would stop the calcium for now. She may be getting confusing signals from her hormones. These short days combined with molt can throw off the hormones.

I had an EE just this week start to lay again after finishing molt. She was spending time in the nest without producing anything. This has gone on for two weeks. She just laid an egg yesterday. I had not given her calcium since she was not displaying any symptoms of egg binding, meaning her behavior was normal when she wasn't on the nest.

Your hen may just be experiencing false starts and time is all she needs for her to produce an egg. If she suddenly gets lethargic, fluffs up with her shoulders hunched and tail down, then get the calcium going again.