Hello everyone! I'm a newbie and have had a backyard flock of 5 for just over a week. It's been so much fun and so rewarding. When we brought them home, we were told they were all laying, but because of the move, we could expect about a week with no eggs. A week has come and gone and I've spent alot of time with my girls making them comfortable (bribing them with treats and 4 of the 5 are hand "feed-able"). I've given them a good look over and have been working to get them comfortable with being held to check their eyes, nose, feet, etc with great success. I palpated them today since they've passed the time frame the original owners gave and can feel an egg in about 3 of their bellies. Normally I would wait it out, I'm in no hurry yet, but when checking them out today i noticed a crusty bit of yellow on one's vent. I added probiotics to their water in case of yeast but of course google has gotten me worried maybe shes egg bound or an egg has broken in her. I'm a worry wart, I know, but I've waited years to get my flock and in a week have reallt bonded with these ladies and would be heart broken if something happened to them. Theyre otherwise healthy, pest free and like I said I'm a newbie and a worry wart. Also the ameraucana I got (on top of being smack dab in the middle of a moult and scraggly from the prev owners rooster, so not expecting her to lay for a while) is getting picked on. She looks and sounds healthy, but since the others started pecking her shes gone from grazing with the flock to staying in the heated coop. She will still sleep with the group but seems a little clumsy and scared when the others are around (sticking her face in the corner) Is this normal?
I've only had chickens for about 9 months now so I'm still a little new too. When my girls first started laying eggs they had all kinds of issues. Soft shell, shell less eggs and lethargic chickens were common. Now that they are a little older and have been laying since July we don't have anymore of these issues. Do you know how old your chickens are and how long they have been laying? Stress probably has a lot to do with it. Give them more time and in the spring your will have eggs.
I hope they lay soon and you don't have a problem on your hands. I found some info for you to help you figure out what you may be dealing with. Good luck! Here's an article on diagnosing and treating egg bound hens: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-to-diagnose-and-treat-a-egg-bound-hen And here's an older thread about a hen who had an egg broken inside her and what treatment helped: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=275015
Thanks for your help guys. one of our ladies left us a present a little while ago! i hope the others go soon since i can feel the eggs in their bellies and dont want to run into a problem. I'm gonna check their bellies tonight and hopefully our egg came from miss Myrtle!
