Egg laying behavior is off

[gretchen22]

Hi

Wondering if someone could give some advice. I have 4 brown chickens. All are egg laying and all are about 22 weeks old. Betty was acting strange last night. She was lethargic and puffed out. I watched her lay an egg in our woods which is about 50 feet from her coop. The egg looked white and rough and two side were brown. Should I be concerned. I watched her until she went to bed and she seemed better. This morning she wanted to be in her nesting box and left alone as well. Any advice would be most welcome

 

[azygous]

It sounds like she could be having trouble laying. She's a new layer so this isn't necessarily something to get worried about, but she bears watching.

You need to pay attention to how long she spends on the nest and if she produces an egg or gets off the nest after a long interval without laying the egg. That could signify her egg is wanting to get hung up. You can take measures to ease it by either a warm water soak or a heating pad under her while she's on the nest.

If an egg does get hung up, the signs will be lethargy, she will be far less vocal, and she may stand around on the edges of activity with tail held down low and flat. Then we could have a real sticky problem, excuse the pun.

 

[gretchen22]

Thanks so much for your advice! I will definitely keep watch!