Eggbound chicken with a couple soft eggs

[brm0700]

Hello! Have an interesting issue that I’m trying to figure out with one of our hens.

Lavender, one of our two Golden Comets, was acting strange midday yesterday - sitting in a corner, closing eyes and puffed out doing the slow penguin walk thing. She hadnt laid an egg that morning.

We put her in a warm epsom salt bath and soon after she passed a normal looking egg. Still acting sluggish afterwards and then maybe an hour or so later, had a second egg (soft egg) on her own in the nesting box.

She seemed better this morning til about midday when she was doing the lethargic squatting behavior again and so we did another bath and returned her where she produced another soft egg.

I wouldnt have anticipated the egg today, especially another soft one, but I don’t know if she is having trouble passing eggs with these two eggbound incidents and also what to do about the soft eggs.

She gets broken egg shell for the calcium at the end of each day but not sure if I should supplement it. Or if it would be another issue (hasnt been dewormed in several months).


Thanks for any help!

 

[SulkyBantam]

Hello! Have an interesting issue that I’m trying to figure out with one of our hens.

Lavender, one of our two Golden Comets, was acting strange midday yesterday - sitting in a corner, closing eyes and puffed out doing the slow penguin walk thing. She hadnt laid an egg that morning.

We put her in a warm epsom salt bath and soon after she passed a normal looking egg. Still acting sluggish afterwards and then maybe an hour or so later, had a second egg (soft egg) on her own in the nesting box.

She seemed better this morning til about midday when she was doing the lethargic squatting behavior again and so we did another bath and returned her where she produced another soft egg.

I wouldnt have anticipated the egg today, especially another soft one, but I don’t know if she is having trouble passing eggs with these two eggbound incidents and also what to do about the soft eggs.

She gets broken egg shell for the calcium at the end of each day but not sure if I should supplement it. Or if it would be another issue (hasnt been dewormed in several months).


Thanks for any help!

View attachment 2577650

How old is she?

 

[brm0700]

How old is she?

A year and a half now I believe

 

[SulkyBantam]

A year and a half now I believe

Hm, it's a more common problem in young or old hens. What breed?

 

[brm0700]

Hm, it's a more common problem in young or old hens. What breed?

A golden comet! It was a bit surprising since both chickens really haven't had any egg issues, and were laying consistently and normally even through the winter.

 

[brm0700]

I guess I'm wondering if something like adding calcium citrate +Vitamin D3 would be a good place to start? And if anyone would recommend a dosage/brand if so?

 

[aart]

I guess I'm wondering if something like adding calcium citrate +Vitamin D3 would be a good place to start? And if anyone would recommend a dosage/brand if so?

Might be good to dose her with some extra calcium.
@azygous is the calcium supplement master.

Are any other birds having trouble?
What all and how exactly are you feeding?

Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!

 

[brm0700]

Thanks @aart ! In Takoma Park, MD, just outside DC (got it in the profile now too). Temperature-wise we've been in the low 60's midday with it still dipping down into the 30's at night and early morning.

Our other golden comet, Rhubarb, has been laying fine. She just had one an hour or so ago and most from her look normal. The other day it has a little bit of calcium deposit on the top and maybe was slightly elongated but usually they're normal.

Been feeding them organic 16% layer pellets, and I do throw them cracked corn occasionally, along with some meal worms. They are able to roam beyond the backyard penned area in the evening so they do find a lot of live worms/bugs under leaves. In the evening I crumble their old egg shells and they go to town on them about an hour or so before bed. I do have oyster shell pieces so I'm trying to integrate those, but they're both a bit fussy about eating them.

If I were to do some extra calcium, would something like this solution be okay to use? Or are there better recommendations?

 

[aart]

If I were to do some extra calcium, would something like this solution be okay to use? Or are there better recommendations?

Not sure about that, more info on ingredients would help.
Is that something you have on hand?

Human calcium citrate with Vit D3 is what I see most often used.

 

[brm0700]

Not sure about that, more info on ingredients would help.
Is that something you have on hand?

Human calcium citrate with Vit D3 is what I see most often used.

I don't have it on hand at the moment but I saw it mentioned in another thread! Just curious if it also applied to chickens https://www.morningbirdproducts.com/products/morning-bird-calcium-plus-liquid-calcium-formula

Calcium Borogluconate 33g/L
Vitamin D3 25000 i.u./L
Magnesium (MG++) 2g/L
Potassium Sorbate as a preservative

I'm open to getting the calcium citrate w D3 pills that are meant for human consumption but I wasn't sure if like...a single pill crushed up would be good? Or if it's too much calcium for a chicken. Not that I have anything to base that off of!