Lots do eat normally apparently. I don't know the heavy moulters here can't do the same. It's a bit worrying when they don't seem to be getting enough to eat.
Suyin is the one of mine who behaves like your hens. She was always out of the run foraging, hardly ate anything I provided [not even extra protein], & is super skinny. She drinks a lot ~ more than anyone else but she is eating better now she has finished her moult.
 
It's all gone wrong.:he
Moon had been sitting in the house nest box. She got a decent examination on the first day and laid an egg that day. I posted a picture on one of these three threads. Absolutely no problem. Egg delivered fast with no sign of discomfort. I had a look at her vent while she was laying the egg. It looked normal.
She's been sitting for three days now. The plan was to put her back in with her tribe this evening. She hasn't been able to defend her nest, her sister Tap throws her out so she can lay, as has Tackle and Mel. Fat Bird just throws her out anyway.
This afternoon she started to look very uncomfortable and was straining as if she wanted to lay an egg. I got her out of the nest box and watched for a while. At first I couldn't see an egg but it looked to me as if she was egg bound. Worse still, above her vent was swollen and looked like what we would call a hemorrhoid. She was definitely egg bound and trying to empty her intestines and lay the egg. All very messy. I got the coconut oil warmed up and with a bit of careful oiling and some manipulation from outside below her vent (you can tip the egg to allow the oil to reach any dry spots like this) she eventually laid the egg.
As I've mentioned, she normally lays dark brown egg. This egg was almost white with brown patches so the paint booth is faulty. Applying the colour to the shell is the last process before the egg is laid. The shell was strong enough to survive dropping onto the concrete floor so calcium wouldn't seem to be the issue.:confused:
The bulge; I'm going to call it a hemorrhoid. looked pretty sore and the top edge where there are follicles was very dry. It's not a prolapse. A prolapse is when sections inside the vent push out. This is something else.
Anyway, once we had got the egg out she looked much more comfortable and went back to the nest. Somehow when getting the eggs arranged underneath her she managed to break one. This is a nightmare. The nest has to be stripped out and cleaned, preferably before the hen gets her underside covered in sticky egg. Once covered in stick egg, more eggs stick to their underside and because as they adjust position any eggs stuck to their underside become fragile wrecking balls and more eggs get broken.
Moon is now in the pet carrier on towels with three eggs to keep her stress levels down. I've cleaned and disinfected the area around her vent and applied some hydro cortisone ointment to the bulge. I'll get some cream for hemorrhoids for her tomorrow.
The thing is, what is a broody hen doing laying an egg after three days of sitting having not laid in the previous two days?
 
It's all gone wrong.:he
Moon had been sitting in the house nest box. She got a decent examination on the first day and laid an egg that day. I posted a picture on one of these three threads. Absolutely no problem. Egg delivered fast with no sign of discomfort. I had a look at her vent while she was laying the egg. It looked normal.
She's been sitting for three days now. The plan was to put her back in with her tribe this evening. She hasn't been able to defend her nest, her sister Tap throws her out so she can lay, as has Tackle and Mel. Fat Bird just throws her out anyway.
This afternoon she started to look very uncomfortable and was straining as if she wanted to lay an egg. I got her out of the nest box and watched for a while. At first I couldn't see an egg but it looked to me as if she was egg bound. Worse still, above her vent was swollen and looked like what we would call a hemorrhoid. She was definitely egg bound and trying to empty her intestines and lay the egg. All very messy. I got the coconut oil warmed up and with a bit of careful oiling and some manipulation from outside below her vent (you can tip the egg to allow the oil to reach any dry spots like this) she eventually laid the egg.
As I've mentioned, she normally lays dark brown egg. This egg was almost white with brown patches so the paint booth is faulty. Applying the colour to the shell is the last process before the egg is laid. The shell was strong enough to survive dropping onto the concrete floor so calcium wouldn't seem to be the issue.:confused:
The bulge; I'm going to call it a hemorrhoid. looked pretty sore and the top edge where there are follicles was very dry. It's not a prolapse. A prolapse is when sections inside the vent push out. This is something else.
Anyway, once we had got the egg out she looked much more comfortable and went back to the nest. Somehow when getting the eggs arranged underneath her she managed to break one. This is a nightmare. The nest has to be stripped out and cleaned, preferably before the hen gets her underside covered in sticky egg. Once covered in stick egg, more eggs stick to their underside and because as they adjust position any eggs stuck to their underside become fragile wrecking balls and more eggs get broken.
Moon is now in the pet carrier on towels with three eggs to keep her stress levels down. I've cleaned and disinfected the area around her vent and applied some hydro cortisone ointment to the bulge. I'll get some cream for hemorrhoids for her tomorrow.
The thing is, what is a broody hen doing laying an egg after three days of sitting having not laid in the previous two days?
When you find out, let us all know! That is weird. Glad she is ok. Sort of.
 
It's all gone wrong.:he
Moon had been sitting in the house nest box. She got a decent examination on the first day and laid an egg that day. I posted a picture on one of these three threads. Absolutely no problem. Egg delivered fast with no sign of discomfort. I had a look at her vent while she was laying the egg. It looked normal.
She's been sitting for three days now. The plan was to put her back in with her tribe this evening. She hasn't been able to defend her nest, her sister Tap throws her out so she can lay, as has Tackle and Mel. Fat Bird just throws her out anyway.
This afternoon she started to look very uncomfortable and was straining as if she wanted to lay an egg. I got her out of the nest box and watched for a while. At first I couldn't see an egg but it looked to me as if she was egg bound. Worse still, above her vent was swollen and looked like what we would call a hemorrhoid. She was definitely egg bound and trying to empty her intestines and lay the egg. All very messy. I got the coconut oil warmed up and with a bit of careful oiling and some manipulation from outside below her vent (you can tip the egg to allow the oil to reach any dry spots like this) she eventually laid the egg.
As I've mentioned, she normally lays dark brown egg. This egg was almost white with brown patches so the paint booth is faulty. Applying the colour to the shell is the last process before the egg is laid. The shell was strong enough to survive dropping onto the concrete floor so calcium wouldn't seem to be the issue.:confused:
The bulge; I'm going to call it a hemorrhoid. looked pretty sore and the top edge where there are follicles was very dry. It's not a prolapse. A prolapse is when sections inside the vent push out. This is something else.
Anyway, once we had got the egg out she looked much more comfortable and went back to the nest. Somehow when getting the eggs arranged underneath her she managed to break one. This is a nightmare. The nest has to be stripped out and cleaned, preferably before the hen gets her underside covered in sticky egg. Once covered in stick egg, more eggs stick to their underside and because as they adjust position any eggs stuck to their underside become fragile wrecking balls and more eggs get broken.
Moon is now in the pet carrier on towels with three eggs to keep her stress levels down. I've cleaned and disinfected the area around her vent and applied some hydro cortisone ointment to the bulge. I'll get some cream for hemorrhoids for her tomorrow.
The thing is, what is a broody hen doing laying an egg after three days of sitting having not laid in the previous two days?
That sounds like trouble to me too :( very worriesome.
 
It's all gone wrong.:he
Moon had been sitting in the house nest box. She got a decent examination on the first day and laid an egg that day. I posted a picture on one of these three threads. Absolutely no problem. Egg delivered fast with no sign of discomfort. I had a look at her vent while she was laying the egg. It looked normal.
She's been sitting for three days now. The plan was to put her back in with her tribe this evening. She hasn't been able to defend her nest, her sister Tap throws her out so she can lay, as has Tackle and Mel. Fat Bird just throws her out anyway.
This afternoon she started to look very uncomfortable and was straining as if she wanted to lay an egg. I got her out of the nest box and watched for a while. At first I couldn't see an egg but it looked to me as if she was egg bound. Worse still, above her vent was swollen and looked like what we would call a hemorrhoid. She was definitely egg bound and trying to empty her intestines and lay the egg. All very messy. I got the coconut oil warmed up and with a bit of careful oiling and some manipulation from outside below her vent (you can tip the egg to allow the oil to reach any dry spots like this) she eventually laid the egg.
As I've mentioned, she normally lays dark brown egg. This egg was almost white with brown patches so the paint booth is faulty. Applying the colour to the shell is the last process before the egg is laid. The shell was strong enough to survive dropping onto the concrete floor so calcium wouldn't seem to be the issue.:confused:
The bulge; I'm going to call it a hemorrhoid. looked pretty sore and the top edge where there are follicles was very dry. It's not a prolapse. A prolapse is when sections inside the vent push out. This is something else.
Anyway, once we had got the egg out she looked much more comfortable and went back to the nest. Somehow when getting the eggs arranged underneath her she managed to break one. This is a nightmare. The nest has to be stripped out and cleaned, preferably before the hen gets her underside covered in sticky egg. Once covered in stick egg, more eggs stick to their underside and because as they adjust position any eggs stuck to their underside become fragile wrecking balls and more eggs get broken.
Moon is now in the pet carrier on towels with three eggs to keep her stress levels down. I've cleaned and disinfected the area around her vent and applied some hydro cortisone ointment to the bulge. I'll get some cream for hemorrhoids for her tomorrow.
The thing is, what is a broody hen doing laying an egg after three days of sitting having not laid in the previous two days?

Ugh. Poor Moon! Is the bulge a bit dark looking? Could be a hematoma/haematoma from straining. That is basically a bleed into the tissue under the skin. Think of a really bad boxers black eye where the eye swells shut.
In that case hemorrhoid cream won’t solve it but won’t hurt. A bit of gentle cooling might be soothing - like a towel you put in the fridge for a few hours and then hold over the bulge.
Hope she is better soon.
 
It's all gone wrong.:he
Moon had been sitting in the house nest box. She got a decent examination on the first day and laid an egg that day. I posted a picture on one of these three threads. Absolutely no problem. Egg delivered fast with no sign of discomfort. I had a look at her vent while she was laying the egg. It looked normal.
She's been sitting for three days now. The plan was to put her back in with her tribe this evening. She hasn't been able to defend her nest, her sister Tap throws her out so she can lay, as has Tackle and Mel. Fat Bird just throws her out anyway.
This afternoon she started to look very uncomfortable and was straining as if she wanted to lay an egg. I got her out of the nest box and watched for a while. At first I couldn't see an egg but it looked to me as if she was egg bound. Worse still, above her vent was swollen and looked like what we would call a hemorrhoid. She was definitely egg bound and trying to empty her intestines and lay the egg. All very messy. I got the coconut oil warmed up and with a bit of careful oiling and some manipulation from outside below her vent (you can tip the egg to allow the oil to reach any dry spots like this) she eventually laid the egg.
As I've mentioned, she normally lays dark brown egg. This egg was almost white with brown patches so the paint booth is faulty. Applying the colour to the shell is the last process before the egg is laid. The shell was strong enough to survive dropping onto the concrete floor so calcium wouldn't seem to be the issue.:confused:
The bulge; I'm going to call it a hemorrhoid. looked pretty sore and the top edge where there are follicles was very dry. It's not a prolapse. A prolapse is when sections inside the vent push out. This is something else.
Anyway, once we had got the egg out she looked much more comfortable and went back to the nest. Somehow when getting the eggs arranged underneath her she managed to break one. This is a nightmare. The nest has to be stripped out and cleaned, preferably before the hen gets her underside covered in sticky egg. Once covered in stick egg, more eggs stick to their underside and because as they adjust position any eggs stuck to their underside become fragile wrecking balls and more eggs get broken.
Moon is now in the pet carrier on towels with three eggs to keep her stress levels down. I've cleaned and disinfected the area around her vent and applied some hydro cortisone ointment to the bulge. I'll get some cream for hemorrhoids for her tomorrow.
The thing is, what is a broody hen doing laying an egg after three days of sitting having not laid in the previous two days?

Poor Moon. ☹️ She’s very lucky to have you.
 
Definitely molting
In a big improvement to the Chicken Palace I have made a cover for my seat so I don't have to brush off the chicken s**t before I sit down (I don't know how the rest of you cope who have chairs in your runs).
As a result I was able to sit inside Run #2 and watch Maggie up close as she stuck into a leaf pile.
She definitely seems to be molting (I know, you all told me that already but I wasn't totally sure).
I will increase the protein in their food tomorrow.
 
It's all gone wrong.:he
Moon had been sitting in the house nest box. She got a decent examination on the first day and laid an egg that day. I posted a picture on one of these three threads. Absolutely no problem. Egg delivered fast with no sign of discomfort. I had a look at her vent while she was laying the egg. It looked normal.
She's been sitting for three days now. The plan was to put her back in with her tribe this evening. She hasn't been able to defend her nest, her sister Tap throws her out so she can lay, as has Tackle and Mel. Fat Bird just throws her out anyway.
This afternoon she started to look very uncomfortable and was straining as if she wanted to lay an egg. I got her out of the nest box and watched for a while. At first I couldn't see an egg but it looked to me as if she was egg bound. Worse still, above her vent was swollen and looked like what we would call a hemorrhoid. She was definitely egg bound and trying to empty her intestines and lay the egg. All very messy. I got the coconut oil warmed up and with a bit of careful oiling and some manipulation from outside below her vent (you can tip the egg to allow the oil to reach any dry spots like this) she eventually laid the egg.
As I've mentioned, she normally lays dark brown egg. This egg was almost white with brown patches so the paint booth is faulty. Applying the colour to the shell is the last process before the egg is laid. The shell was strong enough to survive dropping onto the concrete floor so calcium wouldn't seem to be the issue.:confused:
The bulge; I'm going to call it a hemorrhoid. looked pretty sore and the top edge where there are follicles was very dry. It's not a prolapse. A prolapse is when sections inside the vent push out. This is something else.
Anyway, once we had got the egg out she looked much more comfortable and went back to the nest. Somehow when getting the eggs arranged underneath her she managed to break one. This is a nightmare. The nest has to be stripped out and cleaned, preferably before the hen gets her underside covered in sticky egg. Once covered in stick egg, more eggs stick to their underside and because as they adjust position any eggs stuck to their underside become fragile wrecking balls and more eggs get broken.
Moon is now in the pet carrier on towels with three eggs to keep her stress levels down. I've cleaned and disinfected the area around her vent and applied some hydro cortisone ointment to the bulge. I'll get some cream for hemorrhoids for her tomorrow.
The thing is, what is a broody hen doing laying an egg after three days of sitting having not laid in the previous two days?
That is very concerning but I think I can provide some comfort. When Maleficent was broody I let her set for almost a week before crating her. She laid an egg in the crate. She had not laid before then as far as I could tell. It can happen. I would obviously keep track of her and how she's doing but it may not be that strange.
Definitely molting
In a big improvement to the Chicken Palace I have made a cover for my seat so I don't have to brush off the chicken s**t before I sit down (I don't know how the rest of you cope who have chairs in your runs).
As a result I was able to sit inside Run #2 and watch Maggie up close as she stuck into a leaf pile.
She definitely seems to be molting (I know, you all told me that already but I wasn't totally sure).
I will increase the protein in their food tomorrow.
I have a stick and a pad for my run chair. I scrape it clean and put the pad down. My chair has holes so the crap drops right through it. 😉
 
Definitely molting
In a big improvement to the Chicken Palace I have made a cover for my seat so I don't have to brush off the chicken s**t before I sit down (I don't know how the rest of you cope who have chairs in your runs).
As a result I was able to sit inside Run #2 and watch Maggie up close as she stuck into a leaf pile.
She definitely seems to be molting (I know, you all told me that already but I wasn't totally sure).
I will increase the protein in their food tomorrow.
My chairs have slats :) so if a chair has fresh poops, I can clean it off with the hose and the water runs off. If a chair is not freshly pooped on, I use a stick to flick old poops off and then I sit on a cushion. Usually both chairs are free from chook poop but adorned with one or two sparrow poops. My chairs are in the chicken's yard, not in the coop.
 

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