Funny shaped eggs - is she coming to the end of her laying?

[chris503632]

Hi all,

Apologies for a bit of a mixed bag of questions, but here goes...

One of my two chickens is an ex-battery hen that adopted us about 20 months ago. She has been a brilliant layer - almost an egg a day for that entire time. Lately though, she doesn't lay anywhere near as often - only 2 times a week or so and her eggs are funny shapes - they looks squished and misshapen and some of them are very long and pointed.

Does this suggest she is coming to the end of her laying? Lots of literature seems to suggest this is the case.

Also - I have noticed that one of our chickens is doing very runny poos- no sign of worms or blood, not yellow of frothy, just very runny. I'm worried that the lethargy of our ex-battery could be linked, but I can't tell if it her or our other girl doing them. When she is up and around she runs round like a mad thing, pulls up plants and tries to get in the house. Her eyes are bright and there is no sign of breathing problems or the like.

She also spends a lots more time in the coop, just sitting all fluffed up. She still spend time running round the garden, causing chaos but seems to be having more "down" time. Is this just part of the ageing process? How long do ex-batteries tend to live after they stop laying? She is the first chicken we ever had and is so dear to us. We hate to think of her dying, but I'd be happier if I knew how long we can expect her to carry on.

Any advice would be really gratefully received. Thanks in advance...

Chris

 

[Judy]

Their life span is somewhere around 10 years -- but there is a lot of variation. I know some have lived to fifteen, maybe longer. Some lay all their lives, and some quit. They arrive in the world with a set number of eggs, so a prolific layer is more likely to stop.

The runny poo could be due to worms even if you can't see any worms in the poop, but there are certaainly other causes, and I'm not particularly educated about what the may be. If you live in a moist, humid climate and area like I do, worms are more likely to be present, and you might conside a dose of Valbazen once or twice a year. Some people never worm their flock, though, especially those who free range and / or live in a drier area.

It could be that she will turn out to be an internal layer. I'll give ou a link to a thread about that, plus one to a good resource regarding egg defects.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/79443/tell-me-about-your-internal-layers/80_20#post_6235380 This whole thread is informative, but it's set to post #92 which is particularly so.

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/1/egg-quality-handbook/18/misshapen-eggs