Got a squat today!

[JennsPeeps]

My BR who laid for just two weeks before laying a shell-less egg and quitting hasn't squatted since she laid that no-shell egg. We treated her for cocci after realizing that her poops had blood in them and she has been putting on weight again.

I got a squat today!

 

[the_eagle69]

i was reading an artical just a few days ago on the soft shell egg it said that it was caused by a shock (scare) that could also explain the stop in laying. The squating from my experence was caused by a lack of roosters. My qusetion would be do you have any roosters and how many chickens do you have. The blood in the stool im not sure of if it was a shock like preators that may explain that as well. Hopefuly some one else here may be able to add more.

 

[meezermom]

Great Jenn! Glad she is doing better - hope I don't have to deal with coccidia....

 

[JennsPeeps]

I know it was cocci b/c we haven't seen any blood in her poop since the treatment. She's also putting on weight again after getting a bit thin for a BR. The final straw was that she was starting to act really listless, looked droopy, wasn't interacting with the others, and seemed very unhealthy.

Squatting is a sign of submission to dominant creatures. Some hens will squat for anything or anyone: children, dogs, owners, etc. We've got just 4 pullets. All except the banty cochin squat to both DBF and me. The cochin isn't laying yet.

The pullet in question stopped laying in mid-January after the 2 abnormal eggs, which I suspect were a result of poor nutrution due to her cocci problems. Now that she's over it, we're hoping to start getting eggs from her again soon. We're also glad that she's feeling better: brighter eyes, socially involved with the others, active and talkative again. Dumpling is back to her old self!