Help! Pullet in trouble?

[TripleH]

I have a Golden Comet who has been laying since 6/20/09
She lays 5-6 eggs a week. Yesterday she laid at 7:00am
no problem. Last night as I was sitting out there watching them
she seemed listless, eyes shut just standing in run. One hour
later she passed a soft shelled egg in the run 9:00p.m., then became
active again. No egg this morn, I wasn't surprised. Tonite she started again
about 8:00p.m. Nothing yet, she seems miserable. She's in the coop
now, and went up in the nest box-but not her usual box,like she just
doesn't care. On layer crumbles, free range in tractor when we're home,
treats such as yogurt, cheerios, grren beans. She hoarded the yogurt
and cherrios tonite. Droppings a little watery. Very hot and humid-heat advisory
over our weekend here. Any ideas? Will this phase pass? Thanks for any help.

 

[Year of the Rooster]

Possibly stress from the heat.

 

[TripleH]

I just went out and checked she jumped out of nest
and appeared to pass some egg white/yolk but no shell.
Please advise, she's so sweet and I'm freaking, she seems
really distressed.

 

[masschix]

Sorry to hear of your troubles. I had a similar incident with one of my birds last summer. For three days straight she only laid soft shelled eggs. I increased the amount of oyster shells that the birds had and provided a double amount of fresh water each day. Went away on its own...not even sure why or what made her feel better.

As far as the heat goes....I read somewhere on this site about a great air conditioning technique for those hot and humid days. Take a gallon size freezer bag and fill it with water and freeze overnight (I made 4 of them). Place one frozen bag in a 5 gallon pail and lay the pail on its side. The chickens will enter the bucket to cool off. Thought it was a cool idea to pass along.

Good luck with your comet.

 

[TripleH]

If it was a soft shell that broke
will it pass ok. I need to go saok
her in warm water I think. She's
really messy by her vent right now,
Not prolapsed. Thanks for advice.
I do have 2 blower fans working
24hrs. a day, and put frozen milk
jugs in over weekend.

 

[TripleH]

Just went out and checked,she was in nest box
and passed broken soft shell. Hopefully
i can sleep now.