Help! Reproductive issues - Need Advice

[peckpeckpeck]

My golden girl Pele is having reproductive issues & I want to know if there's anything else I can do.

She's a rhode island red, 10 months old, & is normally the most active & productive of the bunch.

A week ago, she laid a pale, thin shelled egg & I noticed she wasn't laying daily like usual. But she seemed ok otherwise.

This morning she didn't come out when I opened the coop. I checked inside & she was on the roost with her head down, looked like she was in pain.

She finally came out an hour later but just stood around with her head down & eyes closed. Didn't eat or drink much.

A little while later, she laid a soft egg which all of them started eating. She had egg smeared down her bottom, like it burst open on its way out.

I took her inside, gave her an epsom salt bath & blow dry, fed her scrambled egg with egg shells & garlic. She didn't like the taste of the garlic so she didn't eat a whole lot. She did go for the sunflower seeds & drank some water.

When she dried off, I let her outside & she ran straight to the nest box & stayed there for 2 hours. Now she's out again but hunched over & lethargic.

Is there anything else I can do for her? Or do I just need to wait snd see?

She's normally the one who runs quickest to me & tries to jump onto my knee or lap or arm.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[peckpeckpeck]

Should also mention we had a big snow here yesterday. Should I bring her in where it's warmer?

 

[micstrachan]

Yes. Bring her in. And give her some calcium. I’m afraid your sweetie might be in for a tough go if she’s had two soft eggs and doesn’t feel well. Is she a new layer? She may be still trying to sort things out. Pushing the soft eggs out is exhausting. Is she feeling any better?

 

[micstrachan]

Hmm... I reread your post and you said she is usually very productive. Does she have access to oyster shell? You might want to consider keeping her in the dark for a few days to give her reproductive tract a break. It must be quite a day for laying issues, as I think this is my third time recommending dark tonight.

 

[Folly's place]

So sorry!
Look her, and her flockmates, over very carefully at night with a flashlight. Mites or lice will cause severe anemia and weakness. Treat everyone with permethrin if you find any 'bad bugs'.
Diet: what are you feeding? Messing up the mineral balance in the feed, or feeding old feed (check the mill date on every bag!), can be devastating.
If she's developing a severe internal problem, things won't go well. Maybe a trip to an avian veterinarian?
Mary

 

[peckpeckpeck]

Thank you both for replying!
She's doing a little better, got a little more active yesterday as the day warmed up. But she was slow to leave the roost again this morning.

Yes. Bring her in. And give her some calcium. I’m afraid your sweetie might be in for a tough go if she’s had two soft eggs and doesn’t feel well. Is she a new layer? She may be still trying to sort things out. Pushing the soft eggs out is exhausting. Is she feeling any better?

She's been laying since last August at 20 weeks, a full 3 weeks before by EE & BPR, & lays a 50gm egg almost every day. For calcium, can I give her crushed TUMS or is there something better?

Hmm... I reread your post and you said she is usually very productive. Does she have access to oyster shell? You might want to consider keeping her in the dark for a few days to give her reproductive tract a break. It must be quite a day for laying issues, as I think this is my third time recommending dark tonight.

Oh gosh, so sorry to hear other girls are having trouble too! She looks like she's in so much pain!

Ok I'll try keeping her in the dark.
Is locking her in the henhouse during the day ok? She's been sitting in there on the roost or in the nest box a lot anyway. There are no windows, just a little light from the ventilation slits.

They always have oyster shell as well as their own crushed shells free choice.

So sorry!
Look her, and her flockmates, over very carefully at night with a flashlight. Mites or lice will cause severe anemia and weakness. Treat everyone with permethrin if you find any 'bad bugs'.
Diet: what are you feeding? Messing up the mineral balance in the feed, or feeding old feed (check the mill date on every bag!), can be devastating.
If she's developing a severe internal problem, things won't go well. Maybe a trip to an avian veterinarian?
Mary

I can't find any bugs. I checked while she was getting her spa treatment yesterday. Checked the other girls too. I'll look tonight inside the henhouse when it's dark.

They are on Scratch & Peck layer feed, fermented, alrhough lately they've been picking through the fines again. Is there a good way to make them eat all of it? I started fermenting because they were leaving the fines at the bottom when it was dry. Now they're leaving the wet fine clumps!
It's a new bag, just delivered when I picked it up.

I'll look up avian vets today.

Again thank you both!!
I love this girl & would do almost anything for her.

 

[Folly's place]

Seed type feeds can be an issues because it's easy to eat the yummy stuff and leave the rest, unbalancing the diet. Laying hens will eat oyster shell to meet their need for calcium. Crushed egg shells can be metabolized before the egg shell is being produced by the hen in early morning, because the pieces of shell are so tiny.
Do check the mill date on each bag of feed!
Is your fermenting process going wrong?
I feed an all flock crumble, not fermented, with separate oyster shell, and prefer it. Simple! No mess, no fussing with wet feed, lovely.
Mary

 

[rebrascora]

The problem with the likes of Scratch and Peck is that they can pick and chose which particles they want to eat. Their favourites are usually the ones that are least good for them... the corn and wheat. Fermenting it will not change that, just make their favourite bits easier to pick out because they swell when soaked in water. They end up eating the higher carbohydrate components and not the pulses and fines which contain the important minerals and protein. This carbohydrate rich diet can lead them to lay down fat deposits which make passing eggs more difficult, cause them to be more at risk of prolapse and increases the risk of Fatty Liver Haemorrhagic Syndrome which can both be fatal. It is becoming a more common problem with backyard birds as people are tempted to treat their hens too much, giving scratch or bread or other carbohydrate snacks. Unfortunately the type of feed you are using (a grain mix) gives your hens themselves the opportunity to decide how much of the treats they want and some will be more selective than others. I have commented on a few posts recently where people had prolapses or hens die suddenly and necropsy identified Fatty Liver Haemorrhagic Syndrome as the cause.
In my opinion, feeding them a layer pellet or crumble (there is less waste with pellets if you provide dry food but both ferment equally well) will provide them with a more balanced diet because they have to eat the whole ration (it is homogenized) and will reduce the risks to their health and should make egg laying easier for them.

If you change feed, be prepared for them to go on strike for a few days and turn their noses up, but you need to be firm and hold out because it is for their own good.

This is my own opinion regarding mixed grain feeds but I know from experience that if you mix grains into their feed, they will bill out the other stuff to get at the bits they want, even if those are just small fragments of grains. That means some of the feed will get wasted which can then attract rats and the "fines" are often left which contain the important trace elements. Chickens can scratch up and selectively peck the tiniest specks of bugs that we struggle to see, so it is not unreasonable to assume that they will peck their favourite bits out of an aggregate feed.

 

[Folly's place]

this occurs often in pet birds and rodents fed a mixed grain diet rather than pelleted feed. Mary

 

[andreanar]

This same scenario is happening with one of my 10 mth old hens. This is just how her issue started. You can search for my thread "Help diagnose my CCL hen".
Ive been documenting the progress. It started with laying soft shelled eggs, then went to looking hunched and miserable, not wanting to eat, drink. Its awful hard on them to pass softies. Yes, give Tums, break it in half, open her beak and put it in, she will swallow if you put it back far enough, but not too far that she inhales it.