Hen attacked, produced soft egg

[KimDunn]

One of my hens recently healed up from being attacked by other chickens in the coop. Not sure who it was. She has been out of the coop for about a month but has been just outside the chicken run every day. I even took her in there to hang out once. Yesterday, I tried to do the official reintroduction and within 5 minutes the rooster had made her head bleed again. He took out a decent chunk. He was not trying to mate her, he was definitely meaning to harm her. There was still a little bit of pink on her head (completely healed), about the size of a dime. The feathers hadn’t completely filled in yet. That night my hen layed a soft egg. She has never layed a soft egg and has been laying consistently. Why is my rooster attacking her? Why would she suddenly lay a soft egg? Thanks!

 

[Perris]

sounds awful; sorry I can't help but you have my sympathies . I'm sure someone who can advise you will be along soon.

 

[Rosdez31]

It doesn't seem unreasonable that a stressed hen would lay a soft shelled egg, as the flight or fight response tends to turn off unnecessary bodily functions. That doesn't explain the domestic violence.

 

[Rosdez31]

This might be a sensitive subject but is the rooster from a broken home, did he have a good relationship with both parents

 

[Fishkeeper]

Somehow I doubt that the rooster's home life had any bearing on his behavior.

And yes, stress will mess up a hen's egg factory pretty badly. It should be temporary, though.

 

[KimDunn]

The rooster was born in an incubator and grew up here. He was introduced (with another hen and rooster) to my flock when old enough last July or August. So, he’s been with this hen for 8 or 9 months. I’ve never seen him be a jerk to any other hen. I have given away my other rooster. He is in with 6 hens, 5 now. I have more chicks growing so pretty soon there will be a better roo to hen ratio (unless I have more Roo chicks!)