mcarolinesimms
In the Brooder
- Apr 5, 2022
- 6
- 3
- 29
This has happened twice. I went out at the end of the day to lock the girls up, and my hen, Orla, who is 20 weeks old and started laying at 18 weeks, was all hunched up and not feeling well. I touched her crop and it's super full, and you can tell she is in pain. Last night while I was holding her and massaging her crop because I thought maybe it was impacted, she pooped out a soft-shell egg. I set her down... came back about 10 minutes later, and she’s still not in the coop; she’s out standing over ANOTHER soft-shell egg—this one is mainly just a yolk with a wax paper-type coating over it. She had already laid a real egg in the nesting box earlier in the day. That’s 3 eggs in one day. This morning, she’s totally fine.
The previous time (a week or so ago), I saw she wasn’t feeling well, massaged her crop a bit, set her on the roosting bars, and she pooped out a soft-shell egg. The next morning, totally fine.
I now know what to look out for, and if I see her like that, I can soak her and hopefully things will move out. But why is this happening? And is there a way to prevent it?
The previous time (a week or so ago), I saw she wasn’t feeling well, massaged her crop a bit, set her on the roosting bars, and she pooped out a soft-shell egg. The next morning, totally fine.
I now know what to look out for, and if I see her like that, I can soak her and hopefully things will move out. But why is this happening? And is there a way to prevent it?
