Hen was acting weird, layed soft egg, and is still not acting normal? please help!

[Brienna]

Thanks for posting this conversation gals, I've been going through something very simial with one of my Easter Eggers yesterday and today. She's 26 weeks and has been laying since about 22 wks, but lays greatly varying sizes of eggs and they sometimes have what appears to be a thinner shell on one side. She laid a huge egg 2 days ago. Then last night she was all hunched over, not interested in treats with her tail & vent pumping and white liquid dribbling from her vent. After a while I saw her vent push out a little and it looked bright pink and irritated. One of the other chickens ran over and started pecking her vent and chasing her all around the yard. I was horrified and put the rest of the chickens back in the coop. It took a few laps around the outside of the coop to catch my hen, and in the process she laid a soft egg, but continued being hunched and pumping her vent with her head low. I picked her up and held a warm compress on her behind for about 10-15 minutes. I tried putting her in with the others, but she still seemed somewhat hunched with vent pumping and another one pecked at her vent. I ended up bringing her in the house overnight and kept her in a quiet area in a dog kennel with a towel over it. I was worried that she wouldn't eat or drink, and she had been panting when she first came in (it's about 36 F outside and 68F inside). She finally settled onto the floor of the kennel and seemed a little more comfortable. This morning she had a normal posture & was eager to eat treats when offered. I had checked out some online resources and thought she might need more calcium, so I gave her and all the other chickens a little cheese, apple bits and nuts. I checked her vent and it was still pumping, but I put her in with the others to see how she did. Her posture was normal & she ate her normal 16% protein layer ration pellets. After walking around a bit she pooped a dropping about 3 or 4 times larger than normal. After that it seemed like her vent was not pumping so overactively. I didn't see any pecking by the other chickens so I left her in with them for the day. I'm hoping she'll be ok when I get home from work. I'm wondering if anyone can explain what happened, how to avoid it again, and if I could have done more to help my hen. I think I probably need to give them supplemental calcium.

Is this the first soft egg she's laid? I'm no expert, but I think that their bodies are starting to work things out and it takes some time for them to get used to laying good eggs. I've read that's it's pretty normal for them to lay soft eggs when they start laying. 2 of my hens had the same behavior, still acting droopy for a bit after laying the soft egg, but a few hours later, it was business as usual. I know it's pretty stressful when it happens, but I wouldn't worry too much if it doesn't happen too often. Do you give them oyster shells?

 

[alaskanest]

I've been reading lots of "soft shell" info and I think you're right. This was her first soft egg, although some of her eggs have been slightly irregularly shaped. I was so afraid she would have a prolapse with all that straining, and then when it continued after the egg was laid I couldn't imagine what was still going on in there. That helps to know that yours also were droopy after the soft egg came out. I don't have any supplimental calcium for them, but have given them yogurt in the past, and gave them a little cheese yesterday and today. I may get some pellets which include calcium as it seems several people have posted that their chickens don't always eat the oyster shells. I'll see what I can get locally. This thread was really helpful as I was trying to figure this out - and trying not to panic! I'm happy to say she seems just fine now. She didn't lay yesterday which is good, I'm glad she took the day off, so we'll see what happens today.