How do I know if my hen is egg-bound?

[suburbanchick]

I have 4 hens: 3 wyandottes and 1 EE. They are all laying regularly except the EE, who has laid one egg in a week. She doesn't act like anything is wrong, but she's been giving me an egg a day pretty consistently.

Should I worry? What can I do to check her out?

 

[bigzio]

No, I don't think you need to worry. If a hen is acting normal then everything is ok. Please remember that these hens aren't laying machines but living breathing poultry that don't produce eggs 24/7 every day of their life.

Some problems can occur within the flock that result in less eggs collected, however i don't think you have those problems.

Keeping the feed high in protein is real important once the hens have been laying awhile. The constant laying of eggs is stress to the hens internal system, so helping them with a good diet is important.

Commercial egg people cull the flock every 18 months or so. Keeping our backyard flocks healthy and happy and proving they are way wrong with their thinking is why I do this... My older flock, not only being heirloom and not able to provide the commercial egg indistry the eggs they need on a daily basis is priceless.

The quality of life my hens live on a daily basis is exactly how God ment it to be.

bigzio

 

[cheeptrick]

My EE also stopped laying. She laid her first egg last Friday...then took Sat off...then she laid straight Sun - Tues.
No Eggs since...
I did notice her comb wasn't as red also. I know she's just trying to get the hang of it. Her first egg had this sticky brown film on it...but the other 3 were gorgeous green and very clean in the nesting boxes.
I've got 24 pullets...but only one is laying so far. Some of the other chickens combs are starting to swell and redden. I'll post pictures again when others start to lay.

 

[rrrsmom]

There are certain foods you can feed your girls to help prevent that. I suggest some flax seed and wheat germ.

 

[Newchickenmom&kids]

Here's some info on prevention and symptoms for future reference:
http://www.pekinbantams.com/egg_bound.asp

 

[suburbanchick]

Quote:
Hey, I'm totally with you on all that... that's a great way to look at it. Please don't think that I'm angry that she hasn't laid... I have more eggs than I can use anyway and are giving them to friends. I just love my girls and want to make sure nothing is wrong with her! She laid today, so that's great.

Thanks for the tips everyone, and have a great weekend!