i am worried about my chicken who dosent know how to lay eggs

[leannachooken]

I was told our chickens would start laying eggs towards the end of june and that was true all chickens are laying exept one, she laid once it was not in the nesting box, it was on concrete and it was a funny egg it was had no shell just membrane so we made sure she ate lots of grittle. she was very noisy and stressed this morning, she kept on wandering in and out of the nesting box then ran back to her friends, how can i help her?, is she to stressed? is she not eating right? please help!

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

First eggs can be small, misshaped and even shell less. Grit wont help the shell, oyster shell will, grit is for digestion where the oyster shell is for calcium. Not all of the hens will start laying at the exact same time, and it takes time for some to really gear up.

Check to make sure she isn't egg bound, do this by gently feeling her lower abdomen to see if you feel a hard mass. Do not push hard because if there is an egg you don't want to bust it inside her.

More than likely she is just a slow starter and will be laying fine very soon.

Shellie

 

[Fred's Hens]

First, welcome to BYC. Secondly, there is little you can do. There are some things you can "try". They are all experimental and perhaps it works and perhaps it doesn't, but you've nothing to lose.

First, ask yourself where she is in the pecking order. Is she at the bottom, middle or top. My guess is that she's pretty low. Does her pecking order position force her to wait while others eat first and eat what they wish?

You don't say how many chicks you have, but if she is the lowest of say, 10 hens, if she always gets the nesting box last, if she always gets pushed to eating last, etc, this is a hen that needs her own space for awhile. If it is possible for you to "mix things up" for awhile and check the results, you'd feel like better about seeing if you can improve things for her.

If you know the pecking order reasonably well, put her with other lower ranking hens in their own pen for a week. Provide them with their own nesting box, etc. Many times, I've seen a non layer begin to lay when she is socially more comfortable. This experiment may or may not be possible for you.

Of course, she may have reproductive, physical issues, even sterility, but before you come to that conclusion, it would be great if you could determine whether this is a pecking order, intimation issue.

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Hi! I bet she'll give you a 'good egg' soon --- maybe tomorrow! Sounds like she may be a little behind the rest of the group.
Nothing to worry about.
Welcome!

Lisa