injured pullet

[cannonchick]

I have a seven month old RIR who has been laying for two months. We have a small backyard flock and she has always been at the top of the pecking order. The roo seems to have been awfully rough on her and her comb is scabbed over a bit, but this has happened before. Something is just not right this time, though, she has been hiding from the others- not just the roo, and she wants to be on top of me all of the time! She will jump on to my shoulders and doesn't want to get down. She has always enjoyed one on one time, but never to this extent. She is eating and drinking, she just seems needy ( for lack of better description). She has laid one or two soft shelled eggs, but again this is not new. She has constant access to oyster shells, and before she lays the soft egg she fluffs up. We've had only a few instances of soft shelled eggs, but she recovered quickly and things went back to normal. She has been doing to fluff thing for two and half days now, and the "needy, wanting to be on someone" consistently for a little over 24 hours. I am going to quarantine her, if for no other reason than so that she can calm down and relax my lil queen is being picked on by everyone. I am a first time chicken mom and the last six months have been pretty uneventful healthwise, so any suggestions/ideas/advice will be greatly appreciated!!

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
Welcome to BYC.
I suspect your RIR is scared to death of your rooster. It's possible he has chose her as his favorite. My hens kinda fluff up and squat before they lay an egg, so it may be normal for your hen to do the same when laying an egg. Stress can cause soft shelled eggs as well as other factors such as the type of feed. She should be eating layer feed containing 16-18% protein and given very little treats or scratch. You stated that she is at the top of the pecking order, then you state everyone is picking on her. This could possibly indicate an injury most likely caused by your rooster. I agree that your RIR should go into quarantine, but keep in mind she wont be top hen once returned with the others if she's quarantined for more than a couple of days.
While she is quarantined, I'd like you to physically and thoroughly feel and look for injuries, especially puncture wounds under her wings and her sides underneath the fluff. I've had this happen to young hens by aggressive roosters when treading. If you find punctures, flush with half water/half betadine mixture and pack with neosporin. Hopefully there wont be any. You didnt mention how many hens you have. The normal ratio is one rooster per 10 hens. I recommend that you closely observe your roosters behavior with your RIR and determine whether or not he should be part of your flock or not.