This morning when I let the hens out of the coop, my RIR stayed in the coop. I went in to look for her and she was standing there with something hanging out of her vent. As I looked closer, it was about a half of an egg shell with a long strand of egg (felt like when you cook eggs soft) leading from the shell to the vent.
I used a glove to carefully remove the hanging egg, and it seemed to have a very soft shell. That's odd because I often see her eating her oyster shells and crushed egg shells. Even yesterday I saw her eat them.
Then after I did that, she walked away, past the feed and water without touching them, and is standing under the trees. She's kind of closing her eyes a little like she is in pain or something.
You know how when a chicken is about to poop, the feathers near the vent part downward? She has had hers parted like that since I've seen her this morning. You can kind of tell in the above photo.
Other things of note: I haven't seen an egg from her in about 2 weeks, but she did lose feathers on her head so I assumed she was molting. I thought I even saw some new feather growth coming in, but maybe the feather loss is due to something else? Also, idk if this is relevant but when eating her eggs (when we did have them), the whites lately have been really thin and would spread out really far when you cracked them in the pan. I thought that was unusual, but she is an older hen so I brushed it off.
So with all that said, what do you think is the problem and what should I do? We do not have a chicken vet here so we treat entirely at home. Please help me help our beloved Reba!!! Thank you.
I used a glove to carefully remove the hanging egg, and it seemed to have a very soft shell. That's odd because I often see her eating her oyster shells and crushed egg shells. Even yesterday I saw her eat them.
Then after I did that, she walked away, past the feed and water without touching them, and is standing under the trees. She's kind of closing her eyes a little like she is in pain or something.
You know how when a chicken is about to poop, the feathers near the vent part downward? She has had hers parted like that since I've seen her this morning. You can kind of tell in the above photo.
Other things of note: I haven't seen an egg from her in about 2 weeks, but she did lose feathers on her head so I assumed she was molting. I thought I even saw some new feather growth coming in, but maybe the feather loss is due to something else? Also, idk if this is relevant but when eating her eggs (when we did have them), the whites lately have been really thin and would spread out really far when you cracked them in the pan. I thought that was unusual, but she is an older hen so I brushed it off.
So with all that said, what do you think is the problem and what should I do? We do not have a chicken vet here so we treat entirely at home. Please help me help our beloved Reba!!! Thank you.
