Margo is in Trouble

[casportpony]

When laying a shelled egg is delayed a day or two, sometimes a soft one is right behind it and it will make them look this sick.

 

[rebrascora]

I agree that we are guessing/assuming that a soft shelled/shell less egg has been laid but there is no evidence to back up that assumption. It would of course be a simple matter for a hen to grab it and eat it whilst Michelle was at work prior to the normal egg being laid and then have an hour or two of feeling better before the next anomaly starts it's journey down the chute.

 

[micstrachan]

Haha! We keep cross posting. So I used the egg she laid today to offer her calcium. It had a shell, but the shell was very thin. She readily ate some egg yolk with calcium. Not all of it, but some is more than none. She also went crazy for the egg shell. All this went down on the roost, since she put herself to bed early.

 

[rebrascora]

Sounds like a result or at least a good compromise!

 

[micstrachan]

I left a handful of egg shells next to Margo and saw her picking at them before she went to sleep. She had her head hung low when she went to sleep, though.
What do people think of me making her spend the day in the dark? I don’t want to stress her out, but might like to slow her egg production cycle down so she can rest and (hopefully) recover.

 

[rebrascora]

Birds don't generally get stressed when they are kept in the dark, they just wait for it to get light. I would pick her off the roost at night and put her in a crate somewhere dark that is not going to get too hot. It needs to be pretty dark right through the day to keep her calm and then let her out at lunchtime for some sun and exercise because I think both are important for her just the length of exposure to daylight needs to be shortened. Then when she goes to roost, repeat the process, so she is only getting half a days light for a few days. Hopefully it will trigger an early moult if you can do it for long enough... that trip away is coming up to scupper plans!

 

[micstrachan]

Oh no! Let her sleep in the coop last night. Should I get her I to the dark this morning? I live in a smallish house with only the kids bathroom to keep her dark. Thankfully they both had sleep overs out. No water or feed since she should be sleeping?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

How is she doing?

Again...we all do things differently. I would leave her with the flock unless she is getting picked on. Putting her in the dark for just one day will not stop egg laying. If she has another egg that she is trying to lay/pass then she needs to be able to move around if she wants to and get to her normal nesting box. With mine, removal from the flock is stressful, so I do all I can to keep them where they are most comfortable.
Just my thoughts.

 

[micstrachan]

Just pulled her off the roost and put her in the dark in an animal carrier. So don’t do calcium until I let her put midday?

 

[micstrachan]

Shoot, missed WPs post. Will she not just sleep if I keep her in the dark? Her tail was down, but she was standing upright on the roost. There’s not been much daylight yet and I could do this until I leave Friday.