Mis carried?

[Caribblue]

Hi all!

Our dark Araucana hen seemed to be under the weather...wouldn't return to coop when we came out to them..found her laying under some bushes a few hours later and was coaxed back to the coop with bread. Drank a bunch of water and seemed okay.

this morning we noticed a pile under the roost that looked like shriveled blue shell and another softer membrane looking thing. Didn't notice any embryonic formation but not sure what we looked at....

she seems okay now, good appetite, plenty of greens, water, feed, etc. the other two hens are fine.

any ideas?

thanks in advance,
John

 

[BayBay Peepers]

Sounds like she had a soft egg she needed to pass. Do you offer oyster shell and grit on the side? Oyster shell for calcium to replace what she uses and grit to break up the greens she's eating.

 

[BayBay Peepers]

The calcium should help strengthen the shell. In return it will be easier for her to lay which is important since she's going to be doing it many times in her life

 

[rbaker0345]

It sounds like she passed a wierd egg, maybe it was stuck a little. You wouldn't have seen any embryonic tissue unless she had sat on the egg for a few days at least. Just because an egg is fertilized, doesn't mean it has an embryo in it. It has to be kept at a certain temperature for a number of consecutive hours for the germinal disc to begin to develop into an embryo.

I would look up a condition known as "egg bound" if I were you and watch her for these symptoms in the future.

 

[BayBay Peepers]

How old are your hens?

 

[Caribblue]

She is on a nest as I type this. we will continue to monitor the situation and take it from there...

To BayBayPeepers,
we are newbies and not sure what grit is other than what my wife cooks up on the stove!

thanks again,
john

 

[BayBay Peepers]

It's little granite pieces. Just looks like a bag of stones. If they eat anything besides the commercial food they need the grit to break up the food. I just put it in a dish and leave it out. They eat what they need and a little goes a long way.

I do the same with oyster shell. I just pour it in a dish and refill as needed.

Are they young hens just starting to lay? Or are they a bit older?

 

[Caribblue]

Not sure of the age of our girls, got them as layers a few months back. These birds free range for hours in the morning and then for a few more hours at dinner time. They eat and forage all over the yard and have a variety of things to eat. This is the first sign of anything since we had them...we'll keep you posted!

John

 

[BayBay Peepers]

Ok. It happens once in a while. Sometimes it's just a hiccup in the system. I provide extra calcium and I still see a soft egg once in a while. Please do keep us posted