My Hen Squatted & Out Came a Yolk! Worry?

[louisianachkn3]

My barred rock hen is around 18 weeks old. I have 7 hens now, all getting close to laying. Just no sight of an egg yet. Well, this evening, I reached down and went to pet my barred rock (bc it's funny that she's getting all excited about laying now & squats every time you touch her

) and she squatted out a yolk! They are all first time layers & we did have a stressful event occur about 5 days ago where some coons got ahold of 4 of my hens. But should I be worried this broken yolk discharge could cause her to get sick? Or cause peritonitis? It was only a small amount around the size of a half dollar & the hen doesn't act strange at the moment. Just want to make sure I prevent anything that may occur. Thanks!

 

[chickluvinfreak]

Has she layed any actual eggs yet? If this was her first attempt it's normal for them to lay very small or shell less eggs. I would only be worried if it happened again or she was acting sick. And a hen squatting when you come near her is a submissive position. A hen will squat when a rooster nears her so he can mount her. It doesn't mean she wants to lay an egg but it is a sign that she's maturing and will lay soon if she hadn't already.

 

[louisianachkn3]

No, I haven't noticed any egg laying yet from any of them. I check every day in the run and in the laying boxes. Their combs and watts are getting very dark red and have increased in size over past 2 weeks. The ones that are squatting have only been doing it for around 1.5-2 weeks now. She doesn't act sick at all. They are my first flock to own so I just wanted to make sure I needed to know or look out for something if this happened just to have a heads up. Other than loosing 4 of my hens because of coons finding a weak spot in our coop recently, they all have been happy and healthy!

But it's good to know it could be a slight mishap in the beginning.

 

[chickluvinfreak]

http://how-hen-makes-egg-egg-oddities.html?m=1Sounds like your going to get eggs very soon! So sorry about your hens . Predators and the weather are the vain of my existence, I have coyotes and 120 degree heat. And I have lost more chickens to those two things than any illness. Here's a link to some of the weird eggs hens will make and why for future reference.

 

[louisianachkn3]

Thanks!

And yes, we are at 110 on the heat index just today here in North Louisiana. Heat is just another every day thing here. So far so good with it. Living in the woods doesn't help the predator situation much on my part either. lol

 

[aart]

My barred rock hen is around 18 weeks old. I have 7 hens now, all getting close to laying. Just no sight of an egg yet. Well, this evening, I reached down and went to pet my barred rock (bc it's funny that she's getting all excited about laying now & squats every time you touch her

) and she squatted out a yolk! They are all first time layers & we did have a stressful event occur about 5 days ago where some coons got ahold of 4 of my hens. But should I be worried this broken yolk discharge could cause her to get sick? Or cause peritonitis? It was only a small amount around the size of a half dollar & the hen doesn't act strange at the moment. Just want to make sure I prevent anything that may occur. Thanks!

This is because she is sexually mature, she is squatting to submit to being mated, if there's not a cock/erel around she will squat for people.

I'd take a close look at her vent and abdomen...and keep an eye on it until she starts laying shelled eggs.
Make sure she's keeping her feathers cleaned off back there and there is no swelling of the abdomen.

 

[theoldchick]

In a youngster like this I would not be worried. However, in an older hen the expulsion of a yolk can be serious. Something is going on in the shell making department of her rather complicated egg maker which could cause an infection that ends her life. On the other hand, a very young bird who has had a traumatic event which disrupted her metabolism may lay a shell-less egg or two until the assembly line gets back on track. Another concern in hens who survive an attack is to have a shell get broken inside of her. If she does not completely pass the debris she can end up with peritonitis-swollen abdomen and lethargy is what you will see. This is not good and will require aggressive treatment to save her life.

Young pullets can lay some really funky looking eggs. There are rubber shells, double yolks and sometimes bloody yolk. The older hens reaching henopause will lay eggs whose yolks look like they contain body parts. They can get egg yolk peritonitis which is not good at all.

I'd watch this hen closely. Put your hands on her every day to examine her and monitor her for changes.

 

[louisianachkn3]

So far so good with her. Feels fine & acts fine. We did get our 1st egg today though!

We have a barred rock rooster also. He's coming into maturity along with the hens. They were all raised within a week or two or hatching. I'm thinking now it was just a "misfire" and she'll rewind and restart again in next few days. None of the hens I have now were attacked by the coons that got in. Unfortunately, the ones that were did not survive enough for me even to distinguish who was who other than a head count.

 

[chickluvinfreak]

So far so good with her. Feels fine & acts fine. We did get our 1st egg today though! e  We have a barred rock rooster also. He's coming into maturity along with the hens. They were all raised within a week or two or hatching. I'm thinking now it was just a "misfire" and she'll rewind and restart again in next few days. None of the hens I have now were attacked by the coons that got in. Unfortunately, the ones that were did not survive enough for me even to distinguish who was who other than a head count. 

Glad she's doing well!

 

[louisianachkn3]

In a youngster like this I would not be worried. However, in an older hen the expulsion of a yolk can be serious. Something is going on in the shell making department of her rather complicated egg maker which could cause an infection that ends her life. On the other hand, a very young bird who has had a traumatic event which disrupted her metabolism may lay a shell-less egg or two until the assembly line gets back on track. Another concern in hens who survive an attack is to have a shell get broken inside of her. If she does not completely pass the debris she can end up with peritonitis-swollen abdomen and lethargy is what you will see. This is not good and will require aggressive treatment to save her life.

Young pullets can lay some really funky looking eggs. There are rubber shells, double yolks and sometimes bloody yolk. The older hens reaching henopause will lay eggs whose yolks look like they contain body parts. They can get egg yolk peritonitis which is not good at all.

I'd watch this hen closely. Put your hands on her every day to examine her and monitor her for changes.

Your right about the weird eggs! We had 3 eggs this morning. 1 was no shell/barely enclosed egg. 1 was rubber shelled. 1 was shelled but cracked. However, they all laid these while they were on their roost last night. I've had the laying boxes open for a few weeks now. I've noticed they've been in 1 or 2, but won't lay eggs in them yet. Is this also usually in a new layer? I know some do tend to lay on ground regardless, but will most eventually find & accept the laying boxes? Thanks for all advice!