New Hen laid soft shell egg...

[HathawayHens]

Hi all. I just purchased 3 hens between 6 and 8 months of age today... there were other species of birds at the house (ducks, turkeys) and a few pot bellied pigs. I *might* have heard a turkey cough... I just went to go check the girls and one of them laid a soft shell egg in the bottom of the crate, under the roost. I don't know much about their husbandry up until now, but I do have oyster and good feed for them, and did offer yogurt as a treat tonight. It seems to me that they could possible have diarrhea. The are all isolated from my other girls, so hopefully if they have a disease it will not spread. Is this likely to be IBR, or just a young and stressed hen? When I broke the egg open it was a huge yolk with very little thin white around it. Thanks for any insight...

 

[Yay Chicks!]

It is not uncommon for pullet to lay a soft shelled egg. My 26 wk old BR laid one today and she usually lays good ones. Then she topped it off by laying a flat sided egg. So, the egg in itself is nothing to worry about. They may also stop laying for a couple of weeks due to the stress of moving. That would be a "normal" response as well.

 

[HathawayHens]

I hope so. The place wasn't the cleanest ever, so I am paranoid now. Don't want to make "my girls" sick... lol. The new ladies seem very happy to be in a safe, clean, happy place, so that is good.

 

[HathawayHens]

Uh oh... runny nose on one of them. This is not good. Trying to see if the guy will take them back... if not, what to do? Cull?

Blech. She smells really bad.