- Apr 5, 2013
- 5
- 1
- 9
Hi! So excited to be a part of this group. I've referenced many articles here already and have learned quite a bit. I'm fairly new to owning chickens. I have had my 4 hens for a year and a half; got them as pullets. I live in town and have a basic suburban sized backyard where I let them out almost daily to free range and poop all over my patio. Ha. Husband hates it when he has to walk out to hot tub. Oh well, once he's done playing hop scotch and gets to relax in there he really enjoys watching them as much as I do and the patio gets a good cleaning daily. My girls are such sweeties and follow me around when I'm outside. I feel like the Pied Piper of chickens. I can get them back into their enclosure without any fuss. They are pretty spoiled and I guess very well adjusted because they don't even mind my old chocolate lab eating corn cobs and other goodies right along side them. (the dog eats anything! Yep, she's fat!)
What started off on the website today was looking into a problem with one of my girls. She's been seeming to try and lay an egg for the last day and a half. She did not roost on the perch with the others last night but stayed in her nesting box. No egg! Figuring she's likely "eggapated" a new term coined by my daughter - pretty clever, this morning I gave the hen two 1/2 hour warm bath soaks and tried massaging the vent area with olive oil, which seemed to stimulate the action to lay. No egg. Later, checked her internally with oil and gloved finger for an egg and I could not feel one. She has pooped out what appears as egg soup, and also brown curly poo. She isn't interested in food and drinks little water. Her crown is a little droopy, but color is good. I put together a cardboard nesting box to keep her in the house where its warmer and to keep a closer eye on her. She just stands in there like she's about to drop an egg. She hasn't moved from her standing position for 3 hours. Still nothing. Does she just have a tummy ache or?? Any suggestions?
What started off on the website today was looking into a problem with one of my girls. She's been seeming to try and lay an egg for the last day and a half. She did not roost on the perch with the others last night but stayed in her nesting box. No egg! Figuring she's likely "eggapated" a new term coined by my daughter - pretty clever, this morning I gave the hen two 1/2 hour warm bath soaks and tried massaging the vent area with olive oil, which seemed to stimulate the action to lay. No egg. Later, checked her internally with oil and gloved finger for an egg and I could not feel one. She has pooped out what appears as egg soup, and also brown curly poo. She isn't interested in food and drinks little water. Her crown is a little droopy, but color is good. I put together a cardboard nesting box to keep her in the house where its warmer and to keep a closer eye on her. She just stands in there like she's about to drop an egg. She hasn't moved from her standing position for 3 hours. Still nothing. Does she just have a tummy ache or?? Any suggestions?
