Polish Hen Struggling to Lay Her Eggs

[Raeganmh02]

Hi all! I have a polish hen that has been laying for 3 months now. I notice that she really strains and struggles to lay her egg. She squats and pushes, making little soft clucking noises as if to be giving it all her effort, but only the tip of the egg shows and it stays like that for sometimes 7 minutes or more! When the egg finally does pass, her vent is a little purple and very swollen. Is this normal? I wish I had a video but I didn’t catch her in time this morning. It just seems odd. Her sister Lula who is also a polish does not have this problem, nor have I noticed it in any of my other laying hens. I’ve tried researching it, but all that comes up is egg binding in hens. She’s not egg bound, so maybe her condition is just rare? Do some chickens just really struggle to push out their eggs?

 

[HappyDuckie]

Are they fed layer feed, or do you supplement them oyster shells or crushed egg shells?

 

[Raeganmh02]

I feed them layer feed and also some screatch grain mix consisting of corn, oatmeal, mealworms, and flaxseed. I was giving them a vitamin and electrolyte mix this past winter and just recently stopped when the weather warmed up and they started doing more free ranging. I do not give them oyster shells or egg shells.

 

[BlondieSoup]

Any updates to this since April? Was the problem not enough calcium? Is this hen higher or lower on pecking order?

 

[Raeganmh02]

Hey! Yes, she is doing a lot better since I started giving them oyster shells in their diet. I mixed them with egg yolk and fed that to them for a couple of weeks. Then I started giving them livestock Diatomaceous earth with calcium. I found that at Rual King. She has been laying normally since and had a full recovery. As far as pecking order, her and her sister have their own separate coop away from my large flock. She does attack any stray chickens that end up in her part of the yard with aggression, so I’d say she is high up in the pecking order. All my other chickens are afraid of her. Thank you all again for your help!

 

[BlondieSoup]

Hey! Yes, she is doing a lot better since I started giving them oyster shells in their diet. I mixed them with egg yolk and fed that to them for a couple of weeks. Then I started giving them livestock Diatomaceous earth with calcium. I found that at Rual King. She has been laying normally since and had a full recovery. As far as pecking order, her and her sister have their own separate coop away from my large flock. She does attack any stray chickens that end up in her part of the yard with aggression, so I’d say she is high up in the pecking order. All my other chickens are afraid of her. Thank you all again for your help!

Awesome! Glad to hear!