Pullet bottom concerns..... very worried!!!!

[Marinefam2053]

First of all... Merry Christmas!!
I’ve got 8 pullets to begin with. 5 of them are about 30 weeks, the other 3 are about 27 weeks. Anyway... just arrived back home to lock everyone up and check on my girls. One of my EE, ladies her first egg on Sunday, and hasn’t laid another one since. Now, I understand that this could be normal, however, since an egg was located in the droppings tonight, I decided to do some further investigation. I found my Minnie to have a very interesting bottom... not sure if this is because she hasn’t laid in a couple of days or... if this is a sign of pecking. I did notice her just laying inside the run while all the girls were around her the other day, but I didn’t notice any pecking. If I do see something, I tend to just watch to make sure it isn’t too much. I also noticed some dropping stuck to her down... Pictures are below

just concerned and don’t want this to become a further issue.

 

[Rose Quartz]

The mark on her looks like a pretty nasty peck mark.

a few of my girls just started laying recently. The others are all very interested, and swarm the girls when they're about to lay. I have noticed that the bossier girls who aren't laying, will peck at and chase the hens as they leave the nest box.

Try setting up a nest box, that's in a darker corner, or that the others aren't often around and put some eggs or faux eggs in it to get her interested in laying eggs there. Having walls around her on most sides while she's getting comfortable to lay and egg should minimize access for the others that are obviously curious.

 

[Marinefam2053]

The mark on her looks like a pretty nasty peck mark.

a few of my girls just started laying recently. The others are all very interested, and swarm the girls when they're about to lay. I have noticed that the bossier girls who aren't laying, will peck at and chase the hens as they leave the nest box.

Try setting up a nest box, that's in a darker corner, or that the others aren't often around and put some eggs or faux eggs in it to get her interested in laying eggs there. Having walls around her on most sides while she's getting comfortable to lay and egg should minimize access for the others that are obviously curious.

That makes sense, but my coop isn’t big enough to add anything extra, plus each of the boxes inside are separate. She makes the 5th girl to start laying. Do I need to separate her? Tomorrow is a coop clean out day, I’ll take some pics and post them later. I’d love some ideas. We will be building a larger coop in the near future as we weren’t thinking that what we got was ok for smaller chicks....

 

[Rose Quartz]

That makes sense, but my coop isn’t big enough to add anything extra, plus each of the boxes inside are separate. She makes the 5th girl to start laying. Do I need to separate her? Tomorrow is a coop clean out day, I’ll take some pics and post them later. I’d love some ideas. We will be building a larger coop in the near future as we weren’t thinking that what we got was ok for smaller chicks....

I'm not entirely sure, I would think that taking her out and reintroducing her would make things worse.

 

[Marinefam2053]

I'm not entirely sure, I would think that taking her out and reintroducing her would make things worse.

Is it too soon to tell if she’s egg bound? I know that’s a thing, and is that something that could happen so soon after her only laying once? Today is Wednesday and she laid last on Sunday....

 

[Rose Quartz]

Is it too soon to tell if she’s egg bound? I know that’s a thing, and is that something that could happen so soon after her only laying once? Today is Wednesday and she laid last on Sunday....

I don't think the red spot is from being egg bound. When they first start laying it's normal for there to be several days even weeks between eggs.

That being said, it's not impossible for her to be egg bound, one of my sisters hens never laid an egg and died from internal laying.

If she were egg bound then she'd have her tail lowered down. You might be able to feel an egg shaped lump in her belly. I haven't had a egg bound hen myself, so I'm not really an expert on it. But there are plenty of threads on here that you could search and find what to look for.

 

[Marinefam2053]

I don't think the red spot is from being egg bound. When they first start laying it's normal for there to be several days even weeks between eggs.

That being said, it's not impossible for her to be egg bound, one of my sisters hens never laid an egg and died from internal laying.

If she were egg bound then she'd have her tail lowered down. You might be able to feel an egg shaped lump in her belly. I haven't had a egg bound hen myself, so I'm not really an expert on it. But there are plenty of threads on here that you could search and find what to look for.

Ok, thank you! I’ll do some further evaluation while I’m out with them tomorrow. I can let them roam more while I’m cleaning out the coop than I would normally do in their extended run.

 

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you should soak your hen with epsom salts . make sure she gets dry get some blue kote and put on that area it will help keep the hens from pecking. also i dont know but it looked like blood on the perch . you may want to clean that up too .i would keep an eye on her

 

[aart]

Is that first pic her vent...or a wound near the vent?

 

[Marinefam2053]

Is that first pic her vent...or a wound near the vent?

Wound near vent, I actually caught the bird in action that’s doing it. It’s one of my BR. She’s not only doing it to her but to 2 others as well. Is this a nutrition thing? Boredom thing? I’m so confused