Reproductive Issue?

[Fatimetta]

Hello! I have a hen who is an ISA brown who has been acting different the past couple days. Yesterday I noticed her sitting off to the side by herself and shortly after that she passed a soft-shelled egg.

Today she has been free-ranging like normal, but all the girls like to take a nap in the shade in the afternoon. When the rest of the girls left, she stayed and has been sleeping since. I’m worried she may have something more internal going on and wondering if there is anyway to help her? I know this breed is prone to more egg laying issues unfortunately. She is about 3 years old I think (the person I got her from last year said 2).

I also am worried because I have had infectious bronchitis (I think) going through my flock since December.

Thank you.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would separate her and get her drinking some water, and electrolytes would be helpful. Shell-less eggs can be hard to pass, and hens experiencing this might be very exhausted and weak. If there has been infectious bronchitis, it can affect the reproductive system and the kidneys. It would be good to insert a clean finger inside her vent to feel for a stuck egg. I would give her some calcium either a 1/2 Tums or human calcium tablet orally. You could also process an eggshell and give it to her in a little cooked egg. Do you have crushed oyster shell available? Hopefully the extra calcium will harden the shells. Here is a good article about common egg quality problems, many of which may be caused by IB:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/common-egg-quality-problems.65923/

 

[Fatimetta]

I would separate her and get her drinking some water, and electrolytes would be helpful. Shell-less eggs can be hard to pass, and hens experiencing this might be very exhausted and weak. If there has been infectious bronchitis, it can affect the reproductive system and the kidneys. It would be good to insert a clean finger inside her vent to feel for a stuck egg. I would give her some calcium either a 1/2 Tums or human calcium tablet orally. You could also process an eggshell and give it to her in a little cooked egg. Do you have crushed oyster shell available? Hopefully the extra calcium will harden the shells. Here is a good article about common egg quality problems, many of which may be caused by IB:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/common-egg-quality-problems.65923/

Thank you!! I did what you recommended for both the hens who I saw lay a soft shelled egg yesterday. They are both my older girls. Maybe the disease has affected them more because of age :/

I have been feeding them their eggshells since they were rarely eating oyster shell. I’ll continue to make sure these two girls get extra though. They both went up on the roost tonight so I let them be for now.