Sebright laying lots of eggs and egg bound issue

[Fwoof]

My six year old Sebright hen has been laying like crazy!
She went from last year's "egg once a week" to this year's "egg nearly every day"!
Last month, when I checked on the chickens for the night one day, I noticed my Sebright (Stormy) was in a penguin stance and seemed to be straining. She was egg bound. I rubbed avocado oil on her vent to help it come out easier, and when she laid it, it had a very soft shell that I could literally squish (it cracked the shell when I did, but the membrane didn't break and not a drop of yolk or white came out. And I could tell it had a normal interior, yolk and all, despite the fact that it had an odd exterior.
Last night when I checked on them, my Sebright's waddles and tip of her comb were so dry that they felt like paper to the touch. Underneath her was another one of those soft shelled eggs. I brought her inside, wrapped in a towel and gave her oats with cinnamon and cayenne pepper to improve her circulation, which she ate ravenously. This morning she was acting perfectly normal, screeching for treats when she heard me open the door.
Stormy has never been egg bound twice in one month. I don't even think I remember her ever being egg bound like that! I've been giving my hens oyster shell twice a week. Could I be giving them too little or too much?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

gave her oats with cinnamon and cayenne pepper to improve her circulation, which she ate ravenously. This morning she was acting perfectly normal, screeching for treats when she heard me open the door.
Stormy has never been egg bound twice in one month. I don't even think I remember her ever being egg bound like that! I've been giving my hens oyster shell twice a week. Could I be giving them too little or too much?

What do you normally feed, including treats?

I'd make sure she's eating a nutritionally balanced poultry feed for most of her diet.

If she's laying soft shelled eggs, then she needs Calcium. Give her 1 Calcium Citrate +D3 tablet once daily for 3-5 days. See if this helps firm up her shells.

Provide the oyster shell free choice for your hens, just put them in a separate container within the coop/run, they will pick up pieces as needed.

 

[Kglassmo]

My six year old Sebright hen has been laying like crazy!
She went from last year's "egg once a week" to this year's "egg nearly every day"!
Last month, when I checked on the chickens for the night one day, I noticed my Sebright (Stormy) was in a penguin stance and seemed to be straining. She was egg bound. I rubbed avocado oil on her vent to help it come out easier, and when she laid it, it had a very soft shell that I could literally squish (it cracked the shell when I did, but the membrane didn't break and not a drop of yolk or white came out. And I could tell it had a normal interior, yolk and all, despite the fact that it had an odd exterior.
Last night when I checked on them, my Sebright's waddles and tip of her comb were so dry that they felt like paper to the touch. Underneath her was another one of those soft shelled eggs. I brought her inside, wrapped in a towel and gave her oats with cinnamon and cayenne pepper to improve her circulation, which she ate ravenously. This morning she was acting perfectly normal, screeching for treats when she heard me open the door.
Stormy has never been egg bound twice in one month. I don't even think I remember her ever being egg bound like that! I've been giving my hens oyster shell twice a week. Could I be giving them too little or too much?

When hens reach 6 years, their ovaries are nearly out of eggs, they have a certain amount of eggs in ovaries based on their breed. In my experience when my girls reach ‘henopause’ all sorts of odd things may happen, including soft shell eggs, two eggs in one day (both soft shell), egg binding, and sometimes it was just yolk & albumin without any shell whatsoever!

Sadly, this is natures way of cleaning out the ovaries. Hopefully she will be done soon and stop laying. I’ve only lost one hen to egg binding, my 5 1/2 yr old white Cochin- she continued to get eggs bound each month for several months. I’d treat with Vaseline around cloaca, also give her epsom salt baths around her sore area. She ate yogurt, calcium supplements, healthy in every other way. Just that old age is hard to beat sometimes.

If you think there’s an egg stuck inside vent, when you see penguin stance, straining, etc it’s ok to gently check by using a clean finger and Vaseline. If it’s a soft shell then rotate finger around it to loosen or break unformed shell. If you choose to use that method you must stay with her to ensure the entire egg, including yolk, soft shell pieces and clear albumin all comes out within an hour or so to prevent infection. If it’s a hard shell, you’ll see it poking out cloaca like a cone with tip. In that case use a clean butter knife and break tip of exposed shell and hold hen until fluid is all released from egg, and then it’s important to get shell out, which usually happens naturally after you release fluids. (my avian vet used that same method on one of my older hens years ago). I’ve saved several elderly hens using both methods.

Hydration is important during this time, you can use hydro hen or chick electrolyte supplements for extra vitamins & minerals boost.

Good luck. Seabrights are beautiful!

What do you normally feed, including treats?

I'd make sure she's eating a nutritionally balanced poultry feed for most of her diet.

If she's laying soft shelled eggs, then she needs Calcium. Give her 1 Calcium Citrate +D3 tablet once daily for 3-5 days. See if this helps firm up her shells.

Provide the oyster shell free choice for your hens, just put them in a separate container within the coop/run, they will pick up pieces as needed.

My six year old Sebright hen has been laying like crazy!
She went from last year's "egg once a week" to this year's "egg nearly every day"!
Last month, when I checked on the chickens for the night one day, I noticed my Sebright (Stormy) was in a penguin stance and seemed to be straining. She was egg bound. I rubbed avocado oil on her vent to help it come out easier, and when she laid it, it had a very soft shell that I could literally squish (it cracked the shell when I did, but the membrane didn't break and not a drop of yolk or white came out. And I could tell it had a normal interior, yolk and all, despite the fact that it had an odd exterior.
Last night when I checked on them, my Sebright's waddles and tip of her comb were so dry that they felt like paper to the touch. Underneath her was another one of those soft shelled eggs. I brought her inside, wrapped in a towel and gave her oats with cinnamon and cayenne pepper to improve her circulation, which she ate ravenously. This morning she was acting perfectly normal, screeching for treats when she heard me open the door.
Stormy has never been egg bound twice in one month. I don't even think I remember her ever being egg bound like that! I've been giving my hens oyster shell twice a week. Could I be giving them too little or too much?

 

[Fwoof]

When hens reach 6 years, their ovaries are nearly out of eggs, they have a certain amount of eggs in ovaries based on their breed. In my experience when my girls reach ‘henopause’ all sorts of odd things may happen, including soft shell eggs, two eggs in one day (both soft shell), egg binding, and sometimes it was just yolk & albumin without any shell whatsoever!

Sadly, this is natures way of cleaning out the ovaries. Hopefully she will be done soon and stop laying. I’ve only lost one hen to egg binding, my 5 1/2 yr old white Cochin- she continued to get eggs bound each month for several months. I’d treat with Vaseline around cloaca, also give her epsom salt baths around her sore area. She ate yogurt, calcium supplements, healthy in every other way. Just that old age is hard to beat sometimes.

If you think there’s an egg stuck inside vent, when you see penguin stance, straining, etc it’s ok to gently check by using a clean finger and Vaseline. If it’s a soft shell then rotate finger around it to loosen or break unformed shell. If you choose to use that method you must stay with her to ensure the entire egg, including yolk, soft shell pieces and clear albumin all comes out within an hour or so to prevent infection. If it’s a hard shell, you’ll see it poking out cloaca like a cone with tip. In that case use a clean butter knife and break tip of exposed shell and hold hen until fluid is all released from egg, and then it’s important to get shell out, which usually happens naturally after you release fluids. (my avian vet used that same method on one of my older hens years ago). I’ve saved several elderly hens using both methods.

Hydration is important during this time, you can use hydro hen or chick electrolyte supplements for extra vitamins & minerals boost.

Good luck. Seabrights are beautiful!

Thank you so much!!!
The eggs she's been laying have been solid, but both of her egg bound eggs were soft shelled. Her abdomen has been a bit more bloated than usual, though. Any idea why that is?

What do you normally feed, including treats?

I'd make sure she's eating a nutritionally balanced poultry feed for most of her diet.

If she's laying soft shelled eggs, then she needs Calcium. Give her 1 Calcium Citrate +D3 tablet once daily for 3-5 days. See if this helps firm up her shells.

Provide the oyster shell free choice for your hens, just put them in a separate container within the coop/run, they will pick up pieces as needed.

I feed her organic non corn non soy crumbles. On the occasion that that feed isn't available, I give her a soy free organic layer mash that has oats, black sunflower seeds and such mixed in.
Their daily treats are usually eggshells, lemon balm, and banana peels. Her favorite is the banana.
Where do you get your calcium supplements? I definetly will give her those.

Thank you both for the replies! She's my favorite hen and I want to help her in any way I can.

 

[Kglassmo]

Thank you so much!!!
The eggs she's been laying have been solid, but both of her egg bound eggs were soft shelled. Her abdomen has been a bit more bloated than usual, though. Any idea why that is?

I feed her organic non corn non soy crumbles. On the occasion that that feed isn't available, I give her a soy free organic layer mash that has oats, black sunflower seeds and such mixed in.
Their daily treats are usually eggshells, lemon balm, and banana peels. Her favorite is the banana.
Where do you get your calcium supplements? I definetly will give her those.

Thank you both for the replies! She's my favorite hen and I want to help her in any way I can.

I use crushed oyster shells for daily calcium which can be found at feed stores or sometimes pet shop that sells bird products. I keep fish of crushed oysters in their run at all times.
I would consider giving her vitamin supplements in one of her watering containers asap. Bloated abdomen is not usually a good sign. It can be caused by numerous reasons but typically has to do with their digestive system being backed up. If she’s been egg bound that makes sense because an egg stuck inside shell gland will block poop from exiting. Is she eating normally? Decreased appetite is a sign her system is not functioning properly. Try cooked scrambled eggs (crush shells and mix in if you’d like), plain yogurt, and dark leafy greens like arugula, collards, kale for extra vitamins. Broccoli is also great. Hope she’s feeling better soon!

 

[Fwoof]

I use crushed oyster shells for daily calcium which can be found at feed stores or sometimes pet shop that sells bird products. I keep fish of crushed oysters in their run at all times.
I would consider giving her vitamin supplements in one of her watering containers asap. Bloated abdomen is not usually a good sign. It can be caused by numerous reasons but typically has to do with their digestive system being backed up. If she’s been egg bound that makes sense because an egg stuck inside shell gland will block poop from exiting. Is she eating normally? Decreased appetite is a sign her system is not functioning properly.

She's eating treats like a pig and acting perfectly normal. She turned her beak up at her feed this morning, but she usually does that at first. Too bland for her liking!
What vitamins should I put in the water? I just put a pinch of table salt in last night.

Try cooked scrambled eggs (crush shells and mix in if you’d like), plain yogurt, and dark leafy greens like arugula, collards, kale for extra vitamins. Broccoli is also great. Hope she’s feeling better soon!

Making that for her now. Thanks!

 

[Fwoof]

She's eating treats like a pig and acting perfectly normal. She turned her beak up at her feed this morning, but she usually does that at first. Too bland for her liking!
What vitamins should I put in the water? I just put a pinch of table salt in last night.

Making that for her now. Thanks!

I just put ACV in their water, as well.

 

[Fwoof]

She just laid a solid shelled egg without any problem at all! The flock is very proud of her and is singing about her achievement!
So far the only times she's been egg bound were when she had to lay the soft shelled ones. Those are probably harder to lay, I assume.

 

[Kglassmo]

She just laid a solid shelled egg without any problem at all! The flock is very proud of her and is singing about her achievement!
So far the only times she's been egg bound were when she had to lay the soft shelled ones. Those are probably harder to lay, I assume.

That is wonderful news! So glad she got a normal shelled egg out! Good job sweet lady hen!
I use poultry ‘nutri drench’ vitamins in a water solution like advised on the product when my older girls get bad off. manna pro ‘hydro hen’ product is good for electrolytes & probiotics as well for any age.

Yes, soft shelled eggs are very difficult for hens to push out due to lack of resistance, hens push and push but soft eggs compresses and stays put. Very frustrating. I learned the hard way with my Princess Buttercup, I got the first one out of her, but second time around it wouldn’t budge, even trip to our avian vet couldn’t help her. She prolapsed her vent fully with everything that should have stayed in got pushed out including intestinal bleeding. Sadly had to euthanize due to her pain & suffering, thankfully was already at our vet. I’ve since been as proactive as possible. I hope your girl stays well. Best of luck.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The eggs she's been laying have been solid, but both of her egg bound eggs were soft shelled. Her abdomen has been a bit more bloated than usual, though. Any idea why that is?

Where do you get your calcium supplements? I definetly will give her those.

Soft shelled eggs are hard to expel. It's good that she has now laid a hard shelled egg.

Even if you do provide OS or similar free choice, you still want to have a Calcium supplement on hand to get her through crisis.

Calcium Citrate+D3 is for this purpose, you would give it to her when you see she's having troubles, then for a couple of days afterward.
You can find this at Walmart, CVS, etc. on the vitamin aisle. Just pop 1 tablet into the beak once daily.

An abdomen being bloated can be from a number of reasons. She may have some inflammation from having a hard time expelling eggs. Take note if it's still bloated now that she's laid her egg.

Often when I have a hen that has bloat, this can be a first sign that she's beginning to have some reproductive problems which are common in laying hens.