Should I be worried?

[davis2ks]

I have an 19mo Isa Brown. Tonight my flock of 13 was starting to come back to the coop. I went ahead and brought them all in since I was out. I noticed that I was missing one. She came in last night without trouble, but tonight she was MIA. I had my husband come and help me out too. We ended up finding her in the garden on the other side of the yard. She didn't squat or run when my husband picked her up (she was standing up just looking at us). He brought her over to the run area and we went inside the coop to look at the rest of the flock. (Our barn has a section that we keep for the coop so we can observe them from inside the barn). Our Isa finally came in to the coop after some food and water in the run. We hung out in the barn for a bit observing them all. Our Isa jumped up to the roost and got comfortable. Suddenly, she lifted her rump and pooped (or so I thought). Instead she released what I believe was a yolk. A couple of other hens have been cracking eggs lately and they both jumped at the chance to eat what she had released. It was a clear, yellowy liquid and it came out in one big gush.

We just recently renovated the coop (moving it into the barn and removing the old coop from the run). We have also officially combined our older 8 hens with our newest five, so there is some stress going on. I could have sworn that she laid today as her tell-tale dark brown egg was in a nest (definitely from today).

Should I worry about her? Can this be caused by stress? She has a great personality and is an excellent layer (typically one a day). My older hens haven't really started molting yet but egg laying in a couple of the older hens has stalled, but I've noticed they are losing small amounts of feathers. Could that be it?

 

[cavemanrich]

Just a twist of humor, but at this point there is not much you can do. She may be stressed and did not manufacture a complete egg .. Your other girls that slowed down on laying and you seen a few feathers coming out. That is most likely the beginning of a molt. It it very common during this time of the year.

WISHING YOU BEST

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

At 19 months, she probably is getting ready to molt. Softees are normal when the system is starting up or shutting down. Probably isn't anything to worry about if she is behaving normally.

What do you feed? I suggest a Flock Raiser with 20% protein and oyster shell on the side. The higher protein will help the non layers grow feathers in better than Layer (usually 16% protein and 4% calcium). Too much calcium in non layers can cause kidney issues long term if you are letting your hens live happily ever after.

Sorry, I know you didn't ask.

Do you have like a treat routine? You could always do it right at round up time. And when you shake the container they will come running, mostly. For some reason, they never seem to care if I'm looking for them. They never call back to me.

Best wishes!

ETA: All kinds of weird things can happen when starting and ending a lay cycle.