Sick Chicken? or First Egg?

[oreochip]

I am new to raising chickens. My three girls are 5 months old and have not laid an egg yet. This morning Maude will not free range with the other two. She was by herself at the far end of the yard and seemed to be searching for a place to "get away". I put her back in the coop and left her alone. Could she be sick or is this a sign of a "first egg"?

 

[NeeleysAVLChicks]

Hmmm, that's pretty bizarre. My girls do start acting pretty strange right around their first egg, sort of restless. Generally, that's accompanied by a lot of squawking and the egg song on repeat. How is she doing now? Any other strange behavior?

ETA: Twin grandbabies, that's very exciting!!

 

[oreochip]

I put all three back in the run. She is inside the coop by herself. She will sit for a few minutes. the pace, then sit again. The other two are leaving her alone as if they know that something is wrong. That is really the unusual part because they are inseperable. One cannot not do something without the other two joining in. If it is an egg....I hope it comes soon so that all my worries/questions will be answered.

I guess the egg song is the noise that they make over and over until the pain of laying an egg is over?

Yes, twins being delivered on Tuesday.

 

[chicmom]

That sounds pretty normal. Some other signs I noticed just before the first egg was layed was that my hens would do this little "squatting" pose if I reached out to pet them.

Then, one would kind of act anxious and pace around, going in and out of the coop......then....TA-DA! First egg!

Good luck and let us know about your first egg! It's coming, I'll bet!

Sharon

 

[oreochip]

Sharon,

Thank you for your help this morning. Everything that you described is exactly what my girls have been doing. No doubt in my mind now that our first eggs will be arriving soon. Maude seems to have settled down a little, although no egg. I just love BYC. Everyone is always so willing to help when I have issues.

Will keep you updated when the first egg arrives.

Mindy

 

[oreochip]

Still no egg from Maude. This is my morning so far....
1. Wake up to sqauwking Maude.
2. Go to coop and Maude is pacing.
3. Maude runs in coop and sits in nesting box.
4. Two minutes later she comes out and paces again.
5. I let the other two hens out to free range but Maude doesn't want to.
6. Just get the run gate closed and she decides that she does want to.
7. She is out long enough to walk across the back yard then "runs" back to the coop and sits on nesting box.
8. Five minutes later...we start the process all over again.

She is driving me "egg crushing" mad.

The other two hens want nothing to do with her. I overheard one of them say something about chicken soup but I won't repeat it to Maude.

 

[NeeleysAVLChicks]

Haha, poor little thing! You've got an egg on the way for sure, my professional recommendation is to give up completely on her ever laying an egg and that's the moment she'll pop it out!

 

[oreochip]

We have our first egg !! Finally!!!

 

[dee88]

Very Cool, congrats! Can you post a pic of mother & egg?

 

[rodgis]

HI, I'm new here, from the Philippines. Used to raise chickens in Kansas as a kid.

I bought a pair of Chinese Silkies (Wu gu ji) a few weeks ago. She (Wu We) suddenly yesterday was dragging, her wings hanging, stumbling around in their little pen (3 1/2 x 3 1/2 feet on the ground) looking really sick! I immed. went to town and got some antibiotics which I gave her at about 3 pm. I put her in a box, thinking she was surely as good as dead. Also, her bill was open and she seemed to be panting some. I got her to drink some water later in the evening, which had a little MMS in it (sodium chloride), and she was literally lying on her side, feet stretched out, jerking! Poor thing! I didn't know if she'd make it thru the night? Well this morning she was upright, not quite able to walk, but obviously better. At about 2 this afternoon I took her out of the box to get more antibiotics down her little throat, poor thing, and I noticed her first soft-shelled egg in the box! WHAT??? Was that all about laying her first egg?
Well, she's still better, and eating. The egg busted, of course, because of the soft shell. So, I have to wonder if she was sick or in so much pain from about to lay an egg? And I know that we fed oyster shells to our KS. chickens to produce hard shells. No one here suggested anything like that.
So what is going on with this poor little hen? I think perhaps she's been a little loose (bowels, not sex) perhaps from the broccoli stems they LOVE! Not sure. Perhaps she really does have something, but the fact that she just laid her first egg at the same time as this incident really baffles me!
Any thoughts?
Thanks, Rod