Sick chicken

[Dippy-eggs]

A couple of evenings ago I noticed my bluebell hybrid was not quite looking herself, walking slowly
Not really eating

Yesterday she had a lot of diarrhoea which had continued, she did not lay an egg

This morning she is still not good and just staying in the coop, she layed two shell-less eggs somewhere between last night and this morning (I guess one was from yesterday..)

I only have 5 chicken and they are free range, have lots of space, untill now they have all seemed very healthy
we have never had a soft shell issue before, they have eggs shell to eat if they want it

any ideas on what could be wrong

many thanks

 

[RumneyRoost]

There are a few things that could be causing it. Diet, stress, disease, parasites, etc.

The first thing I would do is get some calcium into her. Crush up a tums or calcium supplement and get her to eat it. When I had an egg bound hen I used a human calcium + D3 supplement.

It’s possible that the diet is lacking, or she has issues storing calcium.
It’s possible that some sort of stress caused a hiccup.
It’s possible that she has worms or parasites.
It’s possible that she has an infection, virus, or reproductive disease like cancer.

 

[Eggcessive]

I think she is having some reproductive issue. How old is she? I agree about offering some extra calcium or Tums and a little cooked egg for D3 for several days to see if her eggshells improve. This could be from salpingitis or impacted oviduct, if it is not a calcium deficiency. They feel really weak and sick when they lay these shell-less eggs, and shell-less eggs are hard for them to pass. Sometimes you might see yolks, albumen, or membranes being passed. Some people have stopped their chickens from laying with hormone implants, but a vet would need to be involved and the medicine is rather pricey.