Sickly Pullet

adirondak5

Chicken Picken
5 Years
Aug 28, 2019
949
3,211
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L.I. , NY
My Coop
My Coop
One of my Red Star Pullets that started laying beginning of February this year (mid September 2019 hatch) has been laying softshell eggs for the last week , mostly she lays them on the poop board while on the roost at night but last night when all the girls went to roost she went in the nest box . I went and checked her a few hours later about 9 last night and there was a softshell egg in the box with her and a another shelless egg , yoke broken in the nest box . She acts lethargic in the afternoons the past few days but is alert and eating well in the mornings , running around and scratching with the other girls like normal . She is drinking also . Her poops have been very watery , I don't see any worms , no mites checked around vent , under wings . Any ideas as what this could be . All the other pullets (5) are fine , eggs are normal , no issues at all . I feed layena crumbles and there is free choice oyster shell always available . Thanks for any help/advice .
 
Occasionally a chicken can start to have problems laying. I do know that there are types of deficiencies that can play into this (such as calcium deficiency). One of my hens had this problem for a while and it fixed itself. Other than that, I do not know how else to help.
 
Well , she is still laying soft/shell less egg about every night . She layed one on the poop board last night then around noon today she went in the one nest box for about an hour , another softie in the nest box (normal size) and a softie about the size of a pigeon egg next to it . Yoke all over the straw so I changed the bedding out in that nest box . She has been acting fine the last few days , no lethargy , eating and drinking fine , her poops are still on the runny side but are firming up . I don't know , I'm thinking her egg maker is just out of kilter . I'll give her some more time but am starting to think of culling and replacing her .
 
Well , she is still laying soft/shell less egg about every night . She layed one on the poop board last night then around noon today she went in the one nest box for about an hour , another softie in the nest box (normal size) and a softie about the size of a pigeon egg next to it . Yoke all over the straw so I changed the bedding out in that nest box . She has been acting fine the last few days , no lethargy , eating and drinking fine , her poops are still on the runny side but are firming up . I don't know , I'm thinking her egg maker is just out of kilter . I'll give her some more time but am starting to think of culling and replacing her .

Unless someone else has any ideas, I would say just to keep a good eye on her, it may fix itself, it may not
 
Sorry about your pullet. She may have a reproductive disorder impacted oviduct or something wrong with her shell gland in her oviduct. Have you ever noticed any of your chickens sneezing or having signs of infectious bronchitis? That is a respiratory disease that can affect the oviduct, and it can go unnoticed in mild cases. I might try a trial of giving her 1/2 a calcium tablet or Tums daily for several,days, to see if there is any improvement in her shells. Vitamin D3 is also necessary. The calcium tablet would have D3, but egg yolk has some as well if you use Tums. Here is a link about IB and how it can affect eggs:
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/infectious-bronchitis/infectious-bronchitis-in-poultry
 
Sorry about your pullet. She may have a reproductive disorder impacted oviduct or something wrong with her shell gland in her oviduct. Have you ever noticed any of your chickens sneezing or having signs of infectious bronchitis? That is a respiratory disease that can affect the oviduct, and it can go unnoticed in mild cases. I might try a trial of giving her 1/2 a calcium tablet or Tums daily for several,days, to see if there is any improvement in her shells. Vitamin D3 is also necessary. The calcium tablet would have D3, but egg yolk has some as well if you use Tums. Here is a link about IB and how it can affect eggs:
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/infectious-bronchitis/infectious-bronchitis-in-poultry

I have not noticed any sneezing and or any respiratory issues with any of the girls . I will give the Tums a try and see what happens . She was giving a good egg every day until early last week and the shells were nice and thick .
Thank you for taking the time to help me out , it is appreciated .
 
Well , got a good egg from her today , nice hard shell , nice brown color . I was going to start giving her Tums today but maybe she sorted this out herself ? I'll keep an eye on her and keep my fingers crossed .
 

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