I am a first time chicken owner, raised 9 laying hens from day olds. They all lay about an egg a day (7 months old) and a few days ago this RIR wouldn't leave the nest box during the day, not that unusual, I figured she was laying and took the eggs from under her. She did not appear to be in any distress. I did notice she was wet underneath, my first thought was I stuck my hand in poop, but after smelling it (clear) it seemed to be eggwhite. That night when I locked them in she was still in the box, definitely NOT normal! I poked her and she was alive and ok. Then next morning I found her dead. I was sooooo shocked. She was fine up until then. All the other chickens are fine. Could she have been egg bound? I have never medicated or wormed these chickens and I do allow them to free range much of the time. I checked her all over and could find no blood, signs of injury, etc. I'm also concerned because we ate all the eggs from her. One more thing...this past week I seemed to be getting some very small eggs, some with weak shells, but it has gotten much colder here lately.... Thank you so much for reading this long post... Dana
Hi Dana- it is possible the hen you lost was eggbound, though. unless you saved the body for a thorough examination, we can't be certain. Are all of your hens getting enough calcium? Are any molting at this time? Like humans, birds can suffer innumerable ailments, but it sounds like you need to first examine their vents to see if any are pulsing, to clean out the nest boxes and carefully identify who is laying the odd eggs. This is probably going to involve some time in the coop especially at laying time. Then get back and let us know what you are noticing, okay?
She may have had an egg break inside her. Depending on the internal damage or infection, this would cause death if not tended to.