Soft Poops and Rough Eggs

[applehen26]

Hi everyone! I am pretty new to backyard chickens, so I’m trying to learn as much as I can. I have 4 hens (2 Barred Rocks, 1 Buff Orpington, and 1 Black Sex Link) that I raised from chicks starting back in June. They are about 8 months old. Three of the hens have started laying within the last couple months. I transitioned all of them to Purina Layena feed a couple months ago.

I have recently noticed that the Black Sex Link, who I’ve named Midnight, has exclusively been having soft poops for about a week now. They aren’t completely liquid — they look somewhat like cowpies. I also noticed that she has recently been laying eggs with a rough texture/raised purple-ish spots. I have attached photos of the poops and egg.

She is acting completely normal otherwise — eating, drinking, scratching around doing normal chicken stuff. The other hens are doing fine and have normal eggs and solid poops. I read that it could be caused by excess calcium in their diet, but if this is the case, why aren’t the other hens having the same issue? I will continue to monitor her, but I am wondering if someone here could help me get to the bottom of this. I don’t want to overlook something in case this could be serious.

Please let me know if you need any more information to help me figure this out.

Thanks!

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. You are right about the rough spots being excess calcium, so it is nothing to worry about. I would see them occasionally from certain hens occasionally. The loose poopmay be that she is drinking more water, but you could get a fecal float done on some fresh droppings. Or you could worm her with Valbazen 1/2 ml orally once and repeat it in 10 days. I would check her crop to make sure that it is filling up during the day, and emptying by the next morning.

 

[applehen26]

Welcome to BYC. You are right about the rough spots being excess calcium, so it is nothing to worry about. I would see them occasionally from certain hens occasionally. The loose poopmay be that she is drinking more water, but you could get a fecal float done on some fresh droppings. Or you could worm her with Valbazen 1/2 ml orally once and repeat it in 10 days. I would check her crop to make sure that it is filling up during the day, and emptying by the next morning.

Thank you for the reply! I feel a lot better knowing what to look for now.

I will look into getting a fecal float/worming her if it doesn’t get better within the next few days. I’ll keep an eye on her crop, too.