I am worried about my Speckled Sussex, Luna. She is a year old. She started laying last December at 26 weeks. She averaged 5 eggs a week until earlier this month. On June 8 she laid a strange egg on the poop board that looked, at first, like an egg without a shell. But on closer examination there was a tiny egg with a hard shell encased in egg white and a membrane. Very odd. The on June 10 she laid a tiny egg, the one in the middle in this photo.
She hadn't laid any eggs at all since then, until today. Today she laid a full-size egg with no shell. For the past two weeks she has occasionally sat in the nest box, as if laying an egg, but produces no egg. She also sometimes sings what I consider to be an egg song (although I'm not fluent in chicken), but without laying an egg.
Before this her eggs always had good strong shells. She's fed Scratch and Peck Layer and has free choice oyster shell at all times. She free-ranges for a few hours every day. Her behavior and demeanor are normal. She is lively, active and friendly. She looks good. I think she may be a little more vocal than in the past. I ask her, "Luna, are you trying to tell me something?" But I don't understand her responses.
Another factor is that one of the other hens went broody and took over a favorite nest box, which led to creating a caged off area for the broody and the rearrangement of the coop. I was thinking that her behavior might just be that she was annoyed by the changes and she decided to go on strike. But the rubber egg today makes me wonder if something has gone awry with her egg production system.
Any ideas what is going on with her?
Thank you!
She hadn't laid any eggs at all since then, until today. Today she laid a full-size egg with no shell. For the past two weeks she has occasionally sat in the nest box, as if laying an egg, but produces no egg. She also sometimes sings what I consider to be an egg song (although I'm not fluent in chicken), but without laying an egg.
Before this her eggs always had good strong shells. She's fed Scratch and Peck Layer and has free choice oyster shell at all times. She free-ranges for a few hours every day. Her behavior and demeanor are normal. She is lively, active and friendly. She looks good. I think she may be a little more vocal than in the past. I ask her, "Luna, are you trying to tell me something?" But I don't understand her responses.
Another factor is that one of the other hens went broody and took over a favorite nest box, which led to creating a caged off area for the broody and the rearrangement of the coop. I was thinking that her behavior might just be that she was annoyed by the changes and she decided to go on strike. But the rubber egg today makes me wonder if something has gone awry with her egg production system.
Any ideas what is going on with her?
Thank you!
