trouble with pullets first egg lay

[betty105]

I have a 5 month old pullet who is having trouble with her first egg lay. She was listless and did not move to get treats yesterday. It's been really cold here (windy 20 degrees) so her sister and my older chicken have been staying in my small coop where it's warm. today it's closer to freezing so i could go out to get her, bring her out, clean her butt with warm and see what's going on. I don't see any damage or redness, but i did see some membrane stuck to her and did pull out another small amount. she's still trying to get an egg out. I sprayed her with Vetericyn plus and put her back in with some water near the nest box. Any advice what are my steps are? thanks!!

 

[OrpingtonManiac]

@Eggcessive and @Wyorp Rock sorry for tagging u so much!

If u feel her abdomen, can u feel a hard lump? She could be egg bound.
Has she eaten anything?

 

[betty105]

I did do that and didn't feel anything unusual. She is def not eating, not sure how much she's drinking.

 

[Eggcessive]

Get some calcium into her. Human calcium citrate with D3 is found for about $8 at Walmart in the vitamin aisle in the pharmacy. Give her 1 300mg tablet now. Tums can work in a pinch, but then get the calcium. Calcium can increase muscle contractions to lay an egg. Do you feed layer feed and offer free choice crushed oyster shell for calcium?

 

[betty105]

I got crushed tums and water into her as much as i could with a syringe. Will get the proper stuff. how often do i give it?

 

[Eggcessive]

If she hasn’t laid by tomorrow, give the calcium to her. She can safely take it up to 7 days if she is having issues laying or laying parts of eggs. Here is the calcium:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Equate-C...MIjfj2x6SWigMV2EH_AR2HSgLLEAQYASABEgIISPD_BwE
Citracal is also good, but more pricey.

 

[betty105]

thank you so much! I'll keep you posted. since she has a sister, I'll be ready for her if I need to be!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

You can put the calcium citrate tablet right in her beak and she will swallow it. You should be able to get her to open her beak by pulling down gently but firmly on her wattles. I find it helps to have a helper to hold the hen.

 

[betty105]

You can put the calcium citrate tablet right in her beak and she will swallow it. You should be able to get her to open her beak by pulling down gently but firmly on her wattles. I find it helps to have a helper to hold the hen.

She was seemed totally normal today! she did not lay an egg but was eating, drinking and wondering the yard digging for bugs. I did see some poop on her butt and we washed it off, everything looked good and we gave her a dropper full of the crushed calcium citrate in water. I'm sorry, those pills seemed way too big for her little throat! Should I continue the daily calcium citrate until she lays?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

You can continue for a week. And as for her tiny little throat - a chicken can swallow a mouse or a frog, whole, no worries. If you look in their beak and see a tiny opening at the center back, that's not where food goes. That goes to the lungs.