UPDATE: SHE IS SICK!! SUGGESTIONS? UPDATE: Is there a chance a production breed will never produce an egg? see pics of our girl

[WingItRanch]

@Bawkbok when you performed the butt check, were the pelvic bones 3 fingers distance apart?

 

[Bawkbok]

@Bawkbok when you performed the butt check, were the pelvic bones 3 fingers distance apart?

yes - between two and three. And just about my whole hand fit between her vent and the breast bone. She walks (sort of waddles actually) slower, feels heavier and checking her vent last night, it is still red and a little swollen, but doesn't look like prolapsed vent, just "ready" larger, I guess. She eats / drinks as normal, poops still all look good, tail is way up, not inactive in any abnormal way --- still no egg. I don't get it. I'd rather have a healthy non laying egg than an egg bound issue I must say. It's bewildering.

Oops - healthy non laying chicken - haha

 

[WingItRanch]

yes - between two and three. And just about my whole hand fit between her vent and the breast bone. She walks (sort of waddles actually) slower, feels heavier and checking her vent last night, it is still red and a little swollen, but doesn't look like prolapsed vent, just "ready" larger, I guess. She eats / drinks as normal, poops still all look good, tail is way up, not inactive in any abnormal way --- still no egg. I don't get it. I'd rather have a healthy non laying egg than an egg bound issue I must say. It's bewildering.

Oops - healthy non laying chicken - haha

Crazy! Either she's taking her sweet time (I have 4 that are 30 weeks old and still aren't laying) or something is wrong. She looks very healthy to me.

 

[Bawkbok]

Crazy! Either she's taking her sweet time (I have 4 that are 30 weeks old and still aren't laying) or something is wrong. She looks very healthy to me.

She seems healthy in all aspects - but what do I know.
She turned 8 months on the 20th if the provided hatch date is correct. We acquired her at the end of May, we were told she was three months.
I thought I saw contractions the other day while she was laying in the middle of the run, eyes closed, rump and back end hunched and rounded over. Her body was pulsating up and down like she was having contractions. I thought, yay, an egg is imminent. I even picked her up and placed her in the layer so she would learn where to lay. She immediately got up and came back out. That was two days ago so we started giving her Calcium again. I don't know what to do or not do. I'm just worried for her health and longevity at this point. I have never experienced egg binding but from what I've read here it can be serious and fatal and happens quickly so I'm keeping a vigilant eye on her.
Thanks for your help and interest in this situation.

 

[Rose the Legbar]

I wouldn’t give her any more calcium as she sounds to be walking around and not sulking in a corner. From experience, with any egg binding, the hen will be pale and act sluggish. She could also have a wonky reproductive tract and she may never lay eggs or lay very few eggs. Time will tell with her but I wouldn’t rush it. If it is turning into the winter months, she may not start to lay until next year when the days are longer.

 

[Grumpy Lady]

I have a Blue Andalusian that didn't lay her first egg until 53 weeks old. All her flock mates (same age, same breed) were laying at 6 months. She just took her sweet time. But now she is a consistent producer, and I am glad I did not relegate her to the soup pot too early.

 

[Bawkbok]

I wouldn’t give her any more calcium as she sounds to be walking around and not sulking in a corner. From experience, with any egg binding, the hen will be pale and act sluggish. She could also have a wonky reproductive tract and she may never lay eggs or lay very few eggs. Time will tell with her but I wouldn’t rush it. If it is turning into the winter months, she may not start to lay until next year when the days are longer.

ok thank you. I wasn't sure what to watch for. I thought the Calcium might help with contractions if the egg is stuck and she needed help. But she is acting like her normal self, for which I am grateful. At this point, I don't care if she never lays an egg. I need her around -- for me!! and the younger pullets.

 

[aart]

yes - between two and three.

Pelvic spacing increase, like squatting, can happen a couple few weeks before laying.

Have you confined them yet?

 

[Bawkbok]

Pelvic spacing increase, like squatting, can happen a couple few weeks before laying.

Have you confined them yet?

yes they are confined. I check the corners, under the coop, in the coop, under logs, regularly on the hunt for an egg. Nada

 

[Bawkbok]

NEW UPDATE OCT. 31

Ok folks, two updates:
1) she is suddenly no longer squatting. She was this morning and not this afternoon - she is now running from me. I searched again for an egg. Nowhere, unless she laid one and consumed it, which I doubt. I was out there pretty frequently today. What does this mean? @aart, any ideas? Is squatting just a ready stance for a rooster? Could she have or still have an egg in the production line somewhere? Or does the sudden cease in squatting mean production has turned off?

2) I'm attaching two poop pics from about an hour ago. The first one looks normal I think with urates? What is that bubbly stuff?
The second pic is cecal I think? She pooped them one right after the other.

She is still behaving as normal, active, eating, drinking, squawking, milling about, scratching at the substrate, etc.
Thanks for any insight and advice.