Why? would she bleed and die while laying?

[LittleHouseOnThePrairie]

Okay, I've only done this chicken thing for 11 months now and it's just killing me. I lost my roo for some mysterious reason and now one of our pullets, Hershey, was dead this morning curled into her nest box. She had just layed her first egg two days ago. It looked like she was trying to lay an egg this morning and she had passed blood. I am so sad

And my son is very sad

What on earth went wrong??? It's very cold here and I'm been worried because our coop isn't insulated or heated. The other 12 hens seem to be happy and healthy (but so did Hershey). Am I missing something?

My son is ready to give the rest of them away so he doesn't have to see them die.

Can someone help me figure this out?

 

[Clay Valley Farmer]

Failures of egg laying equipment are fairly common and there is almost nothing to do to prevent it. Often pullets just working out the process have these troubles but it can affect older hens too.

Sadly it comes with the territory. If you are going to have chickens it needs to be accepted that these things do and will happen and it's not your fault in any way.

 

[LittleHouseOnThePrairie]

Thanks for the hugs. Do you think she was egg bound? And if so, is it more common in some breeds? We have a mixed breed flock but she was a Cuckoo Marans and we have two of her sisters. The rest of the girls are other breeds. But I wonder if there is something that I can watch for. I was reading that baths can help with being egg bound, but what clues do I look for as I watch them mill around?

 

[BeccaB00]

Well, I can tell you that the cold is 100% NOT the problem

All my chickens are in a chainlink kennel. No coop. No heat. I've NEVER had problems with the cold. They got feathers

It keeps them warmer than you think!

But over all I agree with the person above me.

I'm sorry for your losses.

Every chicken owner goes through this. Theres really nothing you can do about it. It's just somthing that comes with having chickens.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

What I learned, through this thread, about being eggbound, is that you will see obvious distress. If she was acting normally and then she just keeled over, there is no way you could have known. Perhaps an egg could have broken internally?

 

[LittleHouseOnThePrairie]

Well, my DH will be glad that he doesn't have to go out to immediately insulate the coop in order to get me to quit fussing about this. He owes you one BeccaBOO!

He says he is already freezing his butt off from attending a chicken funeral. So, sigh, we move on. I seem to have pacified my son by talking about how he can pick some new chicks in the spring.

 

[LittleHouseOnThePrairie]

Yay Chicks! :

What I learned, through this thread, about being eggbound, is that you will see obvious distress. If she was acting normally and then she just keeled over, there is no way you could have known. Perhaps an egg could have broken internally?

Hmm, guess we would have to autopsy to check for a broken egg. But knowing that we should be able to see distress signs of being egg bound is good to know. I just don't like to feel powerless to help my chatty little ladies. Thanks!​

 

[Clay Valley Farmer]

Given there was blood likely something ruptured. A warm bath or some lubricant might help pass a stuck egg, Good diet keeps the shells strong to resist breakage internally or soft shells, but this sounds a little different and could easily have been a defect right from birth.... {think... edit... } hatching.

I have been told some breeds/varieties are more prone to egg laying problems, but mostly the egg laying hybrids which tend to strive for lots of large eggs from smallish chickens.