This morning one of our hens laid an egg that was very sticky, with what appears to be egg yolk and other matter on the outside of the egg. The egg was not broken at all, the shell was intact, but it was a bit smaller than what we normally get from any of them (we have 3 laying at the moment).
Another strange thing which might be connected is that we noticed late last night that one of our hens didn't go up to the henhouse - she's normally the first one to go up at dusk. We picked her up and placed her in the henhouse and though sleepy, she seemed fine. And she seems fine this morning. We suspect that this is the hen (a 2.5 year old RSL) that laid this egg as she's the only one who never lays in the nesting box, always on the shelf in the henhouse. And this is where we found the smallish, heavy, sticky egg - though not in the spot she normally lays them.
Should we be concerned?
Another strange thing which might be connected is that we noticed late last night that one of our hens didn't go up to the henhouse - she's normally the first one to go up at dusk. We picked her up and placed her in the henhouse and though sleepy, she seemed fine. And she seems fine this morning. We suspect that this is the hen (a 2.5 year old RSL) that laid this egg as she's the only one who never lays in the nesting box, always on the shelf in the henhouse. And this is where we found the smallish, heavy, sticky egg - though not in the spot she normally lays them.
Should we be concerned?
