poorly chuck

[mrs giles]

I think I have a poorly chuck but having just read the post on egg bound I´m not so sure. :( I think she may be egg bound, she didn´t want to come out of the coup this morning so I lifted her out to the food and water but she wasn´t interested. I decided to leave her and see how she was in a while. When I went back she was back in the coup but crouched down in the corner, her tail feathers all drooping and wings slightly out but she responded to a bit of stroking and comforting, a while later when i checked there was a very abnormal egg just behind her, well abnormal to me, it was very pale with red spots at the end and very soft shell, I´ve not had one like that before. Thought maybe it was her first so left her for a while again and then found her in the nesting box, again crouched and there she has decided to stay. I´ve left her for the night with the others tucked up with her, they are not pecking her or annoying her at all so I am keeping fingers crossed that she has sorted the problem and needs to have a bit of a rest after it, hopefully. Don´t want to make the long trip down the mountain with her to the vet but can anyone advise? We don´t want to lose her.

[Jodi]

I hope she's ok now.

One of my girls did a similar thing, she sat in the corner of the run for hours looking very miserable. I kept going out to her and she'd stand up when I approached, but would crouch again when I left her.

I'd already collected the eggs (5 eggs for 5 chooks) so I knew she'd already laid. After about 5 hours she went back into the coup and to the nesting box. Not long after, she came out and was back to her old self again, thankfully!

I went out to the coup, and she'd laid another egg - like you've described, looked a bit odd and when I went to pick it up, put my finger through it as the shell was very patchy and some parts were so thin, you could see through it.

Maybe this happens when they are first laying - I've read other posts that explains that double yokers happen frequently when their systems are getting used to egg laying, maybe this is another event that happens too.

Hope your girl is Ok

cheers
Jodi

[melons]

One of mine does it now & then, you'd think she was at deaths door, sulks big time, it's usually when a soft shelled number is on route, she stands all puffed up & not interested in anything, once the offending article is delivered, the little minx is as right as rain, where as I'm not
Lets hope that's all it is.

[mrs giles]

Hurray!! This morninig my little chuck is as right as rain, thankfully. I opened the coup tjhis morning and she was first out and stomping all over the place - don´t they just give you the worries¿ Little devils It must just have been the strange egg. I´m really glad that that is all over - for now anyway. Thanks for all the advice and support, it helps to know where to ask when theres a problem especially as I´m new to this and learning as I go along. Cheers everyone

[AnnaB]

Hi mrs giles

Yes, we are all learning all the time - 2 years on and I still feel like a novice and yes, we worry about them to bits!
Anna

[morph]

YAY!!! She was keeping you on your toes - just checking that you love her!!!

[Al B]

One of mine - hard to tell which, laid 2 very strange eggy objects yesterday - one was a complete egg but with a totally see through membrane and no shell, the other was a partly formed egg with a membrane hanging off one end. I kept an eye on the bird that I thought had laid them, but she is eating and seems quite happy so hopefully no lasting damage! Always worrying though when these alien objects appear.
I gave her an extra dose of porridge with baked, crushed eggshell so hopefully it will boost her calcium levels - not sure if this is the reason? She is smaller than the other 2 and appears less mature in her feathers etc.
Someone mentioned Shellstim but I can't find it anywhere - anyone know whether this would help?

[chucky egg]

Not heard of that but I gave my ex-batts a product called zolcal. It was recommended (and consequently bought) by the vet as around three weeks after having them we were having lots of shellless eggs and thin shelled ones. Apparently as they start to lead 'normal' lives their bodies'need for calcium is greater than the amount that they were physically eating. And believe me they were eating none stop at first!
After a few days all calmed down. now and again it raises it head but mostly they lay regular eggs now.
I would say good idea with feeding them back the shells.
Wendy (Chucky Egg)