[Daisyd0g]

Hi All, I am a newbie to the forum but a long time lurker.  I live in Seattle but am English and for some reason always refer back to English forums with questions on my garden, chickens or dogs!! I guess it is a comfort thing 

So a relative newbie to chickens, I have 4 - Tittie - RIR, Babs - Silver laced Wyandotte, Ginger - Gold laced Wyandotte and Bunty - Barred Rock.

Babs and Bunty have been/are currently, moulting, Babs looked ready for the roasting pot at 1 point but is now starting to get lots of lovely new shiney feathers, Bunty's moult is much less obvious the the naked eye (or chicken butt).

Tittie and Ginger have been laying regularly, 1 or 2 eggs total a day.  Well this week Tittie hasn't laid at all, and last night Ginger laid a soft egg.  They are fed a layer pellet which apparently includes oyster shell, the also get some scraps, a bit of corn in the afternoon and freerange most of the day on quite a large patch of mossy/grassy area which has quite a bit of hardcore/gravel underneath.  The weather has just started to take a turn for the colder here, and obviously the days are getting shorter, I won't be adding a light or heater I figure their bodies lay less over winter for a reason!

Could it be lack of calcium, or could it be both are coming into moult - what should I look for with Ginger, she seemed to still be trying to push last night? I checked her vent and apart from that it looked ok, the soft shell didn't appear to be complete, the egg was runny with a bit of shell next to it.  I was planning to sit her in a warm bath today, she has a bit of a poopy bum too, and I am hoping when I go let them out later (It is only 6.24am here) she will pop out of the pop door and start scratching around.

Is this normal for a chicken, I am a bit worried... she was completely 100% normal y'day and the day before she laid a normal egg.  It was last night when she went into the nesting box that I knew something was up.

Sorry about the long first post, and Thanks for any help, advice you might have 

[kegs]

A warm bath might help and you could leave out some crushed oyster shell too which they will help themselves to just incase they aren't getting enough.

Sorry for the short post - gotta dash, but warm welcome to a brilliant forum and I'm sure others will add ideas for you.

[Daisyd0g]

Well I went to let them out, and she is still lying in the nesting box, but she did get up and go out for a drink, then back to the box.  So I made some scambled egg but she wasn't interested in that, she went back out and had more to drink.

She seems quiet and is drinking alot, I took another look at her vent and it is still pulsing (but that could be because I am staring at it)< it has clear liquid coming out of it.  I am definately going to sit her in a bath but not until later today.

Her comb is nice and red, she seems ok so maybe it just really has taken it out of her, part of me wants to help her but then the sensible part of me says to leave her to rest for a while and let nature heal her!  If she wants to rest then that is fine and she knows what is best.

I will go get oyster shell today and some yogurt and leave her for a while to recuperate! me fussing isn't helping!

[Sassy]

She may have got an egg stuck. A warm bath would help as would gently steaming her vent. If the egg has broken inside her she will need antibiotics and a visit to the vets would be a good idea. Hopefully somone with more ideas will be along shortly

[Daisyd0g]

So I brought her in and bathed her and she spent the night in the dog crate in the garage and was ok, had a little bit of yoghurt and some apple that she went crazy for.  This morning she was still sitting so I thought maybe she was just lonely, I gave her yogurt and some scrambled egg and some worms which she wolfed down, so I took her back outside. 

First thing she did was drink, now she is out there scratching around!! her bum is still a bit poopy and she has lots of sawdust stuck to it, but she did do a normal poop whilst I was there, little, but then she didn't really eat y'day, but it was formed!

I will worm them all now that they have stopped laying and hopefully this was just a reaction to laying the soft egg.

Who knew chickens could be such a worry  I thought Dogs were bad enough!!

Thanks e'one!

[viettaclark]

Could she be broody? Not laying, sitting in the nest box.........