[Beano]

We bought two lovely healthy hens yesterday. Brought them home and they spent most of the day foraging and seemed healthy going to bed last night. However by this morning one was spending a lot of her time sitting and her crop seemed still quite full. We picked her up and massaged her crop and hoped for the best.
Checked on her later and she had layed a tiny egg and seemed to perk up. The weather has been awfull and it has rained heavily for most of the day. They have shelter but they were previously kept in a barn which was much cosier than what they have here, plus they ate a lot of grass which they did not have in the barn.
The one who was not looking so good has taken herself off to the coop by now and when she was out kept drinking quite a lot and wiping her beak all the time. I've seen this before in a chicken which was sick. Is she sick or just a little overawed with her new situation? The other one layed a very large egg and her tail has been wry since it started raining but otherwise seems quite active, even in the awfull weather.
Am I worrying unduly? Is there something I can do to improve things for them? I've put some tonic in their water and some spice in their feed.  Any suggestions will be gratefully received!!

[compostqueen]

They have to adjust to their new surroundings    Make sure their shelter is adequate so they can get out of the rain if they wish

Don't overload them with tonics and spice and this and that.  If her crop is full there is no room for anything else
If she has been foraging she will have had enough

I assume you have her on good quality layers pellets 

[Beano]

Thanks for the reply. They are able to get out of the rain and the wind. They are on smallholder layers pellets, but she hasn't been eating them today or foraging, only drinking water. Her crop was quite full first thing this morning, which is a worry. Could it be that she ate to much grass yesterday. They did seem to go mad for it.
The tiny egg she layed had a little blood on it. Is that something to worry about? It could even have been her first egg which would make her feel a bit off. It has stoped raining now and seems a little warmer and I've just checked on her AGAIN. She's out but not doing much, just standing with her eyes closed. Oh dear, I am worried now.

[compostqueen]

Yes she could well have a crop full of grass.  First thing in the  morning the crop would normally be empty

I wouldn't advise emptying the bird's crop yourself at this stage. I would take her to a vet if you are concerned or if she doesn't pick up quickly. There is a list of recommended poultry vets here in the Stickies

You need to be sure she has an impacted crop before attempting to clear it yourself and you need to be sure of what you're doing. If not, leave it to the vet

The hen mod will be about somewhere and she'll know what to do. Well, there are three of them actually so one of them is bound to be along soon 

[ANHBUC]

Grass should not normally be a problem unless it is quite long and then they can get impacted crop.  Grass is best kept short and the hens will then only nip off the new shooting part.  As CQ says you can massage the crop to try and remove the blockage but you do need to know what to do.  The hen needs to be held with its head downwards so that any fluid is brought up rather than going on to its lungs.  There is some information on both sour crop and impacted crop HERE

I hope the information helps and she has managed to digest the food by the morning.  I take it that you have poultry grit available for them which they need for digestion.

[Sassy]

It could also be that they were not getting grit where you had them from so it may take them a while to start using it

[Beano]

Thank you all for your replies!
Thought I'd give you an update:- yesterday evening she came out of the coop where she had been sulking, looking perky. I noticed her crop bulge looked as if it had shifted lower down her chest. She started picking up bits of grit from the ground which made me realise (also confirmed in your replies) that she had not been doing that the first day. They had seen the grass and gone mad for it. Also I had not supplied them with grit (I know ) because the other hens I have just roam around and pick it up from the ground. They had grit in a container where they came from so I should have known better.
Well they have mixed poultry grit with shell now in a container and she's already been at it. Glad to say that she wasn't the one that learnt from my stupid mistake.
Thanks again.

[ANHBUC]

That is good news.  It is difficult for poultry to find the right size grit in the garden and what they have used gets ground down and passed through their system.

[barley]

Beano you can also crush egg shells back up into micro pieces and feed them back to chooks for gizzard grinding

I usually pop mine in the sun or hot oven after baking - it helps dry the residue egg white off and they crush really easy when dry

chooks always eat that before the grit - I think they find it quite a treat

[Sassy]

Beano you can also crush egg shells back up into micro pieces and feed them back to chooks for gizzard grinding

I usually pop mine in the sun or hot oven after baking - it helps dry the residue egg white off and they crush really easy when dry

chooks always eat that before the grit - I think they find it quite a treat

According to the poultry vet in Sept Country Smallholder this is a myth and definitely should not be relied upon. :blink:

[compostqueen]

I used to give mine mixed poultry grit and OSTREA, which is ground oyster shell which is very good for them. Pet shops sell it. If it's proper Ostrea it will say so on the bag they dispense it from 

[Beano]

I pop all my eggshells back in the oven to dry when I use them, to crush up and give to the chickens. I did this with the new two and they did like it. I suppose it gives them a little calcium back. Sometimes I forget that they are there and end up with black shells for the bin.
My two are still doing well. The white star (Liliwen) layed the biggest egg I've ever seen on Sunday. She also had a faceoff with my older white chicken(Buttercup). It was quite funy, she was shouting and trying to peck and kick her through the wire and Buttercup was all puffed up and ripping grass out and throwing it around between swear words. I'm not looking forward to them mixing!
The other new one (Penny) is a ranger. She's the one I was worried about but is fine now. I'll get some photos up soon.

[Beano]

Helo again,
It's been over a week and all's well (I think). The white star has been laying every day in the nest box with no hitch. The calder ranger on the other hand: she layed a very small thin shelled egg the third day we had her. Since then, she has layed one soft egg, one yolk only and it looked this morning as if she had squeezed another soft egg on the floor of the coop. She is just starting to lay and my question is: is it because she is just starting and it will settle down in time? or is it something I should be worried about?
We've had new pullets before and none of them had this problem when they started. She looks happy and healthy.
They have grit and oyster shell with their layers pellets and no treats.
Any ideas?

[compostqueen]

One of my girls was more prone to softies than the others and it remained so.  Once she'd laid the soft egg she seemed to perk up.

All you can really do is make sure she has access to good quality layers pellets, mixed poultry grit and clean water at all times. My girls used to like Ostrea which is a top notch oyster shell grit.   Bit of free ranging and some greens each week, sunshine of course and hope that she's all right    I gave my girl limestone powder when she was laying softies but it didn't make any difference so I couldn't recommend it as a cure

[ANHBUC]

I agree with CQ, you can have birds that just seem to be prone.  One of my Bovan Goldlines was like that.  I did try the limestone flour and it did seem to improve it for a while.  I used to cut a grape in half and dip the cut in the flour to feed to her.  It is best not to give it to your hens who are laying normal shelled eggs.