Worried about our eggs

Evening all

New to this forum so bear with me!!

Got our chickens just over 3 weeks ago now - ex battery hens.

They all seem to have settled in well.

However for the past few days a couple of our chickens seem to have been very quiet, and spent a lot of time sitting in one of the nest boxes.  We are also getting misshaped eggs fairly regularly - and one we had today is really weird! Has got a big rough patch on one end, and crinkles and bumps on it.  What does this mean??  Have read on a couple of websites about some sort of bronchitis - think it was referred to as IB - do you think my birds have it? 

Bit worried!!

Look forward to hearing from you!!

Not that I can tell - but I am new to this!!

Good answer Foxy!  I still get the odd wonky egg from the ex-bats.  I guess there's been a lot of strain on their egg laying system with all that regulated day length etc in commercial batteries

Increased and prolonged visits to the nestbox mean one two things usually 1. Broodiness, unusual in commercial laying birds as the maternal instinct has been bred out but does happen. This is characterized by puffing up and squarking when you go near them, a very warm and bald breast. 2. Laying problems - usually trying to pass a soft shelled egg which is difficult and takes a lot out of them physically. Check when they last laid, also is the tail down, have a feel of the abdomen gently does it feel like there is an egg in there?

Nearly all of the chickens have got bald breasts - we thought it was from being kept in their cages before we had them?

So if we do feel the abdomen, and it feels like there is an egg there - what do you do then?

The reason supermarkets insist on commercial farmers getting rid of their laying hens at 72-80 weeks is precisely for tht reason reason Chickencharly, they think us customers don't want our eggs to be at all misshapen, or wrinkled or differing in colour.  they think we all want them the same size, weight and colour.

The oher thing you will notice with your girls being a bit older is tht the egg whites will get more watery too, but don't worry about it, it's just the way things are.  Still lovely eggs though!!!