egg is stuck inside skin and is hanging on the hens bottom

[the3ofus+oursixchicks]

rosey slept outside again last night. i let her stay out with the other girls for about 45 min. brought her in for a good breakfast. let her out in my bathroom once for a few minutes. now she is outside til bedtime tonight. she is having another wonderful day. her poop is chunky runny, is that normal? i am mostly just giving her noodles and what ever she eats outside and water. so iguess that kind of diet is doing that right?

 

[silverback]

Do you also give her regular chicken feed? Something that ensures a balanced diet? Does she get greens and calcium? Plenty of protein? Noodles can be starchy and filling without providing all the nutrients she might need. I'm no expert but have found that a balanced diet really helps.

By the way, been following this thread for a while. You have don great work despite sometimes conflicting advice. Best wishes to you and Rosie. She is looking great - a beautiful girl!

S.

 

[CherylR]

Yay! Glad I found the thread about Rosie and to hear that she's doing well! I've been wondering! Good for you...God Bless!

 

[Mudsow]

That's a good topic for conversation.... Something to ask your vet next time you see him/her.
If feeding your hen added calcium and protein is supposed to help her produce more and stronger eggs, would reducing the protein and calcium help to not trigger her to lay?

I was reading some site about rescuing battery hens and they feed a pelleted pet bird diet. They suggest RoundyBush Maintenance diet.
At looking at the ingredients, it is used for mainanance only. Most people who have indoor tropical birds are not concentrating on getting the best eggs out of them, they are interested in keeping their bird healthy.

So I'm wondering if by switching her diet to one for a bird maintenance. (even poultry grower pellets) that it would cut down on the protein and calcium and reduce her egg numbers.

I know if a bird stops laying, you use more light more calcium and more protein, why wouldn't the reverse work?
Hmmmmm

 

[leadwolf1]

I was just told by a top chicken expert (vet)...that a lack of calcium and proper layer feed will enhance the risk of egg binding.

 

[Mudsow]

Ok, then continue her on a maintenance program but offer oyster shells so the hen can regulate, instead of adding it to her feed so she has no choice.

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
actually it's the "more light" that is the key there...

Quote:
that is true of egg binding. where an egg fails to pass properly. this bird was not egg bound technichally, she was prolapsed. there's a difference.

egg bound hens are typically trying to pass eggs with little or no shell laid down (called leather eggs by some), so the contractions to pass the egg are ineffective, and the egg essentially gets stuck. yes some hens do lay 'leather eggs' successfully but it requires a lot more work on the hen's part and some birds just aren't up to it. so by increasing the calcium content of their diet, they are able to lay better shells on their eggs, and thus pass them through without problems.

a prolapse, whether from injury or genetics or who-knows-what, the eggs this bird tried to pass got wrapped in a fold of tissue, and when she tried to expel it, more tissue came out with it, causing the problems she had. prolapse could be because of a "design flaw" where she has an extra fold of tissue that catches the eggs, or simply a matter of chance, or that the egg may have been drier than it should have been and tissue stuck to the shell causing the prolapse.

Quote:
day length controls a lot of things, not just in chickens. like animals growing longer coats for the winter, shedding in the spring, heat cycles, and the list goes on. in the event that the animal is unable to determine day length (signals sent from the eyes to the brain), then surrounding temperature will send the same signals, but the effect is delayed. day length starts shortenning after June 21st, but it isn't until September or October that the days start getting cooler (and we notice them 'fuzzing up'). so if they have to wait to receive the signals in september or october, then they won't actually start fuzzing until december or january... I have a horse that's been blind for 12 years, and these are some things that she's proven to us year after year... she finally has a winter coat by january, and starts shedding in june or july.

so by decreasing a hen's day length to 6 hours or less, that's telling her that it's winter and conditions are not conducive to starting a family... and increasing their day length will encourage them to lay longer into the winter.

so feeding a layer diet does not automatically mean the hen will lay eggs... day length is a much stronger contributor to that, or you would see a lot more roosters laying eggs IMO.

 

[Mudsow]

That all makes complete sense, it's just that I recently lost a chicken to gout. I thought I was feeding properly, starter, then grower, then layer once she layed. She was 2 1/2 years old. At first when she stopped laying, I did not know why, but everything I was reading was saying to not only up her light (whick she was indoors, and I'm up til 12, so she had ample light) AND up her protein and calcium to help trigger laying again. Of course I'm sure that just made the gout worse. But she was otherwise acting normal.

This is why I was wondering if cutting back on those as well as the light would help to reduce the urge to lay.

 

[Beekissed]

Here's a thought....keep her confined to a cat carrier with a heating pad under her. May just stimulate her hormones into a "broody" state. Hormones is the reason they lay and the ebb and flow of the proper hormones for ovulation is why egg laying is increased or decreased throughout the year.

 

[Mudsow]

That can have drawbacks too if they are NOT broody. Every time I took my hen to teach at school, she was put in a carrier, not long afterward, she'd begin to nest and always seemed to lay her egg between kindergarden classes. Could signify nesting and backfire too. Just my opinion.