Patridge bantam chicken poorly foot?

[laurmurf]

 

I'm a bad hen-mother! In all the excitement of yesterday afternoon's sunshine I decided to take the cube to bits and clean it. I didn't realise that Meg wanted to lay an egg until it was wet and in pieces. She was ever so anxious and climbed the ladder and was shocked there wasn't a back to it and no nest box. She kept up the anxious clucking and looking for her cube! I got it back together finally, in a panic, and she rushed up the ladder straight to the nest box. After about 20 minutes she came out singing her victory song, so i thought all was well. But she hadn't laid an egg and she hasn't since (although she hasn't got into an 'every day lay' habit yet anyway).

 

I'm really worried that our cleaning antics have thrown her and she's retained the egg she so desperately wanted to lay. Will she come to any harm? Could this make her egg-bound?

 

 

All this in the same day one of the new girls laid her first egg - in the grass (at least it was before the cube was in bits) AND we found 2 very small softies in the poo trays when cleaning the cube: we don't know who laid them or why!

 

Egg Crisis !!!!

[Egluntyne]

It is early days yet.

 

Don't worry. They will soon get back to normal.

 

I shouldn't think a bit of delay will cause egg binding. They sometimes have to queue patiently for the nestbox anyway.

[jomaxsmith]

I had that this morning - took the Eglu apart and had it all drying in the glorious sunshine when Daisy started to look anxious and inspecting what I was doing. I hastily dried the nestbox and the lid, put some bedding in the nestbox and put the lid back on. It still obviously wan't 'right' for her as she paced about a bit more before finally deciding she would just have to ignore the fact that the poo tray and roosting bars weren't in place.

 

Last time I cleaned it, it was Zee who just couldn't wait. She got really upset and was making very worried noises!

 

I don't think it will harm your hen in the long run - I bet she'll have laid when you check in the morning!

 

Jo

[Al]

My youngest hen Liza. who hasn't yet settled into a proper laying routine, sometimes sits on the nest box but doesn't lay. Once she sat there for about an hour after which time I went outside to do some gardening. She left the nest box and ran straight over to me...and promptly laid an egg which fell onto the concrete where I was standing and broke I guess it takes them time to get used to what happens. One of my other hens (Meryl) was quite shocked at herself when she started laying eggs and was extremely vocal about it.

 

I don't think you should worry about your hen. She'll be ok.

 

P.S. I also have a very enterprising hen (Audrey) who, on finding that the nest box was already occupied by one of her mates, decided to lay on the ornamental wishing well under the quince bush. Now she wants to lay there everyday, even when the nest box is free

[laurmurf]

Well here we are at Wednesday and Meg still hasn't laid that egg! She's been in and out the cube nest box all morning - i even managed to disturb her AGAIN while she was sitting in there .

 

Should she go this long between bouts of wanting to lay? She seems in fine fettle otherwise: eating, drinking and the odd bit of GBH.

 

Should i be playing at James Herriott, putting a glove on and diving in? (chicken gynaecology... who'd thought?)

 

I'm a very bad hen mother