Chicken boarders

[Scoobs]

I got 4 POLs at end of May and 3 of them have been laying regularly for months. The smallest chicken has just had a growth spurt in the last 3 weeks and her comb has got nice and large and red and she has put on weight. She has been going into the nesting box for the last week but no sign of anything. Since last Thursday she has been lethargic and not as bright as the others. She has been eating and drinking though not with gusto like the others. The last couple of days she has been in the nesting box in the morning but had got into the run in the evening. There was something that looked bright yellow like a yolk stain in the coup and in the run the other day which I wasn't sure of. Again she is in the nesting box this morning. I had assumed she had a soft shell on the way but does it take this long or it is something else? I had a look at her vent and felt around it and I think there is something hard which could be an egg. I'm hoping I'll go home and she will have passed something but I've been hoping that for days so have booked a vets appointment tomorrow night. Any advice on what else I could be doing?

[Plum]

You can help them by lubricating the vent with clean finger and lubricant and around the egg if you can. Also placing her in warm water and recently learnt that it's effective if you keep her there for 20 mins. Mine have never minded they relax in the water and love the blow dry afterwards.

First egg can be a difficult time. One of mine had a lot of problems with first egg but went on to lay daily with no trouble at all.