Budgies Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 Can anyone tell me what symptoms a chicken who has started to lay internally might be? One of my girls hasn't laid an egg since 1st August. She's a pure breed Welsummer and is about 2 years and three months old She lays an egg on two consecutive days generally, with a break of around 2-3 days between each lay, which is usual for the breed. I've also heard that they tend to lay for the first three years or so, then stop, although they have a good life expectancy (up to 9 years). I've twice now spotted her getting agitated as though an egg was imminent, go into the nesting box and then come out again and nothing more happened. On the first of those occasions, she egg-announced and there was no egg, but the second time she didn't get that far along the process and her comb paled and she gave up on the idea. She doesn't feel hotter or more swollen about the abdomen than the other girls, and I don't think she's moulting. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 I'm no expert in it but from what I understand if the egg is being laid internally its very early in the process so bearing in mind it takes 24 hours for the egg to work through the system an egg announcement with no egg is unlikely to be a sign of this It is possible that the hen is laying a soft egg then eating it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budgies Posted August 18, 2011 Author Share Posted August 18, 2011 Thanks for the reply, Redwing. I did lose a previous chook to internal laying but she was very advanced and the eggs that had gone astray had become infected. The vet couldn't spay her as a result and although she was implanted to stop her laying more eggs, she was so unwell her breathing had become compromised so we had her pts. She too used to think she'd laid an egg (I guess they still have hormones rampant) but there were no eggs to collect. Pumpkin isn't laying softies - I'm with her too much of the time for that to be going on and me to be unaware. I guess I'll just keep a close eye on her for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...