Eggbound

Eggs courtesy of Gertie and Meg

A few weeks ago we noticed that the girls laying schedule had significantly reduced. It was especially noticeable in Meg who has, so far, been a very consistent layer. Nothing was happening.

The season was changing and getting warmer but we didn't think that was likely to make her slow down so much. If anything we thought she would be laying regularly every day. She also didn't seem to be getting ready for a moult, but hey, what do we know.

I tend to worry when things happen with the pets and I'm not sure why. So of course, my mind thinks that maybe Meg is egg bound. This is when, essentially, the egg gets stuck inside the hen and can be very serious, even fatal.

I tried to get to pick Meg up so I could examine her and see if I could feel anything but she was not having anything to do with that. I was going to take her to the vet (more chicken vet visits!) but ended up asking our friends who have lots of chickens and have had them for a while.

Their response was that if she was egg bound, she'd be dead by now. Alrighty then.

This has gone on for a few weeks now and she's still out there. She's been eating well and moves around fine, especially when she gets to free range. She hasn't gone back to laying but she has gone through a bit of a moult. It's not as extensive as the Fall moult but I'm assuming that is the cause of the interruption.

We're keeping a close eye on her just in case.