Cracked egg in hen


Our little ISA brown started moulting late this year. Pretty much right in the middle of winter.
In the lead up to this she was laying funny shaped eggs that were massive. They were very thin shelled and when we cracked them open, the whites were very runny.
She has been incredibly reliable with her laying, pretty much every day. So I was hoping that she would take a break with her laying while she was moulting.

It seems that ISA browns are hardwired to try and lay, even when they are moulting. We found quite a few broken soft shell eggs under the roost. We had to remove them straight away as the greedy Australorp would try to eat it.
Until one day we found her wandering around the garden with bits of yolk stuck to her vent. I could only think of one thing, the egg broke whilst inside her.

There were already flies out and about (yes flies even in winter in Adelaide!) and we didn't want her to get flystruck. So off to the bathroom with her to wash off the mess.

Washed her with warm water and gave her a blow dry, which she enjoyed and even fell asleep.

The rest of the day she was rather lethargic, but the next day she was back to her perky self, fighting off the Araucana's for her share of the food. We did find the remains of a soft shell egg in the nesting box, so she managed to pass that eventually. All good.

At least her body has finally told her to stop making eggs, no more eggs under the roost! Although I did catch her in the nesting box today and I know that she is still moulting. Naughty girl.

I don't know if there was anything else I could have done?

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