Christina Websell wrote:
Sometimes when their egg laying mechanism goes wrong (is this the same
bird?) it's a sign of underlying problems.

Yeah, it's the same one. She's had a bit snuffley for a while on top of the
egg issue. We thought she was getting better, but I guess not. nick
suspects it was a heart attack in the end, but she's not been feeling well.
She's been sleeping down by the food instead of in the nest again recently
(one of the bantams went to keep her company last night - either that, or
she was keeping an eye on her to make sure she wasn't scoffing the food in
the night)

What sort of hen was she? If she was a hybrid, they are often not long
lived birds, unfortunately.

She was a rhode island red hybrid of some sort. I think the place we got
her from has a bad reputation, but Nick was in a hurry to buy, and he's
never been very good at being sensible, unfortunately. The original 2 we
had went back for a swap after a few days cos they just weren't right, and
one of the pair died after a few months, leaving us with Chickeny (for a
couple of days, before we got a couple of baby bantams to keep her company)

At least you have given her a good life.

I hope so. She was a friendly little thing. She was the one that would
come when I called her, so it's quite sad. :-(

The boys are taking it well. Benjamin has already asked if we can get a
black one next. No idea why. Nick has his heart set on one with blue or
green eggs, though.