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I STILL have an adult bird laying premature eggs on ground! WHY?

post #1 of 4
Thread Starter 

Hi folks. My cute little leghorn was the best layer of all our 6 birds. She's not quite a year old yet but for 3 months I swear she laid 99 eggs, never missing a single day, all healthy eggs. Always laid in the nest, even all winter. She has fulltime access to oyster shell and shredded fresh mozarella cheese everyday. 

 

PROBLEM: Now starting about 5 weeks ago, she just drops an egg out wherever she happens to be walking in the morning. She doesnt even look back, just keeps walking to catch up with the other birds. These eggs left on the ground are thin shelled. They crack just by being picked up. It seems like she laid them too early by just a few hours. Still she sadly hangs out in the nest area mid-morning, even sitting on the nest (she doesnt know she already laid!). I wish she would hold her eggs in and wait to lay them when the time is right. She is not new to this. I wonder if she is too excited to get out in the run every morning that she pops out an eggs from excitement. Is that possible? 

 

Any advice?

post #2 of 4

Has anything changed with your chicken's environment or diet in the past five weeks?  Maybe you should stop giving them cheese.......Not sure why you're feeding them that. 

Proud owner of some nice show quality Buckeyes and Silver Penciled Plymouth Rocks.  I love gardening and being outdoors.  I'm lucky to have a great family, and two cute dogs.  I live out in the country on six wooded acres and it's just paradise!  (Except the mortgage payment and bills, of course)

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Proud owner of some nice show quality Buckeyes and Silver Penciled Plymouth Rocks.  I love gardening and being outdoors.  I'm lucky to have a great family, and two cute dogs.  I live out in the country on six wooded acres and it's just paradise!  (Except the mortgage payment and bills, of course)

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post #3 of 4
Thread Starter 

The cheese is a treat that I read about here. They only nibble on it occasionally.  The intention with cheese is to boost the calcium. Sometimes we give yogurt too. I also give catfood and tuna for protein. Of course they have layer feed too. 

 

I cannot think of what may have changed since this problem. I really think she is too excited. She is a hilarious busybody and always first to everything. She doesnt even notice she laid the eggs.

post #4 of 4

keep her in an enclosed space with her favourite nesting box make the space small and isolate her  she may need to be kep there for a while to re awaken or revitalise her sense of lay in a nest not in random places 

also i dont think cheese is a good part of their diet if they have too much calcium it can cause many problems with kidneys and liver and the egg laying tract there may be calcium deposits that prevent the egg from being coated on its way out so it just plops out because thin shelled eggs are much easier to push out 

so yea if the first idea doesnt work then combine it with a little bit of ACV(apple cider vinegar) she should go back to normal 

 

1 tolerant mother, 2 red sexlinks ,1 isa brown, 1 australorp, 1 light/speckled sussex,one baby minorca mix, one white mystery chick, one maybe production red chick, a confused male pekin duck and one mystery hen which is genetically predisposed to lay double yolkers

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1 tolerant mother, 2 red sexlinks ,1 isa brown, 1 australorp, 1 light/speckled sussex,one baby minorca mix, one white mystery chick, one maybe production red chick, a confused male pekin duck and one mystery hen which is genetically predisposed to lay double yolkers

Reply
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