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My peeps said:
I tried google but I became overwhelmed with info! Today when I went to gather eggs in my big coop I noticed one of the girls pooped in the nesting area. The poop looked "ground" up and then I saw something move. A teeny tiny worm that was a white color. My questions are: 1. What kind of worm? 2. How do I treat it? 3. How do I prevent it? 4. Do I have to throw eggs away while I treat and how long? 5. Are the ones I have now safe to eat? TIA! I'm freaking out here! Lol
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chippysmom327 said:
If it looked like a little grain of rice, it was a roundworm. These can be treated with Wazine (in water, only treats roundworms) or safeguard (either goat or horse wormer) which you can get at tractor supply and it treats all worms. The eggs you have now are fine to eat, but while administering medicine you cannot eat eggs until 14 days after you administered the last dose. You can always cook them and feed them back to them though.

If it didn't look like a little piece of rice, it could be other worm types.
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Agreed! Gross, but easy to treat, I will be working my girls soon.
 
Question for @fisherlady. And anyone else with experience with broodys and young chicks. I have all my girls on chick starter, because I have the chicks running around. I have oyster shell out for them to take as well. I also offer their egg shells back to them crumbled. It seems like a coup,e of my girls are laying thinner shelled eggs. Should I make them a treat with extra calcium in it? Is there any way to put out food for just the laying girls that the chicks can't get to? Currently they all free range in the backyard together.
 
AnneInTheBurbs said:
Question for @fisherlady. And anyone else with experience with broodys and young chicks. I have all my girls on chick starter, because I have the chicks running around. I have oyster shell out for them to take as well. I also offer their egg shells back to them crumbled. It seems like a coup,e of my girls are laying thinner shelled eggs. Should I make them a treat with extra calcium in it? Is there any way to put out food for just the laying girls that the chicks can't get to? Currently they all free range in the backyard together.
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Maybe hang a feeder that's taller than the chicks or a bowl that is too high for the little ones to reach. I don't see why they'd be laying thinner shelled eggs though, my girls have been fine all summer. Are your girls older? I find that after 3 years old my girls' egg quality decreases. Shells get thinner, whites more watery, etc. Or weather could play a factor. How many waterers do you have around the yard? I try to put at least two, more often 3 water sources spaced out around the yard. I only live on one and a half acres.
 
chippysmom327 said:
Maybe hang a feeder that's taller than the chicks or a bowl that is too high for the little ones to reach. I don't see why they'd be laying thinner shelled eggs though, my girls have been fine all summer. Are your girls older? I find that after 3 years old my girls' egg quality decreases. Shells get thinner, whites more watery, etc. Or weather could play a factor. How many waterers do you have around the yard? I try to put at least two, more often 3 water sources spaced out around the yard. I only live on one and a half acres.
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I've thought about hanging a feeder that's higher, but I figure they would still spill a lot out. I guess I will just have to try it. My girls are about a year and a half old.
 
AnneInTheBurbs said:
chippysmom327 said:
Maybe hang a feeder that's taller than the chicks or a bowl that is too high for the little ones to reach. I don't see why they'd be laying thinner shelled eggs though, my girls have been fine all summer. Are your girls older? I find that after 3 years old my girls' egg quality decreases. Shells get thinner, whites more watery, etc. Or weather could play a factor. How many waterers do you have around the yard? I try to put at least two, more often 3 water sources spaced out around the yard. I only live on one and a half acres.
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I've thought about hanging a feeder that's higher, but I figure they would still spill a lot out. I guess I will just have to try it. My girls are about a year and a half old.
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Hmm... they're in their prime. That's strange. Do you feed a lot of spinach or greens? I know mine snub any greens since they free range, don't know if yours are the same.

http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/ducks-and-spinach/

I know the article is for ducks, but I'd assume it's the same for chickens.

ETA: Do you have a lot of plantain or lambsquarters in your yard? I think plantain has a ton of oxalic acid in it, so if they're eating a ton of it that could be the problem.

Edit again to add this link, really interesting.
http://www.eatthatweed.com/oxalic-acid/
 
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First babies came in the mail today, Finally!! I think they're doing ok they seem to be eating, drinking, pooping and sleeping along with lots of chirping.
 
AnneInTheBurbs said:
Question for @fisherlady . And anyone else with experience with broodys and young chicks. I have all my girls on chick starter, because I have the chicks running around. I have oyster shell out for them to take as well. I also offer their egg shells back to them crumbled. It seems like a coup,e of my girls are laying thinner shelled eggs. Should I make them a treat with extra calcium in it? Is there any way to put out food for just the laying girls that the chicks can't get to? Currently they all free range in the backyard together.
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I agree with chippysmom....add a feeder which is higher for the hens, if that isn't an option you can go with scrambling a couple of eggs and adding crushed egg shell into it and giving them the treat separately, that would be ok for short term boosts but may be hard to keep up the routine long term. I don't worry about the little ones getting into the hen food once in a while, a small amount of calcium isn't a problem, but a steady diet of it when they don't need the higher amounts can cause some long term damage which may effect them when they get older. So do what you can to avoid them constantly accessing the hen pellets but don't worry if it is just an incidental snack.
 
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OUR FIRST EGG!!! YEAH... We just got back from vacation in South Carolina yesterday. Eggey-Eggey our easter egger layed this little green egg today. What a nice welcome home present. Excited for the other girls to start. They are all 19 weeks old now.
 

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