bumblebird
In the Brooder
- Mar 23, 2015
- 33
- 0
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We found our first egg yesterday afternoon (hooray!) and went out again to see if there was another after we heard an egg announcement. Lo and behold, there was! So we've collected 2 eggs.
Then my 6 year old said, "There's something hanging from her bottom."
When I looked at the hen's bottom, and there was a small egg stuck outside in her feathers.
She had been preening herself there, but not looking or sounding uncomfortable.
I picked her up and put her in a bucket of water to loosen the sticky feathers. she didn't appreciate it, and jumped out after a few seconds, which dislodged the egg and it fell down and cracked.
Then she went on about her business as usual.
Please help me think this through, though.
We found one egg yesterday evening. It could have been there from the day before yesterday; we didn't expect it, so it was a surprise.
Then we found another egg this afternoon.
And then we found another egg stuck to her butt.
Do you think this egg has been stuck to her butt for a day or two?
What can we do to make sure that future eggs don't get stuck? I know the nest boxes are currently where they have been sleeping - they are in a "halfway house" while we finish their actual final coop, and it's not set up ideally. Also, we've been a little negligent of our chickens this past week--we had a sudden tragic death in the family--so the coop is not that clean right now, and they're all a little sticky.
Thanks for your insight.
Then my 6 year old said, "There's something hanging from her bottom."
When I looked at the hen's bottom, and there was a small egg stuck outside in her feathers.
She had been preening herself there, but not looking or sounding uncomfortable.
I picked her up and put her in a bucket of water to loosen the sticky feathers. she didn't appreciate it, and jumped out after a few seconds, which dislodged the egg and it fell down and cracked.
Then she went on about her business as usual.
Please help me think this through, though.
We found one egg yesterday evening. It could have been there from the day before yesterday; we didn't expect it, so it was a surprise.
Then we found another egg this afternoon.
And then we found another egg stuck to her butt.
Do you think this egg has been stuck to her butt for a day or two?
What can we do to make sure that future eggs don't get stuck? I know the nest boxes are currently where they have been sleeping - they are in a "halfway house" while we finish their actual final coop, and it's not set up ideally. Also, we've been a little negligent of our chickens this past week--we had a sudden tragic death in the family--so the coop is not that clean right now, and they're all a little sticky.
Thanks for your insight.
