The Buckeye Thread

[buffalogal]

It's not unusual for a bird to lay a few soft shelled eggs at the beginning of, or more commonly, at the end of lay. once she finishes her molt, she should go back to laying normal eggs. If the issue is lack of calcium, it can take a few weeks for her system to right itself because she's got to put that calcium into her bones first. They're also a symptom of too much phosphorus, and, as a worst case scenario, can indicate the bird is infected with Infectious Bronchitis or laryngotracheitis.

 

[Pathfinders]

One thing you can do in cases where calcium seems to be an issue is to add apple cider vinegar to the chickens water. It helps them metabolize the calcium in the oyster shells better.

I usually use about three tablespoons per gallon of water. (Actually, I am far from scientific about meauring, I put a "glug" in each water pan, you don't have to be hugely accurate about it.)

 

[cedavid2012]

One thing you can do in cases where calcium seems to be an issue is to add apple cider vinegar to the chickens water. It helps them metabolize the calcium in the oyster shells better.

I usually use about three tablespoons per gallon of water. (Actually, I am far from scientific about meauring, I put a "glug" in each water pan, you don't have to be hugely accurate about it.)

I actually already put ACV with "the mother" in my waterers. But I don't know if the Buckeyes were getting it before I got them. I also ferment my feed. Thanks for the suggestion though. Is it odd that the eggs were white? I always read that Buckeyes were brown egg layers.

 

[AinaWGSD]

Buckeyes are brown egg layers. However, if the eggs were very thin-shelled it may just be that they didn't get enough pigment added to them before they were laid. I'd be far more concerned about the thinness of the shell and the ones that seem like they may have had no shell at all. Have you contacted the breeder about this yet? Maybe s/he could shed some more light on the nutrition these birds had before they came to you.

 

[AinaWGSD]

Spent the day putting meat in the freezer. We narrowed our Mother's Day hatch (24 week) down to four cockerels and four pullets. The rest we processed, along with three (13 1/2 week) hatchery cockerels (two welsummers and a leghorn, I think). I have to say, I thought that the rooster we had to process a few weeks ago plucked so nicely in part because he was 9 months old but I was very impressed with how nicely the ones we processed today cleaned up. The cockerels weighed in around 4-4 3/4 lbs and the pullets were right around 2 1/2 lbs when all was said and done (not including necks and giblets).

I am especially pleased with how nice the pullet carcasses look. Personally I think they have nicer proportions than the cockerels. Though I did notice that there was quite a thick abdominal fat pad when we eviscerated them. The cockerels had a fairly large fat pad too, but not nearly as thick as the pullets. In the past, the hens we've processed were just that, spent hens and I believe all of them were hatchery stock. Most of them didn't have a huge fat pad except for a few that we got from someone else that I don't know the feed history of. Are my buckeye girls just extra piggy, or is this pretty typical for pullets? Or maybe I need to cut back on the scratch grains I give as a treat when we go to do chicken chores in the evenings.

 

[buffalogal]

I actually already put ACV with "the mother" in my waterers. But I don't know if the Buckeyes were getting it before I got them. I also ferment my feed. Thanks for the suggestion though. Is it odd that the eggs were white? I always read that Buckeyes were brown egg layers.

Mycotoxins can cause soft shelled eggs too; I don't know if partially fermented feed would allow the growth of harmful fungus or not. Since none of your other birds have this problem, I wouldn't think that's the cause, but you never know. Maybe there's some spilled feed in their pen?

 

[PA Farmer24]

It's my understanding that when giving the birds treated water that you should also make sure that they have plain water as well. I know that back of the packages of electrolytes states this. So with that I recommend that when giving electrolytes or other treatments thru water to make sure you also have just plain waterers filled with just that water.

 

[Pathfinders]

It's my understanding that when giving the birds treated water that you should also make sure that they have plain water as well. I know that back of the packages of electrolytes states this. So with that I recommend that when giving electrolytes or other treatments thru water to make sure you also have just plain waterers filled with just that water.

Dave, I am going to politely disagree with you on this.

Therapeutic treatments (which electrolytes are not, really) should not be diluted by offering plain water, that reduces the dosage the bird gets, and therefore reduces their effectiveness. Things like de-wormers and antibiotics, given in water, should always be offered without access to other water, to ensure the birds all get an adequate dose to deal with the issue at hand.

Electrolytes are not what I would term a treatment for an existing condition, they are rather more a preventative thing, like a vitamin. I don't have any packages of antibiotics at hand right now (upstairs in my office) but I would venture to guess the package for most will say something like "make this the only water available for X number of days."

And ACV, being used as a treatment in this instance, IMO should not be diluted. It won't harm the other birds, and if the affected birds don't get an adequate amount, it won't be effective.

CEDavid, yes, Buckeye eggs should be brown. Shellless eggs however will not have pigment.

Have you had any birds showing any signs of illness of late? As BuffaloGal says, there are several poultry illnesses which can cause problems with eggs, which might include a loss of pigmentation.

 

[007medic]

Congratulations to Pathfinders who took RCH American at the Bluegrass show. I hear you're switching things up with a winning pullet this time? Are you not wanting the girls to be jealous of the cockerel that took BB at the last show? I look forward to hearing of how that deep flock of yours does in Columbus...Keep us posted

 

[Pathfinders]

Congratulations to Pathfinders who took RCH American at the Bluegrass show. I hear you're switching things up with a winning pullet this time? Are you not wanting the girls to be jealous of the cockerel that took BB at the last show? I look forward to hearing of how that deep flock of yours does in Columbus...Keep us posted

LOL, thanks! Yes, it was gratifying to have a male win one show and a female the next. Nice not to have just one superstar bird to campaign around, but to be able to demonstrate some consistent quality in my breedings.

Here's the pullet, a somewhat out of focus shot because I took it with my phone (I swear, I will take my camera to the OH National.) She wouldn't stand quite in full profile, but had her butt towards me a bit. I like her a lot though, she looks like her mother (who even though she is four I am hoping will be finished enough with molt to come to Columbus.)