Recent content by lkcaffery

  1. lkcaffery

    Soft and Thin Eggshell

    I have a total of four hens and they have all been laying for about a year. All of the others lay perfectly fine eggs - no soft or thin shells. They have a very large coop with a sizable run. They also spend a good part of each day out of the coop and run, free ranging and doing what chickens...
  2. lkcaffery

    Soft and Thin Eggshell

    My Salmon Faverolles has been laying for about a year. About 80% of her eggs have such soft shells that they are broken when I find them. The shells are almost like water balloons. If she does lay an egg that stays in tact, the shell is incredibly thin, especially in comparison to my other...
  3. lkcaffery

    Chicks in September?

    I live in Charlotte, North Carolina and currently have four chickens which we've since April of 2012. I want to add 4 or 5 to our flock (the coop has ample room and they free range most of the day). I was going to wait until next spring but I started wondering about getting chicks in September...
  4. lkcaffery

    Hawk Attack

    A happy update. Chicken Little made it through the weekend and I took her to the avian vet first thing this morning. After a brief surgery to close her wounds with some staples, and $260 later, it seems she will recover just fine. She is segregated from my other three chickens for the next...
  5. lkcaffery

    Hawk Attack

    A hawk attacked my sweet silkie today and there are no avian vets in my city that are on call this weekend so I'll have to help her and hope she makes it through until Monday. She definitely has wounds under one wings and on the head but I can't tell how deep and I haven't tried to really...
  6. lkcaffery

    Aggressive Hen

    Any chance she'll settle down after she starts laying and this is hormonal in part?
  7. lkcaffery

    Aggressive Hen

    Here she is. You have no idea how hard it was to get this picture because she kept charging me! Ha!
  8. lkcaffery

    Aggressive Hen

    I have a 32 week old Buff Orpington that has become very aggressive. It started this summer with my then 18 month old and Peep, the BO, would peck her for no reason at all. She then started going after my 4 year old and now she will run 20 or 40 feet across the yard anytime she sees any...
  9. lkcaffery

    Soft Eggshell

    Thanks all. Seems like I should not be concerned. My four girls are very well cared for - fresh food and water daily, calcium supplement available, and they free range for about 3 to 5 hours a day. Hopefully tomorrow or the next day she'll be back to more "normal" eggs.
  10. lkcaffery

    Soft Eggshell

    Yes, I am feeding them layer feed and have been since August. The Salmon Favorelles has been laying have been laying for about a month now, maybe 3 weeks. I suppose the other possibility is that this egg could actually be the first egg from the Buff Orpington hen, but it was laid in the same...
  11. lkcaffery

    Soft Eggshell

    Right now my only two girls that are laying are my EE and my Salmon Favorelles. I've noticed that the eggs/eggshells from the Salmon Favroelles are much thinner than those of my EE. Two times within the past couple of weeks I've gotten an egg from her with a crack in it. Then, today I found...
  12. lkcaffery

    Laying after Broody

    My silkie hen was broody for about 2 weeks but just yesterday she re-joined my small flock on her own. How long until she starts laying again?
  13. lkcaffery

    Chicks in the Coop with Mama Now in Cooler Weather or Try to Break a Broody Hen

    I am a first time chicken owner and have 4 urban backyard chickens that hatched on April 9th. Our one silkie laid for about 3 to 4 weeks and has now gone broody. She has been broody for about a week now and I force her to have mandatory fun (i.e. eat and drink) twice daily. Once a day I take...
  14. lkcaffery

    Broody Silkie Without Eggs

    And I just thought of one more question. Our weather here had been cooling down - lows in the 40s or low 50s and highs in the 60s and then we got a warm snap where the highs have been in the 80s and lows in the 60s. This warm snap seems to correspond with the beginning of the broodiness. Is...
  15. lkcaffery

    Broody Silkie Without Eggs

    Thanks to all who have responded. One more question - do I need to separate her or can she sit on her eggs in the nesting box and raise any chicks in the coop? I have three other hens, not bantams, and it is starting to get chilly here. I think the lows next week are in the 30s and the highs...
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