I throw scratch every day but it gives them something to do more than anything else. And it is an enticement to the range chickens to stay around the barn and lay in there.
Pullets will lay eggs on the ground sometimes before they get the habit of using the box. Make sure your nesting boxes...
I am not on the defensive. And as the OP is new, and as she pointed out, clueless, then it is worth pointing all out all alternatives, including culling, which, although hard, is sometimes necessary to get the kind of flock you want. It is just a part of effective livestock management. I'm a...
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well, maybe. it doesn't sound as though the OP is interested in culling (if i'm wrong, please forgive the assumption!) this thread has some ideas about egg eating and prevention.
Just a thought. I have dealt with this a few times. That's what works for me. I don't look at my birds as...
Okay. I thought you meant rubbery eggs. Still can be a pullet problem. If you have an egg eater, that is much harder to sort out, as this bad habit can be picked up by the others and it can become a nightnare. Egg eaters need to be culled from the flock. It is sometimes hard to figure out...
Rubbery shells can also be caused when the hen is rushed through the laying process and the egg is laid prematurely. And if she's still new at this, pullets can do that, too. Little calcium never hurts. I think it is not that unusual. Just a little freaky.
Okay, when you say soft shelled, do you mean like, rubbery? A soft egg can result from the hen being rushed through and laid prematurely, since the shell is the last thing that forms. It can also be a pullet thing.
I had several pullets lay rubbery eggs or extremely time eggs the first few...
I have a lot of range chickens that I like to have lay in the barn. I started throwing scratch all around there and they came down to get it and over time they started laying in there. Just keep food and water around where you want them to be and they will come. I still have a lot of them...
If they are that close to your home, I would ask Chesapeake to install some sort of barrier between you and the workers. They do it all the time out here in order to help block out some of the light and noise, and I guess, the workers. I have seen walls made of canvas materials. I don't know...
Since the shell of the egg is the last thing that forms, it may be possible that her ovary released two yolks close together other and they moved down the oviduct together. That second egg might have a thin, wrinkly shell and if it bumps into the first egg, their shells can kinda mend...
If you go to the feed store and ask them for a good layer pellet they can direct you. Different local mills make different brands. I use Purina Start and Grow for the chicks, and a local brand for the layer pellet. I use a 20% protein lay pellet. I know they sell the granulated stuff at TSC...
It is the walking low to the ground that makes think she's bound.
I suppose there can be lazy chickens. Once you see a prolapsed hen, you won't forget what it looks like.
Is she walking like she's got her legs way apart? Like she's bow legged or carrying a basketball between her legs...
I had a couple of flogging roosters and I "rehomed" them, as well. Both were heavy breeds and both could leave marks through jeans and socks. I had a son in Kindergarten at the time. No way am I putting up with that.
I personally do not think I could do it. I had a grown hen prolapse once and that was enough. We euthanized her, as she was pretty far injured when I found her. It was the kindest thing to do.
Calm down. Take a deep breath.
First of all, I live in the land of the gas well. We are pretty much surrounded. We have had to educate outselves on this a bit because there is a LOT of misinformation about.
They are not trying to buy your land. They are trying to lease the mineral...
Here we go. According to my chicken bible, Storey's Guide To Raising Chickens, it does indeed sound like binding. It occurs when a too large egg gets stuck in the vent. This can happen to pullets. You are supposed to dislodge the egg.
You are supposed to put some KY jelly on your fingers of...
I had a heavy breed hen prolapse and she looked just like you describe. I would bet that your hen never lays an egg. Let me know. I am interested.
The poster that said she might be bound sounds like a good bet. I would have to read up to see what one does about that.
When I had banties, all the hens would lay in one box and all sit on that clutch, peeling off one at a time as the eggs hatched until they were all hatched. That was normally in the early summer/late spring. They didn't lay a lot in the heat of summer, and that may be the case here. If they...
Depending on how old they are and what breed they are, that's not unusual. My Silkies used to sleep huddled on the park bench in the back yard, even in winter in the rain. I would scoop them all up at one time and take them to the hen house. They roost now. I think it might be something they...
You mean Easter Egg chickens, right? I am a little slow on the jargon here. I had several at one point and they were splended egg layers for the first year and production fell off sharply after that.