- Apr 3, 2017
- 12
- 6
- 77
Hi All!
I have a flock of 22 week old pullets. (2 Buff Orpingtons, 2 Rhode Island Reds, 2 Barnvelder, 2 Amercuana, 1 Violet Orpington, and 1 Production Blue). We got our first eggs about 3 weeks ago. One of those eggs was completely shell-less. I knew that can be expected from pullets coming into lay, switched my girls to laying pellets and started offering oyster shells.
Over the next couple of weeks, we started getting more eggs as more of the girls started laying. For the past week or so, I've been getting about 6 eggs/day. I'd get 1 weak-shelled egg every couple of days and so started putting out more oyster shell (I'd been offering it in a corner feeder, so I started scattering some out in the run as well.) A few days went by with no weak eggs, so I figured that I was out of the woods.
Fast forward to yesterday: When I went to let my girls out of their coop, I found 3 weak shelled eggs in the henhouse and laying boxes (our laying boxes are on the sides of the henhouse). Three good eggs were laid in the middle of the day (by an Amercuana, the VO, and a RIR), but I found two more weak shelled eggs when I was cleaning out the henhouse/nesting boxes after dinner.
As I said, I'm offering layer pellets and oyster shells and not a lot else in the way of treats. The girls get a shake of mealworms/dried shrimp as their "come into the coop" treat every night. I'll also toss them weeds/plant seedlings when I'm working in the garden (after checking to make sure the plant I'm offering is safe for chickens). I'll also sometimes toss them apples that fall from the tree that sits right outside their run. (Apples that are perfectly good/not spoiled) or a couple of ears or corn, or the rind from watermelon that we finished eating. This flock doesn't seem particularly interested in bugs. When they were baby chicks, I would bring them Rolly-pollies, snails and slugs from my garden (which my first flock loved) and they'd want nothing to do with them. I tried offering yogurt this morning, but they turned their beaks up at it.
I don't think it's the heat. I live in the greater San Francisco Bay Area and our temperatures haven't been above 80 F all week. The girls' coop is under a tree, so it's cool and shaded all the time. There are additional areas of deep shade available in their run. I offer fresh water in 3 different locations (2 outside in the shade, 1 inside the coop).
The henhouse is 4'X4'. The coop is 12'X5'. The run is 200' long and has one section that's about 20' wide and one section that's 10' wide. So I don't think it's an issue of crowding.
They all seem healthy. They're all active and eating/drinking. Poop looks normal. I guess I don't know enough about parasites to know what to look for.
What else should I be considering in my problem solving and/or what else can I try?
Thanks so much!
I have a flock of 22 week old pullets. (2 Buff Orpingtons, 2 Rhode Island Reds, 2 Barnvelder, 2 Amercuana, 1 Violet Orpington, and 1 Production Blue). We got our first eggs about 3 weeks ago. One of those eggs was completely shell-less. I knew that can be expected from pullets coming into lay, switched my girls to laying pellets and started offering oyster shells.
Over the next couple of weeks, we started getting more eggs as more of the girls started laying. For the past week or so, I've been getting about 6 eggs/day. I'd get 1 weak-shelled egg every couple of days and so started putting out more oyster shell (I'd been offering it in a corner feeder, so I started scattering some out in the run as well.) A few days went by with no weak eggs, so I figured that I was out of the woods.
Fast forward to yesterday: When I went to let my girls out of their coop, I found 3 weak shelled eggs in the henhouse and laying boxes (our laying boxes are on the sides of the henhouse). Three good eggs were laid in the middle of the day (by an Amercuana, the VO, and a RIR), but I found two more weak shelled eggs when I was cleaning out the henhouse/nesting boxes after dinner.
As I said, I'm offering layer pellets and oyster shells and not a lot else in the way of treats. The girls get a shake of mealworms/dried shrimp as their "come into the coop" treat every night. I'll also toss them weeds/plant seedlings when I'm working in the garden (after checking to make sure the plant I'm offering is safe for chickens). I'll also sometimes toss them apples that fall from the tree that sits right outside their run. (Apples that are perfectly good/not spoiled) or a couple of ears or corn, or the rind from watermelon that we finished eating. This flock doesn't seem particularly interested in bugs. When they were baby chicks, I would bring them Rolly-pollies, snails and slugs from my garden (which my first flock loved) and they'd want nothing to do with them. I tried offering yogurt this morning, but they turned their beaks up at it.
I don't think it's the heat. I live in the greater San Francisco Bay Area and our temperatures haven't been above 80 F all week. The girls' coop is under a tree, so it's cool and shaded all the time. There are additional areas of deep shade available in their run. I offer fresh water in 3 different locations (2 outside in the shade, 1 inside the coop).
The henhouse is 4'X4'. The coop is 12'X5'. The run is 200' long and has one section that's about 20' wide and one section that's 10' wide. So I don't think it's an issue of crowding.
They all seem healthy. They're all active and eating/drinking. Poop looks normal. I guess I don't know enough about parasites to know what to look for.
What else should I be considering in my problem solving and/or what else can I try?
Thanks so much!
