Adopted a 3 year old hen who possible ate her own egg

[nkkennedy]

Hi everyone,

So I have a small backyard flock of 8 hens, all 2 - 4 months old. Just the other day I adopted a 3 year old hen ( I believe she's a golden sex link or rhode island red).

I have read many forums about adding a new hen to a flock and have been socializing her slowly. So far so good. My most dominant chicken does pick on her a little but over all there is not a lot of fighting. The new chicken is very docile.

However, today this new chicken laid an egg. When I went to grab it I noticed that it was cracked in half. The egg shell seemed to be very week and the yolk was still intact. I can not tell if this hen broke/ate her own egg or if it was so fragile that it just broke.

I do know that in the past this hen was a free range only hen who mostly ate food that she found free ranging or whole grains that were thrown out for her and her buddy. Do you think its possible that her egg shell is just weak?

Any suggestions on what I should do? She is very sweet and I do want to keep her. However I do not want my hens to learn any bad habits. Do you think she will leave her eggs alone as she becomes more comfortable?

 

[Veer67]

If a hen broke her own egg then she would eat all of it or her flock mates will. It's probably because the egg's shell was weak and because the new environment and moving stressed your new red sex link out. Do you have pictures of her?

 

[McGillGamefowl]

Ad oyster shells or grit to laying pellets mixed with scratch feed, that should take care of it,

 

[Judy]

It most likely cracked when she laid it. Since she didn't eat it, I don't see that there is anything to worry about as far as her teaching the others bad habits. I would just watch her a while, see if her new diet hardens up her shells. Good luck!

 

[McGillGamefowl]

Sometimes they do that, when they're lacking nutrients in they're diet, and if they're shells are thin, oyster shells, will take care of that too. But can't go wrong with laying pellets, oyster shells, and scratch feed mixed together, as a basic feed. Also i give mine grass, bread, vegetables, a cpl times a week as treats

 

[nkkennedy]

Thanks for your replies! I am feeling much better about this. I will definitely add oyster shells to her diet. All my girls have tons of food available and I always add fresh veggies, fruits, whole grains and free ranging. Hopefully she is just lacking some nutrients and some TLC will do the trick!

Here is a picture of her. I am thinking a golden sex link but I am not really sure.

 

[McGillGamefowl]

She's beautiful !!!

 

[Veer67]

Golden Comets would be more red colored so I think that she could be a Buff Orpington but I don't think that their earlobes are supposed to be white.


Buff Orpington


Golden Sex Link also called Red Star, Golden Comet, Cinnamon Queen, and ect..

 

[nkkennedy]

Oh maybe! She does resemble the buff orpington! I actually really wanted one of those too. Ill do some research to see if shes a match.