Australia - Six states..and that funny little island.

[Teila]

GOOooooood Morning!

I got woken about 05:45am by chickens demanding breakfast and KiKi demanding to be given access to a nest box so she can continue her efforts to be a mumma

So, before 6am, I was cold, tired, whinged at by Dusty and had blood drawn by a broody KiKi! Once I am awake there is usually no chance of me getting back to sleep but after that start to my day, I went back to bed and woke up again at 8am feeling much refreshed

Fancy good to hear you are feeling a little better and yep, soak up that beautiful healing sunshine.

Hey Anniebee your thought that “hens know when there is something wrong with an egg and will abandon it or lay it in an usual place” is food for thought.

I have only had one hen, Dusty, lay a soft shelled egg and she laid that at approx 8pm while on the roost. It was the last egg she laid before going into a hard moult. She retained some of the soft shell and was not a well little lady the next day but with some sardines in oil + TLC, warm Epsom salts baths etc, she popped out the remnants that afternoon and you could see the instantaneous change in her; uncomfortable one minute and back to her normal whingy self the next

Anyways, I read that because the shell is soft it makes it difficult for their muscles to grip and push the egg through so I was wondering if the thought that they lay them in strange places is maybe because they are not totally able to judge when it will be ready for laying?

V1cky funny you should mention “they may not be the brightest of all creatures but they’re definitely not stupid” .. my hubby and I were having that exact same conversation last night.

If I bring the hoe out of the shed they know immediately that I am going to turn over some dirt and I have to do it very carefully or I could end up injuring a chicken! Or, if hubby goes into the shed after 4pm it means meal worms! They also know when free range time is approaching and if it is the weekend when they are going to get all day free range.

Granted, these are all picked up via routine but I chuckle at my gals when they are free ranging … one might wander back into the run and then see everyone outside .. she then proceeds to run up and down the wire barrier trying to work out how to get back to them; totally oblivious to the huge gaping hole behind her which is the open door she just walked through!

 

[RodneyRooster]

Hahaha love the convos today. Wow! Yep if i ever decide to remove the mole on my stomach and am pressed for time or cash ill consider a wonder into the coop in a bikini LOL.

Yeah my poor 5 yr old didnt get off the couch for 4 days straight with influenza b this week. Weve all had it except, strangely enough, our 2 yr old. She had a couple small flu signs but seems she was the most immune and it didnt get her down at all!

As for the ovations i always want to use them like facebook likes and give one to every post i laugh at or get good info from. Since its actually recorded how many ovations u get i do try to limit myself and keep it for extra good posts lol.

I was thinking the same that maybe the soft egg shells are laid outside because she doesnt have much control over when they come out.

Chooks are definitely smart creatures!

This weekend we are continuing to do up the new place. Gonna go buy a new wheelbarrow and some berry bushes today. Also locating some materials for homemade water tanks for the soon to be veggie patches and the greenhouse.

Thanks to whoever mentioned the poultry pages on fb i have joined my local one when I read it

Got given a metal rooster as a housewarming present and have now placed that by ther fence but on the outside so rodney doesnt attack it! Hahaha

 

[locknest4]

I've just had my second shock of the week....

A hen just help herself to a small mole on my stomach, two peaks and she'd ripped it from my body and ate it. To all those people paying money for mole removals save yourself the cash of an operation and buy a chicken instead.

V1cky  .... I am laughing, but also wondering how much it must have hurt to have the mole, chook-chiseled !   Grossed me out as well.    I know they will have a go at anything that looks edible ... 

As for tbe photo of your chicken on high - with the lineup of eggs behind her ... that is priceless.  
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Fancy ... I sure hope you are feeling much better this evening, gather you were over for the Royal Show ?  .... and now you are in bed, not able to enjoy all that noise and razzamatazz out there.

It's been a ghastly year for so many people in Victoria.   Everyone has had something or other - I've had 5 infections - all treated with anti-biotic.   Upper respiratory stuff - seems to have cleared up now that spring is ( allegedly ) here.   I have a flu shot every year so I guess that helped too.  

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RodneyRooster ....  re THAT egg.     Have to wonder if it was the beginning of a chicken - and the reason it was outside of the box, was the hen(s) knew it was no good and kicked it out, after trying to keep it warm for a while.   ??  

My little Araucana laid outside on the ground today - another soft shell egg.   ( one 10 days or so back as well ) .... I gave her a handful of grated cheese and a sprinkle of ground up egg shells last time, and again early this evening.   Thing is, she never lays a soft shell in her nesting box. --- always outside of it.   And I watched the egg drop, roll and she was after it - pecked straight into the soft shell, and began to devour the yolk.   Never touches the properly formed hard shell eggs.   

She is a prolific layer, barely taking a day off --- and has laid now about 5 soft shells over her 2.5 years of laying life.   I think she just runs out of calcium.   Her normal blue eggs are pretty big, and with the hardest shells you could imagine.     

Hubby had run inside to tell me "something is wrong with 'white-stuff' ( Mindy to me ) .... she's crouching and waddling funny"    Took one look and recognised the 'push' -  I said "she's laying an egg".   His eyes were like saucers.         She also never makes a sound when laying - unlike the other two who purr their way through the process.     

... but I have to wonder if somehow she just knew the development was wrong - as the speed at which she turned to get that egg to eat - well she beat me to it.  !!  And I was definitely not slow off the mark.  !!

Not saying Mindy is Wonder-Chook - only that perhaps all hens know when there is something wrong with an egg, and will abandon it - or lay it in an unusual place ????  

I think there are other bird species who tip eggs out of nests, or allow young who are weak, to not flourish etc.   

Just a thought.    

Anniebee thanks for your thoughts on soft shelled eggs. I've often wondered if they are due to lack of calcium,although the girls have access to plenty of shell grit. Thinking Maybe it happens when they eat too much human food (kitchen scraps) and have no room left over for their crumbles. Our girls always think people food is far superior to their chook food! Our remaining hen laid a soft shell outside the coop a couple of days ago and by the time I discovered it she had gobbled it up and left a quarter of a shell behind as the only evidence. Was worried she was turning into an egg Eater but since then she has been back to normal happily laying eggs in the nesting box (and NOT EATING them)

 

[appps]

Candled my 3 incubator eggs. We've got one chick growing!

The other two, one looks like a blood ring, the other I couldn't see anything. Will recheck day 12 and throw then.

Fingers crossed the five under penny have some chicks growing too! Will check them day 12 too.

 

[chooks01]

Have gotten new chooks since I was last here my Marans are growing too

 

[Anniebee]

Anniebee thanks for your thoughts on soft shelled eggs. I've often wondered if they are due to lack of calcium,although the girls have access to plenty of shell grit. Thinking Maybe it happens when they eat too much human food (kitchen scraps) and have no room left over for their crumbles. Our girls always think people food is far superior to their chook food! Our remaining hen laid a soft shell outside the coop a couple of days ago and by the time I discovered it she had gobbled it up and left a quarter of a shell behind as the only evidence. Was worried she was turning into an egg Eater but since then she has been back to normal happily laying eggs in the nesting box (and NOT EATING them)

Hi locknest4 ..... I seriously don't think a chicken that eats a soft-shell, will turn into an good-egg-cracking-eating-monster. And yes - considering the extraordinary reaction to my chook mix - which is really nothing special - I am certain they prefer goodies from us, than their normal plain old layer pellets. ( boooring ) .... they react to something different each day - and why not. Dogs / cats need to be stimulated each day, why not chickens. ??

It's why I welcome lotsa rain .... gives me a good excuse for locking them up for several hours in their coop ( without feeling guilty ) - they get bored then, and eat their proper pellets. Which has calcium ... which in turn helps them to lay good eggs. I half expect a well laid properly formed egg from Mindy tomorrow - but she will remain locked up until she has done her thing - and eaten what she should, rather than the goodies she scrounges for in her run ( she loves to demolish the one remaining POOR agapanthus that is there ), or the goodies I throw to them ( although I HAVE backed off that to a large degree ).

I buy scratch mix from a good stock and produce dealer, but there seems to be a heck of a lot of wheat in it these days. ?? Might have to go shop browsing. Am wondering about wheat ? In us, it turns to sugar and carbs .... which are pretty much the same thing. Pasta turns to sugar in the human mouth, so I was told - so I looked it up.

" Starches convert into maltose, a type of simple carbohydrate sugar, right in your mouth.
Once maltose reaches your small intestine, enzymes convert it to glucose."
​

So - if that happens for us, why not for chickens ? And wheat ' blows up' in the gut ... which I would think translates to carbs / sugar, on a big time basis.

Not especially good for chooks, by too much, I would think !! .

Would have to look more at this subject to be sure.

Water expands wheat in the gut - which would perhaps give them something akin to bloat ? ... which kills. ( bloat can kill a dog fairly quickly ). That's if the dog pig-gorges on say, dry food that is left out for the dog to get into. !! Dogs are of course, renowned gutzes. Especially the big dogs. !!

Way back on this thread, I think I mentioned one of my mothers' stories from her childhood. .... She decided to give her fathers' chickens all a very big treat - and threw them many many handfuls of pure wheat

.... when they had finished it, all they had was water to drink. Grandad ( Papa ) found half his chickens on their backs with feet in the air - gone to chook heaven. Did my mother ever cop it on that day.

Mind you, it was one of my delights to get into the chook food when I was a grand-child staying there. .... Wheat was a favourite - it's a wonder I am still here, able to type all this !!!

Cheers all - have a wonderful weekend.

 

[Anniebee]

Have gotten new chooks since I was last here my Marans are growing too

chooks01 .... your new chickens are beautiful. Love the pure white on whatever breed that is - of your new chickens. Are they light sussex ?

Ciao ... AB

 

[Anniebee]

Anniebee thanks for your thoughts on soft shelled eggs. I've often wondered if they are due to lack of calcium,although the girls have access to plenty of shell grit. Thinking Maybe it happens when they eat too much human food (kitchen scraps) and have no room left over for their crumbles. Our girls always think people food is far superior to their chook food! Our remaining hen laid a soft shell outside the coop a couple of days ago and by the time I discovered it she had gobbled it up and left a quarter of a shell behind as the only evidence. Was worried she was turning into an egg Eater but since then she has been back to normal happily laying eggs in the nesting box (and NOT EATING them)

The only 'shell grit ' I have ever given extra to my chickens locknest4 ... is crushed up egg shells from their own eggs. They do get shell grit in scratch mix - tiny sea-shells, which all here would be familiar with seeing. But am backing off too much throwing of scratch mix - as per a previous post. Seems a heckuva lot of wheat in it !!!

And, while certainly not any expert - I do think that a lack of calcium will / can / could cause soft shells.

Fancychooklady ---- would that be correct. ?

Hope you are feeling waaay much better now Fancy . ... btw

Cheers.

 

[locknest4]

Hi Anniebee, I find I'm learning all the time on BYC Can you tell me What scratch mix is?
Even though we have had chickens for four years our main sources of info have been a retired man who we bought them from and a book by Jackie French.
We have also been a bit slow on using the Internet as communication tool. So we are still learning chook facts every day

 

[devinandfeather]

So today I moved the hen and the eggs that were left I was going to throw them away but I saw a crack in the egg so I cracked it open to find a baby chick in it that was still alive 4 days later my nan and grandad thought it would die but i didn't so I put it under a heat fan to dry it off and now it is the strongest in the group so one died this morning due to getting stood on I think but the one I saved this morning is alive and has taken over that ones place so 11 still rest of eggs must have given up halfway