Broken Egg from Leghorn Almost Every Day

[jlwquilter]

I was given this video in a post i had about wind eggs

That was really informative! Thanks for sharing it.

 

[Raven72ab]

That was really informative! Thanks for sharing it.

I thought it was informative myself

 

[jlwquilter]

Update:
I mostly now get good eggs from 3 leghorns. I did have a thin shell egg the other day that disintegrated when I tried to pick it up. I just bought oyster shell. I mixed it in with the eggshells. It’s in a lot bigger pieces than I anticipated.

Angel, the 4th leghorn has not laid in weeks. She gets feather picked by the other leghorns. So I’ve been keeping Angel with the main flock, especially for roosting when it seemed like feather picking was happening most. Her feather are indeed growing back in. I figured stress and growing feathers were what was stopping her from laying.

Yesterday she spent some time in the nest box. Hmm. Last night she roosted by herself which is never a good sign and I was expecting the worse this morning.

However what I got was Angel laying a soft egg! Maybe, just maybe, she’s getting healthy again. She may not be able to ever go back into the leghorn coop although it does seem to me she wants to. Of course Angel gets the all flock feed instead of the layer feed like the other separated leghorns. I don’t know how to give her the layer feed easily. Have to think on this.

These leghorns have been nothing but trouble from day 1. I recently started letting them out to mix with the flock after they laid - to stop their patrolling of the nest boxes. But Bo Peep has started patrolling again even though she already laid. Grr.

Well the pause button will be hit at the end of next week anyway as I leave for 3 weeks and the sitter won’t be letting the leghorns mix at all. That’ll give Angel 3 weeks of no interaction with the other leghorns. I’ll get to clearly see how much her feathers grow back. I’ll have to tell the sitter how to handle soft eggs if any happen.

Always something!

 

[Mary Chapman]

Someone could be stepping on them. But if they are eating them try either putting golf balls in the nest boxes. Pecking at them and not being able to break them open may stop them. Also try darkening the nest box area. I had to do that to stop mine from eating their eggs and it worked.

 

[jlwquilter]

All leghorns are finally laying. 2 have good shells and 2 have thinner shells but within acceptable level (ie they don’t break by simply picking them up). I think it’s a calcium issue. Either they aren’t eating enough of the provided eggshells and oyster shells or their bodies have some issue using it or keeping enough calcium available for shell production.

For right now things are much better with them. 2 of them now are fully feathered back up. 2 have bare patches on their chests - from feather picking I believe - but otherwise have also filled in. Maybe this has helped too.

I’m just happy they are all laying decent as a sign of better health!

 

[Folly's place]

Try more oyster shell and less egg shell, and see if they do better.
Mary

 

[jlwquilter]

I can do that. I have a big bag of oyster shells.