Why I haven't been on BYC today... a gift from my favorite ewe:
St. Paddy's Day Quads!
Quote: It is normal behavior for the hen to test the egg by pecking it to see if it is viable. Most of the time, like over 90% the cause is weak egg shells. Check into things that cause weak egg shells and the broken eggs not broken by birds, snakes or other outside predators; and the broken egg problem goes away. Also, get some nesting material that takes a bounce. I am using plastic nest pads and then putting pine shavings on it. I also upped the golf balls in the nest boxes. I was having broken egg shells up to last week but now the problem seems to be gone.
I did start corid an boy did the number of eggs per day go up too! The article capayvalleychicks posted convinced me to be concerned about Coci with the older hens. The Float test did detect some in them and you can still eat the eggs with corid since it is thyamine.
I hope the broken egg problem is fixed for you soon!
Congratulations!!! They are adorable!!! Do they get Irish names?
C names for an Irish bunch should be easy Colleen, Corinne, Collin, ClancyYou are the hatchmaster.I wonder if that rat zapper would work on ground squirrels???
I was thinking about that. This year is C names for the sheep. I'll have to look up Irish names that start with C.
Thanks everyone! This particular ewe is my favorite. She had triplets last July, which she raised without any supplementing. So it's common for her. The others have singles or twins. My sheep are all only 3 years old, so they may have more multiples as they age.
C names for an Irish bunch should be easy Colleen, Corinne, Collin, Clancy
I started out this evening looking at chicken poo pictures, I was worried about two of my hens because I noticed what I thought was watery stools but after comparing with pictures they seem to be the cecal poos. Phew! I half wanted DH to glance at my screen though while I was looking at all the pictures to gross him out but he was doing his own thing.
I have a question about transitioning to nipple waterers. I have had both a double wall water container and a nipple waterer since I got my birds (I think I have had them for maybe a month or so) and I want to convert over to the nipple waterer. I have taken each bird and held her beak to the water dispenser until they felt the water come out but I've always seen them using the other traditional water dish. Does anyone have suggestions? Will they just figure it out quickly if I remove the old one? Am I just being paranoid?
Eggs seem hard, but who knows. I missed that article on Corid. Do you have that link?It is normal behavior for the hen to test the egg by pecking it to see if it is viable. Most of the time, like over 90% the cause is weak egg shells. Check into things that cause weak egg shells and the broken eggs not broken by birds, snakes or other outside predators; and the broken egg problem goes away. Also, get some nesting material that takes a bounce. I am using plastic nest pads and then putting pine shavings on it. I also upped the golf balls in the nest boxes. I was having broken egg shells up to last week but now the problem seems to be gone.
I did start corid an boy did the number of eggs per day go up too! The article capayvalleychicks posted convinced me to be concerned about Coci with the older hens. The Float test did detect some in them and you can still eat the eggs with corid since it is thyamine.
I hope the broken egg problem is fixed for you soon!
Love Celtic names, I used to show and Breed Bearded Collies and used a lot of them for their names
Thank you Kim, it is a work in progress... we are changing over from a Miniature Horse site to a Silkie Chicken site after a move , lol! Hopefully by the end of summertime when my stock has grown up and we have a bunch of chicks I will be able to get it up to speed. Your little lambs are just too cute!!!
