- Jun 1, 2010
- 8
- 0
- 7
hi, i posted over in emergencies earlier today, but thought i could possibly get a better response here.
our weather has been kinda overcast and rainy off and on the past week, as well as really HOT and humid.
yesterday my 2 hens (rhode island reds) did not lay, but that evening when i went out i found one shell-less egg laying on the ground outside the coop which is odd--the girls always lay in the coop.
this morning one of my girls is very lethargic, not eating at all and drinking very little, very runny poo. day #2 of no egg.
i think my other girl is laying the shell-less egg, there was another one there today.
both of them have been good egg layers--really bright yolks and thick shells. a couple of weeks ago we got one egg with a super thin shell but then she went back to laying normal.
their diet is a mix of laying pelletts and mixed grain scratch along with fresh water daily, grass/weeds my kids pick for them (we don't free range as the hawks are really bad). the hens are a little over a year old, just started laying within the last 3 months, they share a coop that is about 8feet x 5 feet with an attached pen that is 10x10 with 6 2 month old chicks (we're about to rehome 3 of them as they are roosters). is there a reason for the odd behavior and odd eggs/lack of eggs? i got some yogurt and put out there today but she turned her nose to that. i also mixed up some duramycin that i had on hand, not sure if that could help anything. there was a good amount of stress the other night as a raccoon got in the pen with them, but my husband quickly took care of that problem and we haven't had a visitor since. also, if the eggs return to normal and they are drinking the duramycin do we need to discard those eggs or are they safe to eat? any help would be appreciated. thanks
our weather has been kinda overcast and rainy off and on the past week, as well as really HOT and humid.
yesterday my 2 hens (rhode island reds) did not lay, but that evening when i went out i found one shell-less egg laying on the ground outside the coop which is odd--the girls always lay in the coop.
this morning one of my girls is very lethargic, not eating at all and drinking very little, very runny poo. day #2 of no egg.
i think my other girl is laying the shell-less egg, there was another one there today.
both of them have been good egg layers--really bright yolks and thick shells. a couple of weeks ago we got one egg with a super thin shell but then she went back to laying normal.
their diet is a mix of laying pelletts and mixed grain scratch along with fresh water daily, grass/weeds my kids pick for them (we don't free range as the hawks are really bad). the hens are a little over a year old, just started laying within the last 3 months, they share a coop that is about 8feet x 5 feet with an attached pen that is 10x10 with 6 2 month old chicks (we're about to rehome 3 of them as they are roosters). is there a reason for the odd behavior and odd eggs/lack of eggs? i got some yogurt and put out there today but she turned her nose to that. i also mixed up some duramycin that i had on hand, not sure if that could help anything. there was a good amount of stress the other night as a raccoon got in the pen with them, but my husband quickly took care of that problem and we haven't had a visitor since. also, if the eggs return to normal and they are drinking the duramycin do we need to discard those eggs or are they safe to eat? any help would be appreciated. thanks