suburbanjungle
Songster
Hi all, I have 13 chickens, of which my four oldest (two leghorns and two rhode island reds) have been giving me eggs regularly every day since late October.
This past Sunday I found two brown speckled little eggs in the nest. I was pretty excited that one of the younger girls had started and had found the nest to lay them. The eggs were almost identical in color so it made me think it came from the same chicken and maybe I had missed one the day before. Both had soft shells. Upon opening the larger one, I found a small blood clot, but the rest of the egg seemed normal. The smaller egg had almost no egg white and the egg yolk appeared mottled white. I'm not sure which of the girls had laid these eggs. The most likely is a silver cuckoo marans, but her comb and waddle didn't appear to be as large or ready as I had thought she would need to be.
Two days later, on Tuesday, I found two more brown speckled eggs. One was in the nest and one had been dropped in the pen. The shells were harder this time, but the characteristics of the inside of each was consistent with the two from Sunday. At that point it seemed likely that it was the same girl laying two eggs in one day, the larger coming first and the smaller one coming second.
After doing some research I found that it can happen with younger chickens as their body gets used to laying eggs. (http://www.spottedcowpress.ca/chapters/02FemaleAnatomy.pdf)
My concern, though, is that I haven't seen any eggs from her since Tuesday. I have looked all over the pen and through the coops, but no little brown speckled eggs. I have also looked for signs of crushed eggs, but nothing. While I might be a little impatient, I'm just being overly cautious. Since she has already had some problems laying eggs, I just want to be sure that the next one (or two) hasn't become stuck in the oviduct. It doesn't seem that any of the girls are in distress (since I still don't know for sure which one had laid the two double eggs), but I want to be sure I know what to look for if it does develop in the next day or so. Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance!!
This past Sunday I found two brown speckled little eggs in the nest. I was pretty excited that one of the younger girls had started and had found the nest to lay them. The eggs were almost identical in color so it made me think it came from the same chicken and maybe I had missed one the day before. Both had soft shells. Upon opening the larger one, I found a small blood clot, but the rest of the egg seemed normal. The smaller egg had almost no egg white and the egg yolk appeared mottled white. I'm not sure which of the girls had laid these eggs. The most likely is a silver cuckoo marans, but her comb and waddle didn't appear to be as large or ready as I had thought she would need to be.
Two days later, on Tuesday, I found two more brown speckled eggs. One was in the nest and one had been dropped in the pen. The shells were harder this time, but the characteristics of the inside of each was consistent with the two from Sunday. At that point it seemed likely that it was the same girl laying two eggs in one day, the larger coming first and the smaller one coming second.
After doing some research I found that it can happen with younger chickens as their body gets used to laying eggs. (http://www.spottedcowpress.ca/chapters/02FemaleAnatomy.pdf)
My concern, though, is that I haven't seen any eggs from her since Tuesday. I have looked all over the pen and through the coops, but no little brown speckled eggs. I have also looked for signs of crushed eggs, but nothing. While I might be a little impatient, I'm just being overly cautious. Since she has already had some problems laying eggs, I just want to be sure that the next one (or two) hasn't become stuck in the oviduct. It doesn't seem that any of the girls are in distress (since I still don't know for sure which one had laid the two double eggs), but I want to be sure I know what to look for if it does develop in the next day or so. Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance!!
