Hi All - I have not been on the boards lately and things have been going great with the girls. However, this last week things have been getting a little strange. Here is the scenario...
I have been getting 4-5 eggs daily from 6 girls (my last hen just started laying last week). I was anxiously waiting for my first 6 egg day. Instead what I got was a dramatic DECREASE in eggs. Anywhere from 1 to 4 a day over the last four days. I put it off as the start of fall/winter. I added a timer to my light in the coop and it comes on every morning at 6am and goes off at 4pm.
My best layer Penny (BR) has not laid in 3 days and she has laid every day since her first egg. Sooo, getting to the point.
Tonight I found a strange looking egg out in the run in the dirt (very pale tan, with a white ring of speckles on it). It is the size and shape of an egg I would see from Penny but a much lighter color. So I thought that was strange and went to the coop to see if there were any more eggs in the boxes. What I found in there was a large soft shell egg under the roost on the poop board!
My girls are on Layena (just switched to the new Layena with Omega 3). They free range for 2-3 hours a day. They have free choice oyster shell that they never touch. They are given treats 3-5 night a week of anything from veggies to cottage cheese. Their shells have always been very strong
The first girl (BR - Penny) laid at 20 weeks 6 days old on Aug 8th of this year, all the others followed at about 1-2 week intervals with my EE being the last hold out. She started last week at 31 wks 2 days.
My questions are:
1. What would cause a hen that has always laid in the box to all the sudden lay outside in the wide open
2. - What would cause a random soft shell egg from a hen that has never had a soft shell egg in the past
3. Is all this normal or do I have something I need to worry about?
I just want to hear from the experts that this is normal and that I can chalk it up to either the season change or the change in feed. Although the feed should be basically the same Layena formula just with the added Omega 3.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
I have been getting 4-5 eggs daily from 6 girls (my last hen just started laying last week). I was anxiously waiting for my first 6 egg day. Instead what I got was a dramatic DECREASE in eggs. Anywhere from 1 to 4 a day over the last four days. I put it off as the start of fall/winter. I added a timer to my light in the coop and it comes on every morning at 6am and goes off at 4pm.
My best layer Penny (BR) has not laid in 3 days and she has laid every day since her first egg. Sooo, getting to the point.
Tonight I found a strange looking egg out in the run in the dirt (very pale tan, with a white ring of speckles on it). It is the size and shape of an egg I would see from Penny but a much lighter color. So I thought that was strange and went to the coop to see if there were any more eggs in the boxes. What I found in there was a large soft shell egg under the roost on the poop board!
My girls are on Layena (just switched to the new Layena with Omega 3). They free range for 2-3 hours a day. They have free choice oyster shell that they never touch. They are given treats 3-5 night a week of anything from veggies to cottage cheese. Their shells have always been very strong
The first girl (BR - Penny) laid at 20 weeks 6 days old on Aug 8th of this year, all the others followed at about 1-2 week intervals with my EE being the last hold out. She started last week at 31 wks 2 days.
My questions are:
1. What would cause a hen that has always laid in the box to all the sudden lay outside in the wide open
2. - What would cause a random soft shell egg from a hen that has never had a soft shell egg in the past
3. Is all this normal or do I have something I need to worry about?
I just want to hear from the experts that this is normal and that I can chalk it up to either the season change or the change in feed. Although the feed should be basically the same Layena formula just with the added Omega 3.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.