lcwmt
Songster
Curious as to your response to this:
The 7 pullets are 27+ weeks old.
*Two of them (a buff Orp and a white Banty) have been laying almost daily since the third week of August
*One of the two EEs began laying two weeks ago after almost a month of hissy fits.
*A second Buff began laying this past week, but not daily yet.
**The second EE has had a very bright red comb and wattles for a month now. She's been calm and pleasant. I thought she had a hidden nest. Today though, she laid her first egg: in the nesting box right after the other EE and most mature Buff laid theirs. No singing, no fuss, all is good.
The egg is a lovely pale greenish blue, same color as, but smaller and more oblong than the first EE's eggs. My concern is this: The egg shell was slightly blood streaked. My hunch is this is a result of maturity factors and the stress of the "first".
*There is no sign of illness, lethargy or stress in the flock. This girl is especially active, clear eyed, all poop in the roost and on the ground looks healthy.
They roost in the coop at night and are closed in, have a nice amount of space plus a covered run, and free range, with canine supervision, at their leisure from daybreak to dusk. We hominids are here almost all the time; there's a lot of awareness of what's happening with our critters.
We free feed with multiple feeders: "All Flock", 18% protein with oyster shell on the side. Not many treats since they free range but occasional leafy greens, a handful of scratch every once in a while, leftover brown rice. I'm confident their nutrition is balanced but if I'm wrong would appreciate your suggestions. I do not feed layer mix because they are not all laying, one Buff may never. Also, they are not destined for freezer camp.
The only out of the ordinary stress was Thursday and Friday: heavy equipment digging a hole and then an underground propane tank installed. After the initial brief response to the noise, the girls went about their day, scratching up the spent garden beds, sunbathing, etc.
My intuitive response is that this blood smeared egg is not a big deal, subsequent eggs should be fine. I'll monitor for any indications that she/they are "off".
[FWIW, I did clean the egg before refrigerating it, it will be used within the week]
Am I too casual about this, missing something? What should I watch for, going forward, that I haven't already mentioned?
Thanks for any input!
The 7 pullets are 27+ weeks old.
*Two of them (a buff Orp and a white Banty) have been laying almost daily since the third week of August
*One of the two EEs began laying two weeks ago after almost a month of hissy fits.
*A second Buff began laying this past week, but not daily yet.
**The second EE has had a very bright red comb and wattles for a month now. She's been calm and pleasant. I thought she had a hidden nest. Today though, she laid her first egg: in the nesting box right after the other EE and most mature Buff laid theirs. No singing, no fuss, all is good.
The egg is a lovely pale greenish blue, same color as, but smaller and more oblong than the first EE's eggs. My concern is this: The egg shell was slightly blood streaked. My hunch is this is a result of maturity factors and the stress of the "first".
*There is no sign of illness, lethargy or stress in the flock. This girl is especially active, clear eyed, all poop in the roost and on the ground looks healthy.
They roost in the coop at night and are closed in, have a nice amount of space plus a covered run, and free range, with canine supervision, at their leisure from daybreak to dusk. We hominids are here almost all the time; there's a lot of awareness of what's happening with our critters.
We free feed with multiple feeders: "All Flock", 18% protein with oyster shell on the side. Not many treats since they free range but occasional leafy greens, a handful of scratch every once in a while, leftover brown rice. I'm confident their nutrition is balanced but if I'm wrong would appreciate your suggestions. I do not feed layer mix because they are not all laying, one Buff may never. Also, they are not destined for freezer camp.
The only out of the ordinary stress was Thursday and Friday: heavy equipment digging a hole and then an underground propane tank installed. After the initial brief response to the noise, the girls went about their day, scratching up the spent garden beds, sunbathing, etc.
My intuitive response is that this blood smeared egg is not a big deal, subsequent eggs should be fine. I'll monitor for any indications that she/they are "off".
[FWIW, I did clean the egg before refrigerating it, it will be used within the week]
Am I too casual about this, missing something? What should I watch for, going forward, that I haven't already mentioned?
Thanks for any input!
