I need to share my frustrations

[catlikethief]

I posted last week about my hen Maisy, she's an ameraucana with so laying issues. Yeah, I understand this is a new thing for her but enough is enough!
The post i am referring to is here https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=90425

So since that day( my original post) she has laid two soft shell eggs every night while on the roost. She spends a good part of every day in the nest boxes rearranging shavings and goofing off.
I see her eating oyster shell every morning and I also mix it in their food as well.

All four walls of my coop are hardware cloth (soon I will board it up for winter) and the nesting boxes could be locked up, so technically I could put her up for the night in there. I feel that that's just punishment and I don't want the others to pick on her for it.

As harsh as it sounds , she's here living the good life as long as I get yummy eggs. Normally I would just wait this out and not care but she's such a late layer, I mean she is old compared to my other laying ameraucana who came from the same breeder and started laying almost two months ago.
This is so maddening what am I doing wrong?

 

[Cuban Longtails]

I don't really know how to help you, but in my opinion she appears to be a problem layer. It sounds as if you're doing everything you could possibly do, short of spending mucho $$$ to get a vet to look at her.

Unless you just want to keep her around as a pet, she'd be on my list to go.

If you lock her in a nestbox, she'll just poop in it and mess it up. Not really effective. Plus, those soft shelled eggs are messy and tend to leak at times.

 

[catlikethief]

Quote:
I'm on the same page as you. She has until next Monday to sort out the kinks. She's in the nesting box right now so we'll see. I know she can lay a hard egg. But it has to be in the box, ya know.

I made this post in hopes that maybe I was missing a step. I'd hate to sell her to the feed store if it was a simple solution that I was missing.

 

[Opa]

I think that you're best and most economical solution would be to cull. Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, they just don't make the grade. You wouldn't want to sell or trade her to someone else and make your problem theirs so: making her friends with some with dumplings is probably the best course of action.

 

[MissPrissy]

In reading this my first thought is you should cull her.

Sometimes they have faults and don't lay eggs properly. Same way some women don't have a normal cycle and can't carry babies.

It is not always something that can be fixed with nutrition or supplements. It is just a bad layer.

 

[lurky]

I think she will straighten out. I had a whole flock that waited til about 28 weeks to begin laying and one was throwing shelless a few times. Then it was thin shells for a while (same pullet) and kinda odd shells too it had grooves, but they worked just as good as any others

I never even knew which one it came from, but it got better. I dont think you need to worry too much this soon. If you were local i would take her to live at my land of the misfits

 

[Carolyn]

Why do you raise chickens? If the primary purpose is for good layers you need to cull her.

If you cull her you can:
1. pass on the problem (nix to that)
2. find her a home where someone is more interesed in a pet chicken. She lays more than a rooster and in time she might work this out.
3. turn her into something yummy for your tummy.

 

[kellij]

We would be more then happy give your ameraucana a new home, if you decide to go that route.

I have sent you a PM.

Thanks,
Kelli

 

[Wynette]

AWE! Once again, BYC is the intermediary for a wonderful end result! I just love this forum!

 

[cmom]

I agree with the other posts, cull her.