HeritageFan
Songster
- Sep 21, 2022
- 596
- 1,129
- 226
I have -really- tried to do my homework before asking for help.... but I haven’t found anything that seems quite like the issue my BR hen is having right now.
I only have one BR hen, with one Tom, in their own large area. Free access to water, food, grit, 24/7. I do shut them into their coop and night (lots of predators here). Run access from daylight to dark.
....Full disclosure.... I didn’t notice that she ran out of oyster shell for a a few days last week. She doesn’t go through it quickly.... and it is in a spot that’s hard for the Tom to get to.... I just didn’t notice
She prefers to lay in a spot that the Tom can also get to. She went four days without laying, and then laid an egg that was broken open, plus a second egg with no shell at all.
I thought that -maybe- it was a double yolk egg, and the Tom stomped it.
Well. This morning she had laid another egg with an irregular shell (the bottom had an extra layer of calcium, the shell seemed otherwise normal. But there was another yolk and white with no shell in the “nest”.
It has been ~20* hotter than it had been here for the last week or so. Quick temperature spike.
Their coop is well ventilated and well shaded for most of the day. Nothing else has changed.
I have them on a corn/ soy free layer feed, 16% protein, 2% fat, 8% fiber. - Home Grown. I can send a pic of the nutrition content if it would be helpful.
I also add additional niacin to their crumbles.
They are not free ranging as of the last month or so... and I only rarely offer them dried meal worms / hulled barley as treats. Almost all of their feed is the crumbles.
No signs of mites, parasites, and she is acting totally fine.
Any thoughts on why she might be double laying, with the second egg shell free?
I understand that it -could- just be the temperatures, but I also know we are likely nearing the end of her laying season.
Is there anything else that I could/ should try?
I only have one BR hen, with one Tom, in their own large area. Free access to water, food, grit, 24/7. I do shut them into their coop and night (lots of predators here). Run access from daylight to dark.
....Full disclosure.... I didn’t notice that she ran out of oyster shell for a a few days last week. She doesn’t go through it quickly.... and it is in a spot that’s hard for the Tom to get to.... I just didn’t notice
She prefers to lay in a spot that the Tom can also get to. She went four days without laying, and then laid an egg that was broken open, plus a second egg with no shell at all.
I thought that -maybe- it was a double yolk egg, and the Tom stomped it.
Well. This morning she had laid another egg with an irregular shell (the bottom had an extra layer of calcium, the shell seemed otherwise normal. But there was another yolk and white with no shell in the “nest”.
It has been ~20* hotter than it had been here for the last week or so. Quick temperature spike.
Their coop is well ventilated and well shaded for most of the day. Nothing else has changed.
I have them on a corn/ soy free layer feed, 16% protein, 2% fat, 8% fiber. - Home Grown. I can send a pic of the nutrition content if it would be helpful.
I also add additional niacin to their crumbles.
They are not free ranging as of the last month or so... and I only rarely offer them dried meal worms / hulled barley as treats. Almost all of their feed is the crumbles.
No signs of mites, parasites, and she is acting totally fine.
Any thoughts on why she might be double laying, with the second egg shell free?
I understand that it -could- just be the temperatures, but I also know we are likely nearing the end of her laying season.
Is there anything else that I could/ should try?
