- Thread starter
- #11
heidil
In the Brooder
Hi all,
Great suggestions for keeping chickens cool. For my chickens, I don't think it was heat (even though there was heat stress). I use a chickshaw rather than a standard coop. It has a hardware mesh floor and three sides are hardware mesh. TONS of ventilation. Much of the day they free range and they have tons of large tree clusters that they can take refuge under in the worst heat of the day.
I've tried wading pools and they won't use them.
After our girl passed last night, we started assessing each individual bird last and one of them didn't look like she was feeling very well. I picked her up and she still had all her chest feathers but I noticed an egg in her belly and it looked like it was protruding. Then we discussed that our egg production had taken a steep decline lately. We think our deceased hen may have been egg bound. The one I examined last night was. Immediately, I fed crushed egg shells and then yogurt. This morning she layed that egg. The egg was deformed, proving that the next egg was applying pressure on that egg!
So, why is my flock suffering from this? Well, my husband and I were out of the country for 2 weeks. I purchased crushed oyster shell for them before we left. Additionally, the person who cared for our chickens had to leave early in the morning, so she would feed & let them loose at 6 a.m. Then, when we returned I got appendicitis & had surgery. So, another week with the oyster shell. Since we got back, I noticed two things:
1. They won't eat oyster shell. (They love cooked, crushed egg shell.)
2. If you feed them & immediately allow them to free range they won't eat their feed, opting instead to go free range. I'm guessing there aren't great sources of calcium in their acre pasture.
I believe that our hen was in such discomfort from not being able to "get rid" of her egg(s) that she plucked her chest & belly feathers in an attempt to alleviate her discomfort. I had seen her in the nesting box from time to time. So, I believe she was trying to lay but couldn't.
A lesson for us too.... it's so important to spend time with the flock, observing them as individuals and knowing what's "normal" behavior for each one. I have one super independent hen where it's normal for her to wander on her own and explore. But for another hen, seeing her by herself might indicate that something is wrong.
We'll continue to supplement with crushed egg shell going forward. Clearly oyster shell isn't a viable choice for my flock. Hard lessons learned here.
Great suggestions for keeping chickens cool. For my chickens, I don't think it was heat (even though there was heat stress). I use a chickshaw rather than a standard coop. It has a hardware mesh floor and three sides are hardware mesh. TONS of ventilation. Much of the day they free range and they have tons of large tree clusters that they can take refuge under in the worst heat of the day.
I've tried wading pools and they won't use them.
After our girl passed last night, we started assessing each individual bird last and one of them didn't look like she was feeling very well. I picked her up and she still had all her chest feathers but I noticed an egg in her belly and it looked like it was protruding. Then we discussed that our egg production had taken a steep decline lately. We think our deceased hen may have been egg bound. The one I examined last night was. Immediately, I fed crushed egg shells and then yogurt. This morning she layed that egg. The egg was deformed, proving that the next egg was applying pressure on that egg!
So, why is my flock suffering from this? Well, my husband and I were out of the country for 2 weeks. I purchased crushed oyster shell for them before we left. Additionally, the person who cared for our chickens had to leave early in the morning, so she would feed & let them loose at 6 a.m. Then, when we returned I got appendicitis & had surgery. So, another week with the oyster shell. Since we got back, I noticed two things:
1. They won't eat oyster shell. (They love cooked, crushed egg shell.)
2. If you feed them & immediately allow them to free range they won't eat their feed, opting instead to go free range. I'm guessing there aren't great sources of calcium in their acre pasture.
I believe that our hen was in such discomfort from not being able to "get rid" of her egg(s) that she plucked her chest & belly feathers in an attempt to alleviate her discomfort. I had seen her in the nesting box from time to time. So, I believe she was trying to lay but couldn't.
A lesson for us too.... it's so important to spend time with the flock, observing them as individuals and knowing what's "normal" behavior for each one. I have one super independent hen where it's normal for her to wander on her own and explore. But for another hen, seeing her by herself might indicate that something is wrong.
We'll continue to supplement with crushed egg shell going forward. Clearly oyster shell isn't a viable choice for my flock. Hard lessons learned here.
