OK. My mind is totally blown! What is this!?!?

[New Chick In The Backyard]

I will buy layer feed in the morning. Unfortunately I can't take her to the vet right now. Because of Covid we are on a super tight budget until January or February. I don't even have cable. Also I am disabled and my entertainment through the end of the year is $10 low income internet. I'm saying this because I hope to not be judged in that regard but I can't help what people think. Bare minimum around here. I sure hope she is ok. I'd be heart broken to lose her. I will be doing a lot of praying.

 

[tripletfeb]

That is a lash egg. Follow @Kiki advice on feeding and see if she lays another

 

[Kiki]

I'm going through another thread of yours from last month... You mentioned you were feeding her scratch daily... Did you stop that last month or have you continued to give her scratch daily?

Have you dewormed this new to you bird?

 

[New Chick In The Backyard]

Didn't you just say the others are very close to egg laying age?
It's actually better to start the chickens on layer type feed a few weeks before they start laying eggs.

I'm glad we had this conversation because I am at the bottom of my last bag of starter. As I said before I will buy some pronto in the morning. I was just going by what the co-op people have been telling me. They told me the antibiotic would be good for her and to keep offering it to her along with the pellet. I did a lot of research and thought I was doing the right thing. I have tried to do an excellent job of taking care of my babies. I love all of tthem. They told me layer feed would make them lay a bunch of eggs all at the first and then they'd be all layed out. I guess they don't know what they're talking about. ? Belina acts real spunky right now, more than in the past. I hope she will be ok.

 

[New Chick In The Backyard]

All my pullets were born in January and February. I have read that some breeds start on time and other are early or very late. They are all different breeds, no one alike.

 

[Kiki]

I'm glad we had this conversation because I am at the bottom of my last bag of starter. As I said before I will buy some pronto in the morning. I was just going by what the co-op people have been telling me. They told me the antibiotic would be good for her and to keep offering it to her along with the pellet. I did a lot of research and thought I was doing the right thing. I have tried to do an excellent job of taking care of my babies. I love all of tthem. They told me layer feed would make them lay a bunch of eggs all at the first and then they'd be all layed out. I guess they don't know what they're talking about. ? Belina acts real spunky right now, more than in the past. I hope she will be ok.

What do you mean antibiotic?
There is no chick feed sold in the United States of America that has antibiotics in it.

 

[Kiki]

I'm glad we had this conversation because I am at the bottom of my last bag of starter. As I said before I will buy some pronto in the morning. I was just going by what the co-op people have been telling me. They told me the antibiotic would be good for her and to keep offering it to her along with the pellet. I did a lot of research and thought I was doing the right thing. I have tried to do an excellent job of taking care of my babies. I love all of tthem. They told me layer feed would make them lay a bunch of eggs all at the first and then they'd be all layed out. I guess they don't know what they're talking about. ? Belina acts real spunky right now, more than in the past. I hope she will be ok.

If I were you I would not listen to anything anybody else at your co op tells you because they clearly have no clue what they're talking about.

 

[Ascholten]

There is nothing wrong with an occasional treat, but occasional means maybe once or twice a week, not a little every day. Especially when they are in a transitioning stage to where they are becoming adults and laying eggs. Here more than any other time, you need to ensure they have ample amounts of EVERYTHING they need, which is what commercial feeds give them. Feed them the stuff they need, let them get into the egg laying routine, and get that sorted, THEN you can worry about treats now and then. Let the treat be the beetle or grasshopper they catch in the yard, not the sugar dud you gave them.

Aaron

 

[New Chick In The Backyard]

That is a lash egg. Follow @Kiki advice on feeding and see if she lays another

OMG what is that? I saw pics online. It says they are egg shaped? This wasn't. Still just trying to understand. Thank you all for your help!!!

 

[NatJ]

I found a big piece of what looks like skin.

I think it might be the "shell" of a softshell egg. That would be a thick membrane with maybe a tiny bit of calcium on the outside to make it stiffer. It would have originally been all around the egg, but got ripped open and the chickens ate the egg. The membrane is a pretty consistent thickness all over.

If the thing you found has lumps or thick parts, then it is something else and I don't know what to say.

But if it is the "shell" (membrane) of a softshell egg, and if it only happens once, you don't need to worry.
If it happens regularly, then you will need to make sure the chicken who produced it gets plenty of calcium, and that may or may not fix it. Apparently some hens have trouble absorbing calcium, but that is less common than hens that just don't get enough calcium in their diet.

I have one hen that is laying and the rest are young pullets that are very close to the general age of laying.

Food - I provide all of them chicken starter at all times. My laying hen gets starter and laying pellet and she chooses what she wants to eat. In the morning i put all the food pales out so they eat what they want, mostly starter.

That sounds fine to me, as long as they also have oyster shell or eggshell or another source of calcium.

Chick starter should be fine for them all.
If they are almost ready to lay, then layer feed would also be fine for them all.
Allowing them to choose chick starter or layer food should also be fine.

I occasionally give them scratch and meal worms for treats. I have been recently giving them watermelon, corn, green beans, celery, and yogurt. They are just now interested in that kind of thing.

If they are having problems, I would stop all of those other things for now.
If they are healthy with NO problems, then feel free to continue whatever you've been doing that works.

In hot weather, you can get some of their chicken food wet with cool water, and most chickens seem to really like it. (No need to limit the amount of wet food they eat, just don't let it sit around and spoil.)

Do you mind elaborating because I thought I finally had the food situation figured out. Why can't they have an occasional treat?

Some people have very strong opinions about feeding ONLY the appropriate kind of commercial feed, and some other people are much more relaxed about it, and some people feel strongly that they MUST feed a selection of other things. Ultimately, you have to be the one who makes the decision for your chickens. But no matter what you decide, someone is sure to tell you that you're doing it wrong.