Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[stake]

Question time for you experienced keepers please.

I noticed I haven't been getting any eggs from my Silkie barnyard mix Malificent recently. I keep looking to see if she has been laying somewhere else, but I haven't found anything. I think she may be eating her eggs.

The other day, I noticed a piece of eggshell and yolk outside of the coop on the ground. I thought one had maybe rolled out and broken, and the girls took advantage. It doesn't appear that she is eating anyone else's eggs though. I haven't found any other traces, other than the piece that is frozen to the ground. I believe she was laying her eggs in my small little house I had originally built for my Silkies.

If she is egg eating, what's the best way to break her of it? Thanks!

Anne:

The only thing I've herd is to leave a few golf balls in the nesting box and try to get the eggs out before they can be eaten...after pecking the golf balls and not getting a meal, the offender will give up.....my two cents...

 

[dheltzel]

Treacherous walking outside. The ice-free paths I could see yesterday morning are now drifted over. I hope it at least warms a bit after lunch. Maybe the wind will die down for a while so I can get the chores done.

 

[fisherlady]

Wind was brutal on the ridge last night.... and when I left for work this morning it was -5* F. DH just called and it is now a balmy -4* and who knows what the wind chill is. He said the remote thermometer in the coop is showing 17* in the main part of the coop. Birds are mostly sitting tight on the shelves, a few roaming the floor.
We have security cameras around the house and in the coop, with a video monitor in the house so we can watch. It is really cool to watch the flock interactions and activity when there is no human around to interfere.

 

[fisherlady]

Feed her dried toasted egg shells.

Anne:

The only thing I've herd is to leave a few golf balls in the nesting box and try to get the eggs out before they can be eaten...after pecking the golf balls and not getting a meal, the offender will give up.....my two cents...

Annie... if she is egg eating then both of the already mentioned methods are a great place to start. If she has never done this before I would be searching high and low in any dark, cozy, quiet area for a secret stash nest. One thing about Silkies.... they love to brood, and can be very sneaky about gathering up a clutch before showing you signs that they want to set.

 

[wingstone]

i have 1 hen that I hardly ever get an unbroken egg from and it has nothing to do with her being the egg eater, she rarely uses a nest box and does not squat, she just stops and plops that egg, it often cracks and ends up being a snack from others

 

[PAchickenlover]

thanks for all the offers, there's been someone on watch most of the time since last evening..
for those of you that know my property, whatever it is comes in from the town side and around the shop, I have nothing left in ducks, the three that survived are  older males and will be put in freezer due to injury.
i am really concerned that when it comes back and finds the duck pen empty, itmay circle the barn and end up in the chicken area.

count so far
21 duck
6 chicken

some are just plain missing but in this weather and circumstance I do not have hope of them returning.
and oddly enough with all of this my granddaughter noticed that 1 of the little 7 week old kittens is missing.

talk to a neighbor from over the back ridge who reports seeing a couple of coyote, and there's also a new neighbor about half mile away with a couple of big dogs...my bet is on those 2 things or both..but the dogs would of came past the house on the chicken side and the cat food dishes were untouched...

and this will come to an end,,,hopefully I will not offend anyone here but everyone on guard are instructed to shoot to kill.if this is a neighbor dog they will be notified affter the fact. camera should be working some time today also.

guess I am not as toughened to the farmlife as I should be, cause I admit just sitting down on the cold ground of that duck pen and losing it after the second attack..

Wing, no one can fault you for getting upset at an attack on the animals you raised and cared for. I think i can safely say that all of us here totally understand and would probably do the same if it happened to us. I am not too far from you, if you would like some help, please let me know.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

How's everyone liking this cold? It's -8 here this morning, not counting the wind chill. NOBODY is leaving the coop. I put the heat lamp in there last night and ran it all night and put their food and water inside with them. WAY too cold. I did open the pop door just in case someone needed to escape for a minute but nobody is interested in even looking out lol

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Wind was brutal on the ridge last night.... and when I left for work this morning it was -5* F.   DH just called and it is now a balmy -4* and who knows what the wind chill is.   He said the remote thermometer in the coop is showing 17* in the main part of the coop.  Birds are mostly sitting tight on the shelves, a few roaming the floor. 
We have security cameras around the house and in the coop, with a video monitor in the house so we can watch.  It is really cool to watch the flock interactions and activity when there is no human around to interfere.

That must be neat to watch. I definitely will be checking on my girls frequently today. They are most certainly appreciating the heat lamp I plugged in.

Annie... if she is egg eating then both of the already mentioned methods are a great place to start.  If she has never done this before I would be searching high and low in any dark, cozy, quiet area for a secret stash nest.   One thing about Silkies.... they love to brood, and can be very sneaky about gathering up a clutch before showing you signs that they want to set. 

I saw her go to the coop this morning and when I want out there to check, she had laid an egg and gone back outside. Maybe she just hasnt been laying as often? Fingers crossed!

 

[wingstone]

I sure hope winter soon lets up, hubby is getting a little irate....I need to substitute words to put this on here but you get it..
he comes in the door hollering, I did not put this flinging crap down on the driveway so why the crap do I have to move it......

ummm. what am I suppose to say to that........

 

[PAchickenlover]

I also have heat lamps in all of my buildings. I just couldnt leave them to deal with these temperatures on their own. I also havent seen any of my birds outside of their coops.