Pullet only lays while it's dark outside

[HeatherKellyB]

Happy New Year and New Decade! I have an almost 20 week old Calico Princess pullet that started laying just over 2.5 weeks ago. She has taken one day off from laying during this time. There are 6 other pullets in her flock and they're all 20 to 21 weeks old, but the only other one looking anywhere close to laying is the Starlight Green Egger, of the same age. The egg I find in their nesting box is a brown egg, so I don't believe anyone else is laying. Now to reason behind my post, I find this brown egg in their nest box every morning at first light and it's always cold. I thoroughly check the entire hen house before locking them up at dark and once again before I go to bed and haven't found an egg at these times. So that means that she is getting up in the middle of the night or very early in the morning to lay. With temps ranging in the upper 30s to 40s, I'm sure it doesn't take the egg very long to cool off, but it certainly takes a little bit of time. My other pullets (in a separate flock) never seem to lay at the same time and they've laid first thing in the morning before, but it's after first light. If this happened occasionally, I wouldn't really think much of it, but this is an every day thing so far. Do I chalk this up to her being a new layer and just be grateful she's laying so well at such a young age with so little daylight hours (I am very grateful)? Or is my concern valid? I didn't realize that she was at such high risk for so many problems since she is a high egg production breed, until I already had her. Of course I really enjoy her and I'm so grateful to have her, but I didn't know about the risks for these high production breeds (still don't know much but I've learned a lot from the wonderful folks here) Thank you so much for your time

 

[azygous]

I think there's more concern for the early egg freezing than this young layer's predawn egg being a problem for her. A hen's internal clock is sometimes not in sync with how we believe it should be. She will likely adjust eventually to a conventional laying routine.

You could place a heating pad or hot water bottle under the nest material to safeguard the egg from freezing.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Thank you for sharing such comforting knowledge! I will definitely figure out something to keep the nesting box from freezing temps. All of the girls give the bedding shavings a thorough scratch through multiple times each and every day, and usually scratch most of the bedding out of the nesting boxes, so I'll have to use something safe but strong enough to last through that plus, if it's discovered, not scare the others away from the nesting boxes whenever they begin to lay. My Easter Eggers are the worst at picking through the bedding constantly, and usually eat whatever pine shavings and anything else they deem tasty. You and Wyorp Rock helped me with that and saved Amelia Bedila's life (a different post, but I often wonder if this behavior led to her getting so sick). She's still digging out and eating the bedding, sweet PDZ, and who knows what else. I have feed and water in there because of this but it hasn't helped deter her. I need to look up pica in chickens.

Thank you again for everything! I'm so grateful and thankful for many of you here that come in and give so much of your time and knowledge, and pour so much of yourselves into helping others. People like you are extremely rare but so incredibly special. I hope that brings you warmth every day, knowing that you have done so much for so many and never ask of anything in return. You're a true gem. I know I've said it before, but you deserve nothing but the very best in every aspect of life. Thanks again

 

[azygous]

Thank you for realizing why some of us spend so much time here helping people and their chickens. It's because we all share our love of chickens with one another, and we recognize this as an opportunity to actually being able to make a real difference, something that's not always easy in this highly atomized world we inhabit.

Eating pine shavings, while a lot of chickens nibble at them occasionally, is something that a few chickens get into trouble over. Pica is rare, but it does exist. It takes different forms and occasionally a chicken will consume anything metallic they run across. One BYCer about a year ago described what was found during a necrospy - paper clips, screws, a safety pin, a veritable hardware store in the crop and gizzard.

If I had a chicken with a shavings fetish, I'd try to discover what need that chicken was trying to satisfy. Obviously they crave cellulose. How can we explore redirecting that to something digestible so the chicken isn't getting clogged up regularly? Could it be something as simple as discovering an herbal remedy such as oregano? Or perhaps a vitamin that might ease the craving? Or calming music? That last one is partially joking, but it could actually have merit after a bit of thought. They give a dog a tranquilizer that insists on eating their owner's couch.

 

[azygous]

I think I have something to try on your shavings eater. Psyllium. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/318707.php

Metamucil can be safely given to chickens, and I'm wondering if it might mitigate the craving your hen has for shavings. It might be worth a try. I would get the unsweetened, unflavored generic psyllium and mix a teaspoon a day into her feed.

My thinking is that it might substitute for her shavings craving and psyllium is able to draw water from the tissues to keep things moving through the chicken without getting impacted in the gizzard or crop. Try it and see what happens.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Thank you so much for looking into Amelia Bedila's wierd craving. I really appreciate that you always try to get to the bottom of any issues brought up and then break down your findings to help us understand and improve life for chickens and their humans. Today has been one of those days, so this was such a wonderful surprise this evening. I'll get some unsweetened Metamucil asap and start her on it. I'll definitely keep you posted. I'm unsure if Junie B. Jones follows her sister's lead or if Amelia Bedila started it and JBJ is the follower. Junie hasn't had the problems that Amelia has, but they were purchased together as Easter Egger (Hatchery Ameraucana) pullets from TSC. I suppose there is a chance they're related and might share the same deficiency.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

@azygous is this ok? I was unable to find unsweetened and unflavored in any of the local brick and mortar stores. I went ahead and purchased it and mixed some up to see if she'd eat it in her mash. She enjoyed it but now I'm worried about giving it to her again because I was unable to find the exact mixture you suggested. I know that artificial sweeteners are toxic to dogs, so I wanted to get your input before I give it to her again. I am happy to order some from online. Thank you again, for everything you do.

P. S.
I did find unsweetened and unflavored Benefiber but I didn't look to see if it was psyllium husk

Oops! The picture hasn't uploaded yet. My apologies. I'm working on it

 

[HeatherKellyB]

 

[HeatherKellyB]

 

[azygous]

I wouldn't give anything to chickens that has aspartame in it. It breaks down into methanol which is toxic to chickens. Being small animals, I would not risk giving it to her since this is going to be daily supplement to her diet.

If you can't find unsweetened psyllium, then it's best to skip it. Hopefully the one small dose isn't going to hurt her, but if you have any activated charcoal, pop a capsule into her beak and maybe that will neutralize it.

Benefiber is made from wheat. You don't want that. Psyllium is better and closer to the cellulose in wood shavings.