Reducing stress in my flock

[HoundsHarvestFarm]

So I have noticed plenty of egg laying issues over the past few months and I think my chickens are stressed. I have had soft eggs, calcium deposits and the slightly deformed eggs. We have a flock for 17 chickens and 2 ducks that live in 6x8x6 house that opens to a long 40 yard run. The ducks live with the chickens because one of our Blue Wyendotte's hatched them for us and then one was a male(hatched in may 2020) and we never merged them with the other 3 ducks we have. The 2 ducks seem to get along just fine with the chickens, but it might be wise to try and merge them with the big ducks
We currently have a 4 nesting box setup, we did have 7 but they were only using 2-3 regularly. They have. Long roosting bar and a ladder that could be used as roost if they so choosed.
Without the ducks I don't think we would be over crowded, but we also we're thinking that when in the coop the ducks don't occupy the same space as the chickens.

Sorry a bit of a ramble. What steps should we take to reduce stress

 

[CluckerFamily]

Having soft shells, calcium deposits, and deformed eggs can be part of pullets.
Are all your chickens pullets?
How long have the ducks been with the chickens?
What are you thinking are stressing them? Having the ducks with them, the size of the coop or run?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Where are you located? If you modify your profile to show that the information is always available. Knowing that can come in really handy for lot of different things. In this case I'm wondering if you are north or south of the equator and how far. Is that run even useable this time of the year and how severe is your weather.

How old are the ones with the egg problems? How long have you had these problems. It sounds like you have at least some established layers, egg laying problems are pretty normal for pullets starting to lay.

What are the egg deformities? How many are you seeing? Calcium deposits and some "deformities" aren't unusual in a flock. Soft shells are not good, especially if they are not from pullet just starting to lay. What are you actually seeing, how many, and for how long?

As far as stress goes the major contributor is overcrowding. Give them as much room as you can in the coop, in the run, and on the roosts. Improve the quality of what room you have by adding clutter. Clutter means things to hide under, behind, or over, things to physically separate them or break the line of sight. Juveniles going through puberty can add a lot of stress. I think the majority of the behavioral problems comes from these two, crowding and age differences when puberty is involved.

Chickens don't like change. Adding or subtracting flock members can change the pecking order. Moving them to a new location of modifying where they are can stress them. Running out of water or feed for a time period can stress them. Multiple food and water stations well spread out can help reduce competition for them. Predator threats, real or perceived, can stress them. Strange loud noises may be a problem. Leaving lights on all night can cause stress.

Stress can cause egg issues. I don't know enough about your set-up and conditions to be able to guess how much it may contribute to what you are seeing but usually stress is fairly low on my radar when it comes to this type of egg issues.

 

[HoundsHarvestFarm]

Having soft shells, calcium deposits, and deformed eggs can be part of pullets.
Are all your chickens pullets?
How long have the ducks been with the chickens?
What are you thinking are stressing them? Having the ducks with them, the size of the coop or run?

7 chickens are about 10 months old and 10 are a year and half.
The ducks have lived with them since May
I honestly don't know what exactly is stressing them, I know all of those things can be issues but don't know what I should try to address first.

 

[HoundsHarvestFarm]

Where are you located? If you modify your profile to show that the information is always available. Knowing that can come in really handy for lot of different things. In this case I'm wondering if you are north or south of the equator and how far. Is that run even useable this time of the year and how severe is your weather.

How old are the ones with the egg problems? How long have you had these problems. It sounds like you have at least some established layers, egg laying problems are pretty normal for pullets starting to lay.

What are the egg deformities? How many are you seeing? Calcium deposits and some "deformities" aren't unusual in a flock. Soft shells are not good, especially if they are not from pullet just starting to lay. What are you actually seeing, how many, and for how long?

As far as stress goes the major contributor is overcrowding. Give them as much room as you can in the coop, in the run, and on the roosts. Improve the quality of what room you have by adding clutter. Clutter means things to hide under, behind, or over, things to physically separate them or break the line of sight. Juveniles going through puberty can add a lot of stress. I think the majority of the behavioral problems comes from these two, crowding and age differences when puberty is involved.

Chickens don't like change. Adding or subtracting flock members can change the pecking order. Moving them to a new location of modifying where they are can stress them. Running out of water or feed for a time period can stress them. Multiple food and water stations well spread out can help reduce competition for them. Predator threats, real or perceived, can stress them. Strange loud noises may be a problem. Leaving lights on all night can cause stress.

Stress can cause egg issues. I don't know enough about your set-up and conditions to be able to guess how much it may contribute to what you are seeing but usually stress is fairly low on my radar when it comes to this type of egg issues.

We are in SW Washington, climate is very mild.

They are split between 1.5 years old and 10 months. Egg issues seems to be across the board. Also a little harder because some stopped laying this fall.

Egg deformation is 1 chicken in particular she has a swirl etched into the top of her eggs. So this might just be her.
We did have soft eggs, but we switched feed and that looks to be gone. Those same ladies that were soft now have schell's that crack easy.


Thanks for all the info I might try another roosting bar and add a few clutter items.


I guess I could mention we had to kill their rooster this summer, there could be stress still from that 5 months later and they battled a bacerial infection in the summer.

 

[3KillerBs]

6'x8' = 48 square feet.

Divide that by 4 square feet per bird and you get 12.

So it seems likely that if your birds are stressed it's because there are 19 birds in a coop only big enough to house 12. I don't know if the ducks factor in based on species or not. Some people seem to have no problems with a few female ducks in a flock of chickens. Others have issues because of it.

 

[HoundsHarvestFarm]

6'x8' = 48 square feet.

Divide that by 4 square feet per bird and you get 12.

So it seems likely that if your birds are stressed it's because there are 19 birds in a coop only big enough to house 12. I don't know if the ducks factor in based on species or not. Some people seem to have no problems with a few female ducks in a flock of chickens. Others have issues because of it.

Thanks I was thinking 3 square per bird but if this is the issue 4 would be a better number to use.
Appreciate the help

 

[3KillerBs]

Thanks I was thinking 3 square per bird but if this is the issue 4 would be a better number to use.
Appreciate the help

You're welcome.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

6x8x6 house

They need more space, a lot more.