Ribh's D'Coopage

[Ribh]

Lottie's not quite 1. She was laying perfectly normal eggs when she first started laying. Now they're all weird.

 

[Ribh]

I thought you had probably been aware of the possible problems but I thought I would mention just in case.
I add enough water to make a paste of the consistency that if you tilt the container it doesn't slump, or run.
For you now, very cold water would be good. For me now, I add warm water when the nights have been cold.
A couple of points.
Their poop changes, more uric acid (the white stuff) and early morning runny/clearish poop is what I see here. The watery poop was a bit concerning at first.
Their cecal poop changes as well. Here it tends to be a few shades lighter brown.
They don't drink as much water.
Here they've tended to eat more mash than they did dried pellets so your feed bill may go up. Not a lot, but it's noticable.

Thanks, Shad. That is really helpful! It never hurts to repeat stuff. When in the thick of the fray it is easy to miss the obvious. I've done it before & no doubt will do it again.

 

[Shadrach]

Thanks, Shad. That is really helpful! It never hurts to repeat stuff. When in the thick of the fray it is easy to miss the obvious. I've done it before & no doubt will do it again.

I'm hand feeding the winter layers (3) here an extra gram of calcium currently. Forage is still reasonable and there is still grass which contains some calcium. In the spring I'll leave shell down for those that will eat it.
As for the amount of work and worry compared to other animals............

 

[Ribh]

Thank you, everyone for your input! All information can be useful & the support is invaluable!

 

[Shadrach]

Thank you, everyone for your input! All information can be useful & the support is invaluable!

There is one other thing that crossed my mind and that is she isn't coping with the heat well. It can get pretty warm here some summers; 35C on a regular basis and occasionally that critical temp of 42C.
35C is doeable for most breeds but at 41C or more the hen is unable to transfer body heat to the environment. Now I see you have shade and water care, but you've had some hot days from what I gather. It may be worth seeing if there is any correlation between hot days and lash eggs.

 

[BY Bob]

Thank you, everyone for your input! All information can be useful & the support is invaluable!

I have been thinking about that egg some more and I feel like Aurora's soft shell egg started to look like that after it sat for 1/2 a day. Is it possible that egg has sat for a while before you found it?

 

[Ribh]

I have been thinking about that egg some more and I feel like Aurora's soft shell egg started to look like that after it sat for 1/2 a day. Is it possible that egg has sat for a while before you found it?

Yes. She slept in a nesting box that night. I left her because I knew she was laying but have no idea when the egg actually arrived. I didn't notice it first thing either as it had been pushed into a corner.

 

[Ribh]

There is one other thing that crossed my mind and that is she isn't coping with the heat well. It can get pretty warm here some summers; 35C on a regular basis and occasionally that critical temp of 42C.
35C is doeable for most breeds but at 41C or more the hen is unable to transfer body heat to the environment. Now I see you have shade and water care, but you've had some hot days from what I gather. It may be worth seeing if there is any correlation between hot days and lash eggs.

Good point, Shad! We haven't hit 40 here but the humidity can be pretty awful.

 

[Ribh]

I know you've all probably twigged but Lottie is a bantam

 

[BY Bob]

Yes. She slept in a nesting box that night. I left her because I knew she was laying but have no idea when the egg actually arrived. I didn't notice it first thing either as it had been pushed into a corner.

So then I say it is nothing more than an old softshell egg. The water leaves the egg over time because there is no shell and you are left with something rubbery. I am much less worried about it now. Bump up her calcium if you can but let's see what the next one is. She may just be out of rhythm.

I'm sorry it took me so long to think of this. It has been nagging at me since you posted the photo.