The Moonshiner's Leghorns

[Kung_pao]

I love the dark brown eggs of Marans but the nesting material sure tends to stick to it!

That’s true, and if you try to wash them they super slippery for some reason. I rinse my eggs with peroxide before incubating and those buggers are hard to hold on to. I guess it’s that outer layer of brown they deposit.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

That’s true, and if you try to wash them they super slippery for some reason. I rinse my eggs with peroxide before incubating and those buggers are hard to hold on to. I guess it’s that outer layer of brown they deposit.

Either the dense coat of pigment or the bloom, I don't know which but they are definitely wet!

 

[KF0002]

I feed mine a chick starter that is 20% protein. Any snacks are fruit, veggies, some seeds, and BSF larva. I’ve watched them catch frogs and voles when they are free-ranging so they also know how to get more protein in their diet.

Yes they are definitely predators and will eat anything that does not eat them first. lol

Chick starter is good when they are young, but they can be transitioned to an adult formula at around 3-4 months old.

 

[KF0002]

New layer, but def bigger than your typical pullet egg. And an absolutely gorgeous shade of blue!

Was it a double yolker? That may have contributed to her difficulty passing it if she is a new layer.

 

[KF0002]

Glad she was able to pass it! @BigBlueHen53

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Glad she was able to pass it! @BigBlueHen53

Thank you!

Was it a double yolker? That may have contributed to her difficulty passing it if she is a new layer.

Did not open it, will weigh it tomorrow. Does not look big eniugh to be a double. But not small like a pullet egg, about the size of a regular egg. I think this was her first.

Is she more likely to continue to have difficulty? Is she more likely than not to prolapse? She sure was trying tonight, I had to hold her together for nearly ten minutes before she quit pushing after I got the egg out. I marked her with leg bands so I can keep an eye on her. And should I continue giving her calcium tablets for a few days?

 

[KF0002]

Thank you!

Did not open it, will weigh it tomorrow. Does not look big eniugh to be a double. But not small like a pullet egg, about the size of a regular egg. I think this was her first.

Is she more likely to continue to have difficulty? Is she more likely than not to prolapse? She sure was trying tonight, I had to hold her together for nearly ten minutes before she quit pushing after I got the egg out. I marked her with leg bands so I can keep an eye on her. And should I continue giving her calcium tablets for a few days?

If she continues to lay larger eggs, she hopefully will get used to it and be okay. Their first egg is usually their hardest, and it's common to see a little blood on their first egg or two even. But their reproductive tract gets used to laying and I've seen little bitty game and leghorn pullets lay big whopper double yolkers, so they get used to laying and eventually are like a well oiled machine. That first egg is probably the hardest on them, so hopefully all goes well with the subsequent eggs she lays. Definitely supplement with free choice oyster shell. Our leghorns go full ham on oyster shell and eat a ton of it, because they deplete their calcium stores laying so many eggs. So it makes since they eat more oyster shell than our other breeds.

You would be surprised what a pullet double yolker looks like. Our white leghorn pullets pretty regularly lay double yolkers and their double yolked eggs when they are young are the same size as the mature white leghorn hen's eggs. Double yolkers are fun, but not for a brand new layer I'm sure. lol Bless her heart if that was the case.

 

[KF0002]

We even get triple yolkers every once in a great while from the older white leghorn hens and they look like duck or goose eggs! I have no idea how those huge of eggs come out of such small hens like the Leghorns. It blows my mind! Ouch.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Yup, there's always OS out there, right next to the grit. I keep them in gravity-feed cat-food feeders and don't have to fill them up but about once or twice a year. I tell people I'm not lazy, I'm efficient, but yeah, I'm probably a bit lazy too, lol.

 

[KF0002]

Give plenty of calcium (oyster shell) and they should be just fine. A friend of mine had a young peafowl hen to prolapse recently and I talked him through it. He was freaking out for sure. All you have to do is put some granulated sugar on the prolapse (coat it all well) and keep the hen in a warm and dark place so she doesn't move around a whole lot. It helps by osmotic pressure and reduces the edema in the tissue. The sugar reduced the prolapse beautifully and he didn't lose his very expensive peafowl hen. Thank God! If the prolapse doesn't reduce on it's own after 30 minutes to an hour of the sugar application, you can gently attempt to reduce the prolapse with a lubed finger and hopefully it stays in.