- Mar 22, 2016
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So my now two and a half year old Asil hen, Treacle, has always been a strange girl. Bigger than the average for her breed and super dominant, T Rex-like you could say. She is the stubbornnest broody I've ever encountered and mothers chicks for four months each time. Consequently I have let her hatch and raise chicks four times already. At one point between clutches and resuming laying, she took up crowing for a bit. She is like a sleek black tank, massive compared to my flock of tiny bantams and a treat claiming machine.
And she lays weird eggs. She has had a few health problems in the past. She vacuumed up some thumb tacks once, pooped black for a while. Carried on. Ripped a toenail off. Blood everywhere. Carried on. Got in many scraps with lesser chickens. Won and carried on. But right now she is seemingly fit as a fiddle. Eats 18% protein layer pellets with oyster shell as wanted. Free ranges in my 300 square foot rugged garden all day. Gets a small amount of table scraps most days.
When she lays she does so for maximum two months before going broody. And every cycle of eggs is the same. The eggs start out light brown, smooth and large, but soon the shells deteriorate. They get creases, the colour turns almost white, the shapes become irregular, and the little calcium nobbles appear. They get so bad that i am always glad when she goes broody again because her poor shell glad must need a rest.
I've read all the charts for egg shell issues and she seems to have none of the health problems they suggest. I don't know how much stress she could have as the Queen of the Garden who tramples blithely over all including my top rooster who literally cowers whenever she answers his tidbit call. She has her own nest box and as I said, free ranges during daylight hours. So what is going on with the egg shells?
Here are some photos of this morning's egg:
And she lays weird eggs. She has had a few health problems in the past. She vacuumed up some thumb tacks once, pooped black for a while. Carried on. Ripped a toenail off. Blood everywhere. Carried on. Got in many scraps with lesser chickens. Won and carried on. But right now she is seemingly fit as a fiddle. Eats 18% protein layer pellets with oyster shell as wanted. Free ranges in my 300 square foot rugged garden all day. Gets a small amount of table scraps most days.
When she lays she does so for maximum two months before going broody. And every cycle of eggs is the same. The eggs start out light brown, smooth and large, but soon the shells deteriorate. They get creases, the colour turns almost white, the shapes become irregular, and the little calcium nobbles appear. They get so bad that i am always glad when she goes broody again because her poor shell glad must need a rest.
I've read all the charts for egg shell issues and she seems to have none of the health problems they suggest. I don't know how much stress she could have as the Queen of the Garden who tramples blithely over all including my top rooster who literally cowers whenever she answers his tidbit call. She has her own nest box and as I said, free ranges during daylight hours. So what is going on with the egg shells?
Here are some photos of this morning's egg:
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i have never seen any major respiratory symptoms except the odd sneeze from her. The inside of her eggs seem fine, quite dark orange yolks and very tasty! Not runny, and no other strange stuff inside the eggs. Never had a soft shelled egg from her either.
