We’Ve been yolk.bombed again!

[Duckfarmer1]

I have written about this under the health forum, thought I’d switch it up a bit.for about 5 weeks...one of my hens...I have no background on them as I got them from a shut down farmin Bradfrod.... I have 12 chickens who laid great until...maybe 5 weeks ago..it was before the tie change issue. Now, eevery 2-3 times a week I get a nesting box full of yolk. There is absolutely no sign of anyone eating so I do not believe there ever was one. We do not have vets in our nearest three counties that treat chickens. But, I have no clue which bird is having the problem. I’ve read to offer ouster she’ll..we offer it free choice all day.....I also bring up th shells and feed the back to them...and we started buy theM the extra expensive. All flock for the protein. What else can can I do.even I could figure out which hen it is out f twenty..there’s no vet around here..any options?

 

[Shezadandy]

If it's always in a specific box, you could put a trail-cam or other recording device in there to see if you can catch which hen is doing it. If you can figure out who it is, adding calcium- like what you'd get in the supplements section - to that hen's diet might help her get over the edge. I want to say calcium citrate is the 'better' one - but that would be worth looking into - it's been too long since I looked at those posts. It would be only administered to that particular hen(s).

If you have crates and it wouldn't upset things too much - like during the day where you're around - give them all a turn in a controlled setting to see if you can find out that way. It is a frustrating problem.

 

[Ebony Rose]

I'm wondering if the same food coloring trick used to determine which hen is laying which egg might work to discover which hen is expelling these. It wouldn't hurt them to try it.

 

[GodofPecking]

BETTER FOOD.

please no bread and water for the prisoner anymore, think YOU, what would you like to eat, the same pellets every single day in and day out and scratch marks on the walls to keep track of how many terrible bland lumpy meals you've had ? Plus SHELLGRIT source of CALCIUM, they require this to make shells.

Make the nests darker so they can't see the eggs in the dark. that helps a lot.

CRUSH YOUR OLD EGGSHELLS and return them to the chooks in unrecognizable form. If you think it is some kind of health risk to the chooks, boil them first it will not effect the calcium content.

give them your food scraps, your neighbors foodscraps, all the local shops foodscraps, cut grass, handfuls of weeds, roadkill chopped up, whatever you can find.

Good nutrition is all they look for and it always fixes the problem, along with darkness.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Are they eating the oyster shell you are providing?

Mine refuse to touch the white stuff that looks like drywall crumbled up.

I bought Pacific pearl brand oyster shell and all my hens readily eat it. It actually looks like tiny shells.

All flock while higher in protein is lower in calcium. Something to be aware of.

 

[GodofPecking]

Oysters look and probably taste like snot. I just wanted to get that out there, now let me say that you can collect shell-grit if you live by the sea, and local laws and your paranoia about the police state allow. It often is just collected at certain beaches and you can always search online for beaches that have a lot of shells. They wash up on some beaches more than others according to the geometry and other factors. Also beach glass.

 

[NatJ]

Do you have any fake eggs in the nests?

If the problem is chickens breaking & eating eggs, a stone or ceramic egg can gradually re-train them that egg-shaped things are not good to eat.

If the problem is not egg-eating, a fake egg does no harm, although it also doesn't help.

If you want to find out if a specific hen is laying eggs with a problem, you can do as Shezadandy suggested, and put them one or a few at a time in a separate cage/crate to check their eggs.

 

[Duckfarmer1]

BETTER FOOD.

please no bread and water for the prisoner anymore, think YOU, what would you like to eat, the same pellets every single day in and day out and scratch marks on the walls to keep track of how many terrible bland lumpy meals you've had ? Plus SHELLGRIT source of CALCIUM, they require this to make shells.

Make the nests darker so they can't see the eggs in the dark. that helps a lot.

CRUSH YOUR OLD EGGSHELLS and return them to the chooks in unrecognizable form. If you think it is some kind of health risk to the chooks, boil them first it will not effect the calcium content.

give them your food scraps, your neighbors foodscraps, all the local shops foodscraps, cut grass, handfuls of weeds, roadkill chopped up, whatever you can find.

Good nutrition is all they look for and it always fixes the problem, along with darkness.

Well, I did say that I already crush up eggshells and buy oyster shells and feed them Purina all flock....we have been giving our table scraps to the pigs and goats but we can give them to the chickens....grass is long gone...same with weeds....how do we make the nests darker...paint? I have wood shavings on the bottom layer and hay on top....our nesting boxes are a long hallway outside of the coop.

 

[Duckfarmer1]

Are they eating the oyster shell you are providing?

Mine refuse to touch the white stuff that looks like drywall crumbled up.

I bought Pacific pearl brand oyster shell and all my hens readily eat it. It actually looks like tiny shells.

All flock while higher in protein is lower in calcium. Something to be aware of.

We buy our feed from a feed store that makes everything..but I closely monitor tags for vitamins and minerals and protein..we just switched this week to the all flock because I was sick of the yolk issue...the oyster shells are just my feed store own stuff....they love it....can’t keep it filled up fast enough.

 

[Duckfarmer1]

Do you have any fake eggs in the nests?

If the problem is chickens breaking & eating eggs, a stone or ceramic egg can gradually re-train them that egg-shaped things are not good to eat.

If the problem is not egg-eating, a fake egg does no harm, although it also doesn't help.

If you want to find out if a specific hen is laying eggs with a problem, you can do as Shezadandy suggested, and put them one or a few at a time in a separate cage/crate to check their eggs.

I will try the fake eggs...and I suppose even the crate thing.. because I can’t stand losing eggs! So thank you!