Who lays which egg?

[Sally8]

I have a hen that has consistently laid a very soft shelled egg or no shell at all. I've put several dishes out with oyster shell and even put a little in their food. This has been going on for over 2 yr. What a mess every night. The other girls can't lay their eggs in another nest, they have to all lay in the same one There are only 5 hens in this coop. Have you ever separated them to see who is laying what egg? If any of these 5 get separated from each other they go nuts. I guess I'll see how it goes.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

I have a hen that has consistently laid a very soft shelled egg or no shell at all. I've put several dishes out with oyster shell and even put a little in their food. This has been going on for over 2 yr. What a mess every night. The other girls can't lay their eggs in another nest, they have to all lay in the same one There are only 5 hens in this coop. Have you ever separated them to see who is laying what egg? If any of these 5 get separated from each other they go nuts. I guess I'll see how it goes.

If it has been going on for that long, she has an absorption issue. Isolate individually for three days at a time until you find the one laying the bad egg. I would cull her unless she is a pet, then you may have to continue dealing with it.

 

[donrae]

I agree with Turtle. They don't like being seperated but just pull each one to a seperate cage for a few days and see what's what. I'd cull a bird with these longstanding problems, personally.

 

[Sally8]

Culling is the plan but it's stressful for them to be separated. I should have done it along time ago. Thanks for the back up.

 

[Lmjc]

I've asked the same answer, and apparently if you feed them tuna catfood in the can it gives them a huge boost of protein needed to harden shells and make feathers strong, another trick I've heard is like crickets and grasshoppers, which can be bought at any bait shop hope this helped

 

[hollys chooks]

When I spend a morning in the garden with my girls I know who goes in the nest box when. Checking between them going in you find who lays what egg. Even with a little observation you should be able to narrow down which one it is. I have one chook who lays very soft shelled eggs that always break. Thankfully she only lays rarely now or I think I would have to cull her, not a decision I want to make.

 

[donrae]

When I spend a morning in the garden with my girls I know who goes in the nest box when. Checking between them going in you find who lays what egg. Even with a little observation you should be able to narrow down which one it is. I have one chook who lays very soft shelled eggs that always break. Thankfully she only lays rarely now or I think I would have to cull her, not a decision I want to make.

This is nice in theory, but when you leave the house at 7 am and don't get home until 4-5 pm it's not really feasible for a lot of us.

Give a great big kiss to whoever allows you to stay home tonight!

 

[Sally8]

This is nice in theory, but when you leave the house at 7 am and don't get home until 4-5 pm it's not really feasible for a lot of us.

Give a great big kiss to whoever allows you to stay home tonight!

When I spend a morning in the garden with my girls I know who goes in the nest box when. Checking between them going in you find who lays what egg. Even with a little observation you should be able to narrow down which one it is. I have one chook who lays very soft shelled eggs that always break. Thankfully she only lays rarely now or I think I would have to cull her, not a decision I want to make.

I have to agree with donrae, I only wish I could stay at home to sit in my garden. This year it only got a lick and a promise. Because I have 5 older hens by themselves and they were my first, I haven't even considered culling her. She's more of family than an egg producer I have 2 EE, one lays a green egg the other a pinkish one and there is 1 RIR and 2 Delaware. (All brown, I think, lol. If it only had a shell!) I think it is little red hen and that is why I let it go so long. With winter coming on. my mother recently being diagnosed with lymphoma and my husband will lose his job on Dec 24, I'm putting my 4 yr old Border Collie down on Thursday for trying to bite my 4 yr old grandson in the face,

I feel a little overwhelmed and adding that I have to change 1 of my nests almost every night is too much right now. There are blessings in everything. My husband has worked at Sikoresky Aircraft for 15 yrs (Before that Boeing) and the owners recently decided to close the facility down for good. 600 people will lose their jobs Christmas Eve. The blessing...My husband was due to retire Sept 2013. He'll be 65 in May.

The dog in my avatar is Cooper, my aussie. He tends to be over protective also. My rule. No one bites my grandchildren.

 

[hollys chooks]

This is nice in theory, but when you leave the house at 7 am and don't get home until 4-5 pm it's not really feasible for a lot of us.

Give a great big kiss to whoever allows you to stay home tonight!

There's no one here to kiss but me and 4 chickens, but I'm sure they'll give me a peck on the cheek.

I know there's the terrible thing called work that keeps us from spending time with chickens but surely you get the occasional day off.

 

[Sally8]

When I spend a morning in the garden with my girls I know who goes in the nest box when. Checking between them going in you find who lays what egg. Even with a little observation you should be able to narrow down which one it is. I have one chook who lays very soft shelled eggs that always break. Thankfully she only lays rarely now or I think I would have to cull her, not a decision I want to make.

I meant to ask, is it a flower garden? That would be heaven every morning. Last night a bear went down our road (we live out in the boonies) and got into peoples trash and yesterday I saw this very ugly creature under the wood pile. I usually love all animals (except snakes) and I couldn't move. It was so ugly!

I had to go in and look him up on the internet. It's a Spotted Salamander, and was about 6 in long.