Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[corewassen87]

sooo if someone had rats in their coop. Would they eat just the inside of the egg and leave the shell or would they carry the whole siht away and enjoy elsewhere?! I saw a rat this winter but haven't seen one since and I haven't gotten any eggs the last 3 days. Just trying to eliminate possibilities. I plan to lock up the girls tonite and keep them locked up for a day or two to see if they're laying elsewhere as well

 

[bigzio]

Don't know for sure, but would suspect egg eating chickens first off. It is a bad habit spread to others in the flock really fast. In regards to the rats,if you saw one then you have them dug under somewhere....I've been trying to eliminate them here for a while now. It's really a challenge to kill the rats and not the chickens if one considers poison. With all the spilled feed chickens create, the rats have plenty to eat and won't touch poison.....I don't have egg number problems and collect a couple times a day. I hope you don't have egg eaters. That is not good or easy to correct. Curtains hung over the entrance to the nests helps a lot. Egg eaters can't eat eggs they can't see.

bigz

 

[chikenscratch]

So far no more sick hens.
I've got 29 eggs out in the coop for hatching: 14 speckled sussex and 15 welsummers. Now if I can get 2 hens to commit to being broodies!
Wish me luck all around !!!
In the event no one commits, how long do I have until the eggs aren't viable for hatching? IE when should I consider an incubator?

 

[Celtic Chick]

So far no more sick hens.
I've got 29 eggs out in the coop for hatching: 14 speckled sussex and 15 welsummers. Now if I can get 2 hens to commit to being broodies!
Wish me luck all around !!!
In the event no one commits, how long do I have until the eggs aren't viable for hatching? IE when should I consider an incubator?

I think Terri O. has hatched out eggs that were a couple months old, but the older the eggs, the less % will hatch.

Glad you have had no more losses. I have had birds that had liquid pour out of their mouths before they died. It just happens sometimes.

Good luck K!

 

[Celtic Chick]

Unk!

 

[chikenscratch]

CC I'm still holding my breath on the health of the hens. If they all make it to Friday with no sign of sickness, I might start thinking they're ok.

 

[jvls1942]

corey, do you have a dog /? after dog eating the eggs, then I would suspect the chickens. If you have feed on the floor, a rat is less likely to go after the eggs.
the old timers said that if you see one rat, there are a hundred that you didn't see.

If it were me, I wouldn't wait around for a broody.
two weeks old is about my limit for incubating eggs.
also, I do not put eggs into the incubator until they are about 2 or 3 days old. but that is just me.

look at it this way. a chicken will lay an egg a day, more or less. at that rate it takes almost two weeks for her to fill her nest. so the first egg is two weeks old.

........jiminwisc.....

 

[corewassen87]

well I know it's not the dogs cuz the service door stays closed and they don't fit thru the chicken door. I didn't think a chicken would eat the shell and everything. There's not even bedding stuck together in the nesting box from the egg or anything. I'll see what's in there after work I guess. Hopefully they just needed a reminder where to lay

 

[wyoDreamer]

I have a chicken that lays shell-less eggs and I have a couple that are more than ready to clean up after her and they are pretty effective at the clean-up. The only sign of egg clean-up that I get some days is the bottom of the nestbox is slightly gooey. I have found a piece of egg shell in the nest box once, so they are also ready to clean up any eggs that are cracked by clumsy (or not so clumsy) feet while rearranging the eggs in the nest.

I have one chicken that is nearly bald and has been slowly losing feathers all winter. She seems pretty healthy otherwise. I tried blucoat a couple of times but that didn't help. I don't know if the other chickens are picking her feathers or what is going on, but I think I will need to cull her ... always sad to do. I am hoping that she is the one with the egg laying problem because that would take care of the other problem also.

I will need to replenish my flock this spring/summer. Anyone going to have any buckeye chicks for sale? I may have a co-worker who would like some also.

Any suggestions for chicken breeds to add to the flock? looking for a small combed, dual purpose bird.

 

[jvls1942]

good morning,

dreamer, Rhode Island red, Buff Orpington, Barred Rock.
all are good layers,
for all winter long layers, I choose Buff Orps.
when I had just them, one day in Jan, I had 100% egg production.

I either have a broody or just a nasT spirited pullet.
If she is in the nest, I get pecked when I take the eggs out.

Kind of funny to have a first time POL go broody before laying any eggs.. or she might have layed some eggs, but not many ..

chickens will clean up the shells. when I find a broken egg in the nest, I throw it on the floor and it is gone immediately.

.......jiminwisc......



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