Hen People??

charliesarmy

charliesarmy

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Got some ex-bats last October..8 of them...all non layers..within weeks they were laying again...well averaging 6 a day...then lost one coming out of winter :( then all were laying:D but recently one of the layers is producing the strangest shaped eggs:confused: they are oval shaped but the shell on one of the ends is deformed and in some cases looks like a *Mr Whippy ice-cream* any ideas to whats causing this or what to do to fix it?? also the *said* layer the egg produced is very large and has happened daily for the last week!!
 
I was told its just because they can! - Basically she is a bit slack around the old production channel and lays lumpy eggs. Our ex batts do this occasionally, and nothing can be done. We just tell everyone they are alien eggs - and the kids fight to have them.
 
Bosworth said:
I was told its just because they can! - Basically she is a bit slack around the old production channel and lays lumpy eggs. Our ex batts do this occasionally, and nothing can be done. We just tell everyone they are alien eggs - and the kids fight to have them.
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LOL I can get that!! they look like the cocoons..from the film Cocoon :D
 
Mine do that too. I was told it is because as they are being layed they are still slightly pliable so the large ones get squished a bit on the way out. A bit like babies heads - pointy lol. We have had some really strange shaped large ones...
 
Bosworth said:
oh no - nothing to do with grit - the egg shells are tough if they are like ours, just a saggy production line inside an over used hen
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Sad isn't it :(:(:( shells are tough but thin on all our layers!! just hoped it was'nt something awful happening to one of them :eek:
 
Yep they're funny! I can't understand why everyone doesn't have a couple of chickens in their back garden :) For what it costs to feed them it works out so much cheaper than buying eggs. Even cheaper still if you feed them all of the (vegi) table scraps too ;) And they taste better!

And the best thing with having 12 chucks is that selling the eggs pays my horses feed and shoeing! I have an honesty box in the garage so people just come and help themselves to half a dozen and pop a pound in :)
 
Hens need grit for digestion.
Hens need crushed oystershell for shell quality. Two different problems.
You can also crush old eggshells, dry them in the oven and feed those back to them.
 
yes Jemima they do - but both are present in a good quality layers pellet - and plenty more grit available in a free range area. It is dangerous to overfeed oystershells as they can cause problems with laying and research suggests that could contribute to a chicken being eggbound. As long as the hens have access to good quality layers pellets and have access to soil, they will be fine.
 
Odd shaped eggs or ones with crinkly shells are nothing to do with grit, it can be due to stress of some sort which can be through an IB (infectious bronchitis), high worm burden etc. Maybe worth worming the flock if you haven't done recently and listen to them when they have gone to bed to see if any are sneezing, if they are you may need to treat them with some antibiotics.
 
I have 3 girls they follow me every where. I had the back door open the other day i could hear the dog crying when i went in the chickens where in my kitchen drinking from the dogs bowl lol. I had one of those eggs the other day I thought it just might have come out funny lol. We have also had a little one as big as a crows egg.
 
Bosworth said:
yes Jemima they do - but both are present in a good quality layers pellet - and plenty more grit available in a free range area. It is dangerous to overfeed oystershells as they can cause problems with laying and research suggests that could contribute to a chicken being eggbound. As long as the hens have access to good quality layers pellets and have access to soil, they will be fine.
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I'll agree that calcium is available in layers pellets but grit, no, it's not. The manufacturers advise you that birds should have access to poultry grit at all times although they do also state that a free range diet should provide enough grit.

If a flock is fed on only a small amount of pellets and supplemented with straights, or indeed table scraps, then the calcium intake may be too low and cause thin shells.

Over the years I kept hens we have on occasion had thin shells, then we chuck in some oystershell and matters are resolved. I've never had an eggbound hen.
 
it's the calcium or rather lack of. Its very common in older hens.
1) feed the best layers pellets that you can afford (I like the A&P free range, or the FancyFeed ones)
2) provide oyster shell fine grits if you can get them (I find hens are more likely to eat these than the normal big ones) and include them mixed in with the pellets
3) make sure they are wormed and deloused regularly as these problems can contribute to poor shell quality.
4) don't limit them to vegi scraps, they are omnivores! Our hens love left over curry, but leave the rice! :confused:
5) avoid feeding them anything that is too fatty or has been fried as their guts can't cope with grease.

I love hens, they're brilliant. Ours rule the roost, and boss the cat and the dog about! They even chase pheasants away from the bird feeder, and shout at squirrels, pigeons and crows that try to use the bird feeder! They also run everywhere for no apparent reason, and use my mum's topiary bush that's in the shape of a hen as shelter! Ours follow you everywhere shouting at you until you feed them, have 3 beakfulls and then run off to continue doing whatever they were doing before!

ETA - we've always fed grit and never had an eggbound hen, it's far more common in young hens as they are more likely to produce double yolked eggs and then not have the right sized passages for them! Old birds shouldn't have any problems with large eggs.
 
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