hikaribug
In the Brooder
- Apr 23, 2015
- 12
- 0
- 22
Hi all,
I've had three hens since April - a Columbian blacktail, an Amber Star and a Light Sussex. Not sure of their age when I got them but they were pretty young with very small undeveloped pink combs & wattles, and weren't old enough to lay. Blacktail has now been laying for about 8 weeks, the Amber for about 6 weeks and the Light Sussex for about a month. The Blacktail initially laid a few soft-shelled and shell-less eggs before starting to lay normally, and the other two just started to lay regular eggs without any problems.
They have all always laid in their nest box without any issue. Initially I had fake eggs in the nest box to encourage them but because they were all laying in there properly, I removed them a couple of weeks ago. Suddenly, in the past week I've found 3 eggs sitting in the dirt in their run away from the nest box. Today I found one under the perches in their house, in the wood shavings. There's also been a couple of soft-shelled eggs, one firm rubbery egg in the dirt in the run and one that was just a splodge of egg white and yolk without any shell, in the house under the perches.
A few days ago, one of the hens laid a really huge egg that was a double yolker, and I assumed that the soft-shelled and strangely-placed eggs were from her as a sort of reaction to perhaps being sore or the stress of laying the big egg. However, today there was an egg in their house under the perches and another one in the dirt, so it must be more than one hen laying strangely. The egg in the house had a normal shell but also had membraney stuff stuck to the outside like it had the beginnings of another egg attached to it.
As far as I'm aware nothing's changed in their environment. They have grit mixed with oyster shell available at all times and are fed a layers pellet mix. They get occasional treats (cooked veg, cooked egg white, lettuce leaves, chopped wheatgrass, dried mealworms, seed mix). Once or twice a week I give them a small amount of crushed egg shell from their own eggs. Their environment is kept clean and tidy, I remove poop and soiled wood shavings from their house daily. There was perhaps not a thick enough layer of straw in the nest box (although they have laid in there some days), I have added plenty more clean straw so there's more than enough to make a comfy nest in, and I've also put back a couple of fake eggs in there.
Once a week I add a vitamin mix to their water - NetTex Vit Boost.
Hens all appear bright and active, eating well, behaving normally. No visible signs of any problems. They were all vaccinated for a wide range of diseases before I got them including Marek's, salmonella, etc.
Am I missing anything? Is this normal in young layers, even ones that have been laying without problems for a while? Is there anything else I can do to encourage them to lay in the nest box every time?
Should they have a pot of oyster shell separate to the grit rather than having one pot with both mixed in?
Thanks!
I've had three hens since April - a Columbian blacktail, an Amber Star and a Light Sussex. Not sure of their age when I got them but they were pretty young with very small undeveloped pink combs & wattles, and weren't old enough to lay. Blacktail has now been laying for about 8 weeks, the Amber for about 6 weeks and the Light Sussex for about a month. The Blacktail initially laid a few soft-shelled and shell-less eggs before starting to lay normally, and the other two just started to lay regular eggs without any problems.
They have all always laid in their nest box without any issue. Initially I had fake eggs in the nest box to encourage them but because they were all laying in there properly, I removed them a couple of weeks ago. Suddenly, in the past week I've found 3 eggs sitting in the dirt in their run away from the nest box. Today I found one under the perches in their house, in the wood shavings. There's also been a couple of soft-shelled eggs, one firm rubbery egg in the dirt in the run and one that was just a splodge of egg white and yolk without any shell, in the house under the perches.
A few days ago, one of the hens laid a really huge egg that was a double yolker, and I assumed that the soft-shelled and strangely-placed eggs were from her as a sort of reaction to perhaps being sore or the stress of laying the big egg. However, today there was an egg in their house under the perches and another one in the dirt, so it must be more than one hen laying strangely. The egg in the house had a normal shell but also had membraney stuff stuck to the outside like it had the beginnings of another egg attached to it.
As far as I'm aware nothing's changed in their environment. They have grit mixed with oyster shell available at all times and are fed a layers pellet mix. They get occasional treats (cooked veg, cooked egg white, lettuce leaves, chopped wheatgrass, dried mealworms, seed mix). Once or twice a week I give them a small amount of crushed egg shell from their own eggs. Their environment is kept clean and tidy, I remove poop and soiled wood shavings from their house daily. There was perhaps not a thick enough layer of straw in the nest box (although they have laid in there some days), I have added plenty more clean straw so there's more than enough to make a comfy nest in, and I've also put back a couple of fake eggs in there.
Once a week I add a vitamin mix to their water - NetTex Vit Boost.
Hens all appear bright and active, eating well, behaving normally. No visible signs of any problems. They were all vaccinated for a wide range of diseases before I got them including Marek's, salmonella, etc.
Am I missing anything? Is this normal in young layers, even ones that have been laying without problems for a while? Is there anything else I can do to encourage them to lay in the nest box every time?
Should they have a pot of oyster shell separate to the grit rather than having one pot with both mixed in?
Thanks!
Last edited:
