Limiting Sunlight to Slow Egg Laying (and to prevent EYP)

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

My tiny, almost 2 year old EE has a history of egg laying troubles. Despite her size, the poor girl tends to crank out eggs as big as the rest of 'em, and at faster the rate.

Last spring/summer her egg laying became closer in time to one another, and with that her shell quality degraded: first the shells got pimply in texture and lost color, then they got thinner and more fragile, and then finally she began laying some shell less eggs--often from the roost or in the run. Before, during, and after laying these eggs she'd get lethargic--penguin stance, eyes closing, clear fluid leaking from her vent, sometimes panting. She'd bounce back a bit later only to deal with the same thing the next day. And then one day, this past September, the worst happened: an egg broke inside her. Luckily I caught it immediately, got her to pass the rest and then got her in to see a vet. She then fought EYP over a long month, during which time I truly didn't think she'd make it. But meantime, while kept in a pen in my dark-ish basement (some natural light but not all day), she started molting, stopped laying, and one day suddenly bounced back. We had been close to putting her down!

Well she'd since gone back with her flock and started laying again a couple months ago. Healthy, beautiful eggs regularly. But a couple weeks ago her old pattern started up: laying too often, shell quality degrading, becoming lethargic, with clear fluid seeping from her vent before and after laying (thankfully they have stilled been shelled--on the thinner side but intact).

So, I've begun three things: treating her with curcumin which is supposed to be an anti-inflammatory (via turmeric, dosed orally in a mash), giving her small amounts of a calcium supplement, and limiting her sunlight to 8-9 hours a day. Since starting a few days ago, her laying has begun to slow down a bit, so that each day she lays, she's laying an hour or two later than the day before, which is huge. And her shell quality has been decent for her. Not great but not further deteriorating and still on the thicker side of being thin shelled. She's also acting less lethargic around those times. Her poop seems okay and her crop is working (used to be it'd temporarily stop up when she had an egg she needed to pass).

Has anyone else tried the light reduction, or any of the above? I feel cruel taking her in for a few hours each morning--especially if she's acting vibrant--but I try to tell myself it's ultimately for the best (and she still spends most of her day with the gang). I'm looking for any and all advice. Should this fail I may look into the hormonal implant. But I think her issue is with overproduction, so that her little body can't keep up and becomes depleted. Hopefully slowing her down will allow her to still lay but not in a way that kills her.

*I should also note that both times her issues began it was when our hours of daylight started to increase--and her egg laying did too (such that not even 24 hours would pass and she'd be laying again). So hopefully less daylight = less overproduction of eggs.

 

[sourland]

It sounds as if what you are doing is having a positive effect.

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

Update: I've been doing the following for over 2 weeks with wonderful results. My hen is now thriving and laying strong healthy eggs every day:

• 1/4 tsp turmeric daily for inflammation, which is often a cause, result, or otherwise a contributing factor in reproductive issues (including eyp)
• 1/4 contents of human calcium softgel once every other day and as eggs stabilize, every couple days for maintenance.
• Limit time in sunlight to 8-10 hours a day. I take my girl into a darkened coop from 7a-noon and then put her back with the others. This will change as days get longer/shorter

I hope this helps others who may be dealing with shell gland issues or recurring eyp!!

 

[kristieh]

My tiny, almost 2 year old EE has a history of egg laying troubles. Despite her size, the poor girl tends to crank out eggs as big as the rest of 'em, and at faster the rate.

Last spring/summer her egg laying became closer in time to one another, and with that her shell quality degraded: first the shells got pimply in texture and lost color, then they got thinner and more fragile, and then finally she began laying some shell less eggs--often from the roost or in the run. Before, during, and after laying these eggs she'd get lethargic--penguin stance, eyes closing, clear fluid leaking from her vent, sometimes panting. She'd bounce back a bit later only to deal with the same thing the next day. And then one day, this past September, the worst happened: an egg broke inside her. Luckily I caught it immediately, got her to pass the rest and then got her in to see a vet. She then fought EYP over a long month, during which time I truly didn't think she'd make it. But meantime, while kept in a pen in my dark-ish basement (some natural light but not all day), she started molting, stopped laying, and one day suddenly bounced back. We had been close to putting her down!

Well she'd since gone back with her flock and started laying again a couple months ago. Healthy, beautiful eggs regularly. But a couple weeks ago her old pattern started up: laying too often, shell quality degrading, becoming lethargic, with clear fluid seeping from her vent before and after laying (thankfully they have stilled been shelled--on the thinner side but intact).

So, I've begun three things: treating her with curcumin which is supposed to be an anti-inflammatory (via turmeric, dosed orally in a mash), giving her small amounts of a calcium supplement, and limiting her sunlight to 8-9 hours a day. Since starting a few days ago, her laying has begun to slow down a bit, so that each day she lays, she's laying an hour or two later than the day before, which is huge. And her shell quality has been decent for her. Not great but not further deteriorating and still on the thicker side of being thin shelled. She's also acting less lethargic around those times. Her poop seems okay and her crop is working (used to be it'd temporarily stop up when she had an egg she needed to pass).

Has anyone else tried the light reduction, or any of the above? I feel cruel taking her in for a few hours each morning--especially if she's acting vibrant--but I try to tell myself it's ultimately for the best (and she still spends most of her day with the gang). I'm looking for any and all advice. Should this fail I may look into the hormonal implant. But I think her issue is with overproduction, so that her little body can't keep up and becomes depleted. Hopefully slowing her down will allow her to still lay but not in a way that kills her.

*I should also note that both times her issues began it was when our hours of daylight started to increase--and her egg laying did too (such that not even 24 hours would pass and she'd be laying again). So hopefully less daylight = less overproduction of eggs.

I have a girl with the same problem, so I had her implanted by the vet to stop her from laying altogether, it lasted for 5 and 1/2 months. She had no problem after that but on vet advice I only let her lay for 6 months at a time and have her implanted for the other part of the year.

 

[Katanahamon]

My tiny, almost 2 year old EE has a history of egg laying troubles. Despite her size, the poor girl tends to crank out eggs as big as the rest of 'em, and at faster the rate.

Last spring/summer her egg laying became closer in time to one another, and with that her shell quality degraded: first the shells got pimply in texture and lost color, then they got thinner and more fragile, and then finally she began laying some shell less eggs--often from the roost or in the run. Before, during, and after laying these eggs she'd get lethargic--penguin stance, eyes closing, clear fluid leaking from her vent, sometimes panting. She'd bounce back a bit later only to deal with the same thing the next day. And then one day, this past September, the worst happened: an egg broke inside her. Luckily I caught it immediately, got her to pass the rest and then got her in to see a vet. She then fought EYP over a long month, during which time I truly didn't think she'd make it. But meantime, while kept in a pen in my dark-ish basement (some natural light but not all day), she started molting, stopped laying, and one day suddenly bounced back. We had been close to putting her down!

Well she'd since gone back with her flock and started laying again a couple months ago. Healthy, beautiful eggs regularly. But a couple weeks ago her old pattern started up: laying too often, shell quality degrading, becoming lethargic, with clear fluid seeping from her vent before and after laying (thankfully they have stilled been shelled--on the thinner side but intact).

So, I've begun three things: treating her with curcumin which is supposed to be an anti-inflammatory (via turmeric, dosed orally in a mash), giving her small amounts of a calcium supplement, and limiting her sunlight to 8-9 hours a day. Since starting a few days ago, her laying has begun to slow down a bit, so that each day she lays, she's laying an hour or two later than the day before, which is huge. And her shell quality has been decent for her. Not great but not further deteriorating and still on the thicker side of being thin shelled. She's also acting less lethargic around those times. Her poop seems okay and her crop is working (used to be it'd temporarily stop up when she had an egg she needed to pass).

Has anyone else tried the light reduction, or any of the above? I feel cruel taking her in for a few hours each morning--especially if she's acting vibrant--but I try to tell myself it's ultimately for the best (and she still spends most of her day with the gang). I'm looking for any and all advice. Should this fail I may look into the hormonal implant. But I think her issue is with overproduction, so that her little body can't keep up and becomes depleted. Hopefully slowing her down will allow her to still lay but not in a way that kills her.

*I should also note that both times her issues began it was when our hours of daylight started to increase--and her egg laying did too (such that not even 24 hours would pass and she'd be laying again). So hopefully less daylight = less overproduction of eggs.

In Gail Damerow’s book on Chicken Health she recommends limiting to only 8 hours of light in cases of prolapse to hopefully prevent laying, so, yes, this is a proven technique to help them heal from certain ailments..

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

In Gail Damerow’s book on Chicken Health she recommends limiting to only 8 hours of light in cases of prolapse to hopefully prevent laying, so, yes, this is a proven technique to help them heal from certain ailments..

I'll have to check that out! So it's been a few months now and the whole reducing sunlight thing is working for her. It's crazy though--even with 9 hours spent in the dark, she STILL lays an egg every day (this is with less than 5 hours of sunlight). If I slack off just a little and she gets more like 8 hours in the dark, she'll lay a thin, fragile-shelled egg from her roost. Her egg-makrr is ramped up!

I can't wait till she molts--typically that's when she takes a long break from laying and can be out with the others all day. And she's usually good till late Spring/early summer when her egg maker gets all ramped up again.