MJ's little flock

[MaryJanet]

Once I've seen how bad things are, I'll decide a course of action.

Possibly she broke it with her spurs? Possibly she broke it with her weight? Possibly it was broken by the fake eggs?

Are they all broken?

Only one?

If a big Welsummer egg is broken, what about the little bantam eggs?

I've turned my electric blanket on a mid-range heat to keep any remaining eggs warm while Mary's washed.

It's still daylight, so I won't know anything more for a few hours yet.

 

[Perris]

have a close look at the shell remains too - was that egg unusually thin?

If there are egg remains over the other eggs, keeping the nest clean will be paramount to minimise the risk of infection getting into them.

Mary may not need washing; she may have cleaned up herself. Personally I wouldn't do it, for fear of breaking her. This happens sometimes in the wild and life finds a way. Human interference sometimes does more harm than good, despite the best intentions.

 

[MaryJanet]

have a close look at the shell remains too - was that egg unusually thin?

If there are egg remains over the other eggs, keeping the nest clean will be paramount to minimise the risk of infection getting into them.

Mary may not need washing; she may have cleaned up herself. Personally I wouldn't do it, for fear of breaking her. This happens sometimes in the wild and life finds a way. Human interference sometimes does more harm than good, despite the best intentions.

I have spare straw, so I can easily replace the fouled nest with a fresh one.

 

[MaryJanet]

have a close look at the shell remains too - was that egg unusually thin?

If there are egg remains over the other eggs, keeping the nest clean will be paramount to minimise the risk of infection getting into them.

Mary may not need washing; she may have cleaned up herself. Personally I wouldn't do it, for fear of breaking her. This happens sometimes in the wild and life finds a way. Human interference sometimes does more harm than good, despite the best intentions.

Actually, the shell does seem thinner than I'm used too.

 

[Perris]

I have spare straw, so I can easily replace the fouled nest with a fresh one.

and it's a brand new coop, so you couldn't wish for more in the circumstances. The egg contents themselves will have been sterile. The shell may have been carrying bugs from its laying environment, the breeder's hands and packing environment, and the packing materials, but they are likely to be minimal given what you said and showed of the breeder's place. So I would be optimistic.

 

[MaryJanet]

I'm back from investigating and clean up.

I believe the Welsummer egg was broken by one of the false eggs, possibly because the Welsummer egg had a thin shell.

Here are the two false eggs.

In my haste, I mistook one of the remaining Welsummer eggs for a false egg, dropped it into a bucket stuffed with a sheet (soft landing) then dropped a real false egg on it. And cracked it v disappointed in myself. Again, a thin shell may have been in the mix? But certainly my foolishness carries most of the blame.

Here's the cracked Welsummer egg.

She has all the bantam eggs and one Welsummer egg.

Here's my procedure, which was good.

I prepared a Mary-sized plastic tub full of straw and a bucket stuffed with a sheet. Soft places for eggs.

I placed a white sheet on the roof of the coop to aid visibility when inspecting Mary.

I picked Mary up and placed her on the white sheet.

I picked up all the eggs and had my catastrophe with the Welsummer egg.

The good eggs were put in the tub of straw. The false and damaged egg went in the bucket.

I examined Mary as quickly as I could. @Perris you were right. The nesting straw had absorbed the egg that had broken in the nest. She had some straw stuck to her but she felt dry.

I put her in the tub, on the eggs.

I removed all the old straw.

I didn't see exactly what I removed, but there was some solid in there, presumably congealed yolk and shell.

I pulled out the tray and saw where the egg had seeped across because it had straw dust adhered.

I got a clean cloth and put bleach on it and wiped the tray. Then I used a second clean cloth to wipe the bleach away and replaced the tray.

I put Mary back on the roof.

I looked closely at the remaining four eggs, which were dry, but one had one of Mary's feathers stuck on, so I peeled it off.

They went into a different part of the bucket.

I stuffed the straw from the tub into the coop quick as I could and evened it out so all spots were equally thick.

I put the eggs in.

I put Mary in.

I put everything away.

I checked and Mary was on her eggs.

One improvement for next time: have more straw on hand so Mary can continue on the eggs in the plastic tub while the new nest is put in place. I'll stock up tomorrow and always keep two spare bales on hand.

Tomorrow when she gets up for self-care i will be making a fuller examination of the eggs and nest, and possibly add more straw just in case. It's thick enough but I'd like it thicker just in case.

All thoughts or comments are welcome.

 

[MaryJanet]

Lesson learned: under a broody, false eggs and real eggs do not mix.