Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

Frugaldom

Hi Julietiff, if your hen looks healthy, is eating, drinking and has access to grit etc then the odd shaped egg is probably just a sign she's getting a little 'on in age' for a layer. Nothing much to worry about unless she appears to be ill with it. I've read of hens laying what was described as 2 eggs conjoined with no ill effects, although I'd expect it to have been a bit uncomfortable for them - ouch! LOL Odd eggs get filtered out the food chain system, so we don't normally get to see them. Hope she's OK

Katharine

Oh sod that's mum up, I would automatically go for Kiera but she was first to go broody, could be alright. Just about to go pick my rhubarb and get the eggs too, still better today than tomorrow!

julietiff

nykmedia wrote: »

Hi Julietiff, if your hen looks healthy, is eating, drinking and has access to grit etc then the odd shaped egg is probably just a sign she's getting a little 'on in age' for a layer. Nothing much to worry about unless she appears to be ill with it. I've read of hens laying what was described as 2 eggs conjoined with no ill effects, although I'd expect it to have been a bit uncomfortable for them - ouch! LOL Odd eggs get filtered out the food chain system, so we don't normally get to see them. Hope she's OK

Yes they are all in good health, the egg isn't a funny shape at all, just a
perfect mini egg

Katharine

Well that's my chooks settled on their new eggs fingers crossed in 3 weeks I will have 12 more mini-chooks! I've put the 7 Maran eggs under one and the 5 Dorking under the other in the hope I will know which are which later, athough I doubt it will stay organised that way! I dicounted Angelina as I think she might make too enthusiasic a mother, and not let me near the chicks.

Nykmedia: TBH I would imagine the wasps have met their match with the chickens, and wasps stings arent that bat, but I can't back this up with facts.

julietiff: Mine have laid mini-eggs or long but thin eggs but that was due to them only having just started laying, so I don't know. Long thin eggs must be far more comfortable to lay tho.

Katharine

I went out to put them out to eat today and found Kylie with egg on her face and half of it still stuck to her chest, still eating it. The broken egg was all over the other eggs in her nest. I threw her out with the others in disgust, and quickly cleaned the eggs with a moist cloth and dried them.

So Kiera has 11 to hatch on her own as I don't trust having two broodies together now. I dont know if the broken egg was a result of a scuffle or if Kylie is just decided too, none of my chooks have eaten eggs before.

So I am now lamenting the loss of my Dorking, and wondering if the remaining eggs will be OK or could be compromised from the possible scuffle and subsequent cleaning. Plus worried if Kiera will manage 11 on her own, she is as good as gold but is only a medium sized chook, I'm sure she will try her best.

Frugaldom

Oh, sorry to read your news, Katharine! I'm sure the other hen will manage fine with 11 eggs. I keep the broodies completely seperate from the others when they are sitting on eggs, normally in a rabbit hutch so it's easily moved into a run if/when the eggs hatch. Is yours in beside the others?

Katharine

The two broodies were separated from the rest but were together. There are two dog kennels and runs they were all living in the first and I moved the others out to the one next door. Then theres a large outer area where they free range so I just opened the door to the secomd kennel rather than the first as usual.

Do you think they will be OK having been cleaned? The Dorking eggs are now slightly stained where they were dirtied, the Maran might be but they are dark brown so I can't tell.

Frugaldom

As long as they haven't been chilled and you didn't actually wash them with anything, just wiped them and replaced them before they went cold then they might be OK because you had just set them under her. (In saying that, some people wash eggs in sanitiser before setting them in incubators.) When laying the clutch in the first place, the eggs are warmed whenever the hen sits to lay another egg and then cooled again when she's out and about, so chances are they may not even have started developing yet. There's only one way to find out and it was better to find out right at the start. It's never a good idea to have 2 broodies together, they just don't like sharing once the protective bit kicks in. I wouldn't worry about staining, some of the eggs I've had given to me with broody hens have been mucky and still hatched OK

Katharine

Well I won't be from now on, mine actually choose to huddle up together when broody and there's never any aggression towards each other. My chicken woman said it should be fine, she has often kept broodies together with no problems and been keeping chooks for 20 years. Maybe hers weren't huddled up together. But I have also heard of two sitting on the same nest and being fine. She was also concerned about me putting 12 eggs under one.

I cleaned everything up as quickly as possible then put her straight back on, under ten minuites I'd say which should be fine.

My god if Kiera pulls this off shes going to be my golden girl, treats for her! Shes lovely anyway she doesn't try to peck, or skwak at me when I pick up off the nest like the others, just like her mum.

Decided to call my two future cockrels (hopefully) Quattro and Ovlov after our cars. Not that I name them, the designations are for identification purposes only.

PS: Do you happen to know of a Cream Legbar cockrel thats need a home (he'd be free range organic with his own hens) in Scotland as shes on the lookout for one?

KAAT_LADY

morning all ,,just a quickie to say I FOUND EIGHT EGGS THIS MORNING.. NICE