Porkypie Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 My Bluebelle is about 21weeks and tends to lay one small normal egg followed by a few days of softies the latter of which have been eaten on a couple of occasions leaving a right mess in the nest box So I am a bit concerend about her developing an egg-eating habbit. This has been going on for a few weeks now - is this still normal and just her system getting used to egg laying or should I be concerend? Any advice much appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racefox Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 Hi.. I hope you don't mind my joining in on your post with this one but I too have a Bluebelle about the same age as yours, maybe a couple of weeks older. She does a normal egg per day for a variable amount of days and then does a few days of softies. Recently she did a week of softies. I have one other chicken who is laying a beautiful brown, smooth egg per day without fail and they both have the same amount of oyster shell/food/grit/water/freerange time. Porkypie, when your Bluebelle lays 'normal' eggs do you find they have the texture of sandpaper too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porkypie Posted July 18, 2009 Author Share Posted July 18, 2009 Hello Racefox. The more the merrier My other two hens both started laying at 24weeks with large and thick-shelled !egg!s so I was wondering whether it was just that she started 'early' but I guess your hens are the same age as each other so my 'theory' doesn't hold? Yes They are sandpaper textured but still taste good. I am just hoping that it will sort itself out with a little time.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racefox Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Well these are my first two chickens and the breeder I bought them from said anywhere from around 18 weeks is normal for their first eggs. I had them for 10 days and got my first egg from Wendy and Susan Bluebelle followed a day or two after with her first. I worked out that if they were 17-18 weeks when I got them, they're about 22-23 weeks old now. I didn't realise I'd had them over a month. We joked that Susans buffers must have broken down when she started leaving us the sandpaper eggs. They can't be very nice to pass! Also after the week of softies, her eggs went from being a light brown to practically an off white with light brown speckles around the large end. Lovely colour, especially when you put 3 of hers and 3 of Wendy's in a box. The parents are always excited to receive a box of eggs like that. We'll have to compare Bluebelle eggs again in a few weeks time and see if anything has changed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porkypie Posted August 9, 2009 Author Share Posted August 9, 2009 Well, it must have been her getting into egg laying (and/or mixing her in with the other two hens which must have been a bit worrying for her) as we haven't had a softie for over a week now She has been laying relatively thin shelled eggs but they are much smoother which must be much better for her. All 3 had got into the nasty habit of eating the softies but thankfully no hard-shelled eggs have been pecked at to date. Racefox - I hope your Bluebell's eggs are also getting into the swing of things Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 If you do get more softies, you can give them limestone flour (meant for tortoises, available very cheaply on Ebay!) which gives them a calcium boost & helps to harden up the shells. Giving them oystershell with their grit also helps. You really don't want them eating the eggs - I've had a long egg drought which I only recently realised was being caused by them eating them all . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racefox Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 Ain't "Ooops, word censored!"ody... Have you got a photo of your Molly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 Here you go . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 What a lovely chicken ANH Back to softies. I found that mine would be very prone to softies if they had lots of treats/leftovers. As soon as I cut them down the softies stopped. I feed layers pellets or mash and a handful of corn as a treat. They used to have grit but it was usually left behind in feed. They seem to get what they need from free ranging all day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racefox Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Aww she's lovely, especially the contrast between her red comb and black plumage.... the reason I asked is because I noticed in your signature she's a Pied Suffolk. I live in Suffolk and got my chickens from a breeder in Suffolk and he told me my Wendy was a 'pied' and I wondered if she was also a Pied Suffolk. I can see a little white around Molly's ears but not as exagerrated as Wendy's. Do you know what the cross is? This is Wendy (on the left) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 I've always wondered why Molly hardly has any white feathers unlike all the pictures you see of Pied Suffolks. I just took the breeder's word for it that she was one . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racefox Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 She does look like one, just with less white.. and definately just as huggable (ahem.. have a thing about giving my chickens cuddles - not sure they love it but I do!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racefox Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 By the way - I didn't mean to sound like I was questioning if Molly really is a Pied Suffolk - I was more curious if Wendy is! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
