Chickensinthecity Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Hi all, i'm a newbie to the forum and have been a chicken mama since end of August. I've got 3 x sussex light hens - I had 4 but a fox attack a week after they arrived saw 1 killed. The 3 lucky ones were traumatised, one was injured having blood on her comb, wattles and beak but no obvious injury apart from the blood. They all recovered well and after 3/4 weeks, two of them went on to be regular layers of eggs weighing 53 -65 grammes with deep yellow/orange yolks and very strong shells. Chessie, the one with the mysterious injury has never laid since. Her wattles and comb are quite pale, she eats, drinks and poos, she seems happy and follows me round, she's also first in the running when there are any treats going, yet still she doesn't lay. I suspect she may not be a thorough bred light sussex as her legs are yellow and the other 2 hens have white legs, (that's how we could tell tell her apart). I'm not sure whether Chessie was laying before the fox came or whether it was the deceased chicken that was giving us the 3rd egg. I've 2 questions: 1. Can you suggest what i can do to encourage Chessie to lay again? 2. Can you tell me how much white should there be in a home reared egg? When i crack the eggs open, there is very little albumin and what albumin there is is very thick. Nothing like the watery eggs i used to buy from the supermarket, however there doesn't seem to be enough white as when the eggs are cooked they are nearly all yolk. I can't find any info about why this is happening. Is this normal or am i doing something wrong - both hens are laying eggs like this.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjp Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 the egg white sounds about right for a freash egg. the older the egg the more watery it is. as for encouraging hens to lay I'm afraid its a waiting game it could be march before she lays. I've got 3 myself that are old enough to lay but as of yet are refusing to it's all to do with the length of day light. longer days = eggs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fur 'n' Feathers Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 When i crack the eggs open, there is very little albumin and what albumin there is is very thick. Nothing like the watery eggs i used to buy from the supermarket, however there doesn't seem to be enough white as when the eggs are cooked they are nearly all yolk. I can't find any info about why this is happening. Is this normal or am i doing something wrong - both hens are laying eggs like this.. Thay sound scrummy to me!...and I can't eat eggs Feathers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 It does sound kind of normal to me too . "Home grown" eggs definitely don't have the runny whites that supermarket ones do. Don't suppose you could take a photo of a fried egg? Then we could tell you if it's normal . Welcome to the forum, by the way . Sorry to hear about your fox attack . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickensinthecity Posted December 16, 2009 Author Share Posted December 16, 2009 It seems that posting on this forum has started a chain of uncanny events! Every egg i've fried since my posting has had a 'proper' amount of white, yolks are still a good size but now instead of about 1cm of white around the egg there is 2-2.5 cm - i'm not complaining, but i'm not doing anything different either. This means I can't produce a photo of the deficient eggs! It seems that Chessie has started laying - her wattles and comb are nice and red and a couple of times recently i've had 3 eggs instead of the usual 1 or 2 (3 hens). But saving the best till last, I collected 1 egg (still warm) at 8.00 am. It was placed in a new egg box in the fridge. At 4.00 pm my husband collected a further 3 eggs- how can this be possible? I've read that it takes 25 hours to make an egg. All eggs are between 60-63 g so a good size. One egg has a small hole in the top with the shell pushed in, not removed. The membrane etc is intact, not leaking. Is this a sign of egg pecking. I know it shouldn't be possible, but it seems it is! Thoughts please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
