Eglu Go With 2m Run For Sale

[tinaduffyjames]

Hi, Omlet delivered my 3 chickens last wed and from the very first night I found a softie in the eglu in the morning. I have seen both the other two lay so by process of elimination I know it is Nellie doing the softies. They have grit in their feed and edie and edna are laying really well. Nellie has been a worry from day one as she is really nervous of everything. The other two are always together but Nellie is more often by herself. She does not appear to eat as much as the others and whereas edna and edie are always scratching around etc nellie tends to just stand there looking around. Her vent area was minus a few feathers when she arrived and seemed a bit messy but I put that down to stress and maybe being picked on before she arrived. The other 2 dont appear to be nasty to her so thats not a problem. Should I worry about the softies or about her in general? She has laid 5 softies now in 5 days and her back end still looks messy but I am not sure if its old poo or fresh. I have not managed to get hold of her yet and dont really want to stress her out anymore than she already is? Advice please?

[lillybettybabs]

Have you checked her crop to see of see if it is impacted?

[C&T]

Has she got access to Oyster shell as well as grit? Grit will just help the food be ground down etc, whereas the shell will give her some calcium.

 

If she has got access to that, then you can also get Limestone flour to add to their food as a supplement, but personally I would try the shell first - although others with more experience may be along in a bit a recomend other ways!

 

Good luck!

[quickcluck]

They do sometimes lay softies when they are coming into lay. If you are worried as the others have said add some oyster shell to the grit, make sure the mixed grit that you get in the future has it already in.....

 

You can give them calcuim in other ways. Adding Limestone flour to the pellets it great, or you can add Zolac to the water...

[lillybettybabs]

if she not eating well she won't take in enough nutrients to produce a hard shelled egg, check her crop first.

[tinaduffyjames]

Hi, the grit was from omlet, it has shells in it so would that be oyster? I have some limestone flour (tortoise) so I could add that, but I dont see her eat a lot. How would I know if her crop is impacted? It does not look like she is bulging anywhere. I have just phoned Omlet but they said to give her another week and then ring back as it is probably stress related. I tried putting a seperate tray of food in for her just in case she is not getting chance to eat but the other 2 greedy ones got there first, so I then let her out of the run and tried to get her to eat but she just got into a flap because she couldnt get to the others.

[Olly]

I think that if she only arrived last week, then she is possibly still a bit stressed from the journey, and also she's clearly a young hen - she could be younger than the other two. Many people wait weeks for their hens to start laying, so you've done well to get three that are actually ready!

 

If you can see bits of shell in it, then yes the grit will be the calcium-soluble sort which they need to make egg-shells.

 

Is she generally alert, bright, and eating and drinking? Does she run for treats? With three hens, one is always going to be bottom of the pecking order, that's the nature of things, and so the fact that she may be last in the queue or always behind the other two is not something to worry about.

 

I think stress/youth are the most likely reasons for the softies, this is not unusual with hens as they start laying. I would just wait a bit, as long as she's not being pecked around the vent then no need to do anything. As long as she is eating, drinking and active then I wouldn't worry too much.

[tinaduffyjames]

Thank you for your replies. I managed to pick her up and she has new feathers growing around her vent and I couldnt see any lice or anything nastie. She looked fairly clean to be honest. She is not as heavy as the other two but as I said before she does not appear to eat as much and as was said , she could be younger than the others. Other than that she seems fairly perky. I have just let them out of the run and as I type this Nellie is having a dust bath so I would take that as a sign she is happy/ well? I will put some limestone flour on the food and try and make sure she eats. Hopefully she will settle down. thank you all.

[Olly]

Yes, the dustbath is a very good sign! Sounds as if there's nothing seriously wrong, so I reckon in a couple of weeks you'll be getting hard-shelled eggs from her. Let us know how she gets on.

[sjp]

try putting some cod liver oil in with the feed for a few days it help the body abzorde calcium

life guard tonic in the drinking water helps to

[tinaduffyjames]

Just a quick update.

 

Nellie has stopped laying completely now. No softies - nothing. Is this good ? She still does not appear to eat much in the way of pellets but eats lots of other things when free ranging and loves the mixed corn I give them in the afternoon. She seems quite happy so do you think the egg laying will come?

[C&T]

I would be tempted to limit free ranging, and cut out treats to get her back onto her pellets.

 

Bit like small children (and me ) and chocolate versus veggies. If I have a choice, chocolate will win everytime, but may not be as good for me as my veg!!