Britannia Ovens (esp Range cookers) your experience

[Diddy]

Hi everyone, long time lurker, first time poster. we are new to the world of chickens and have had 6 hybrids for the past month. They have all settled in nicely and we are reaping the benefits of 4 - 5 eggs a day which are lovley.

 

The problem is one of our little girls has been producing soft eggs which I undertsnad is quit normal for young girls just starting off, shes a Skyline and seems to produce a softie once every 3 or 4 days and nothing else in between. They are all on layers pelets and the odd cabbage once in a while, they also spend a good few hours a day outside of their run and this is extending now that were confident that we are not going to have to spend half the day chasing chickens down the road.

 

Now whats got me worried is i noticed thisfaternoon that our softie Skyline (lizzy) seems a bit out of sorts, her tail is drooping and she just seems a bit queit, so does this meen we have a problem, is there any other behavour we should be looking out for?

 

The other five (light sussex, snowbelle, Bluebelle, Copper Black and another skyline) are all doing well, they dont seem to be bothering her at ll or picking on her so i'm hoping i'm getting worries about nothing.

 

Any help or pointers would be much appreciated.

[Egluntyne]

Could be that he is working up to laying another soft egg.

 

Welcome aboard.

[Griffin]

I agree, they always look a bit sorry for themselves when they've got a soft egg on the way.

[Diddy]

Thanks for the quick replies. Sounds like nothing to worry about then, i'll keep an eye out for a softie appearing in the nest boxes shortley.

 

Out of curiosity then do soft eggs cause them problems in general and if this continues for a few more weeks should i start to look at change of diet / worming etc to try and rectify the situation. At the moment we have been putting it down to her just starting out and taking the stance that all will come right in the end but if its causing her a problem or discomfort maybe we should be trying something sooner rather than later.

 

Thanks.

[katieD]

i'd put some calcium grit in for them so they can self supplement if they are lacking calcium. one of mine did this and i swopped from pellets to mash and it stopped? not sure if she wasnt too keen on the pellets so wasnt getting enough vits/min etc?

 

they definately look poorly b4 laying a soft one, its quite odd watching how they instantly look well again afterwards

 

good luck x