Chicken bald back

[chickenlicken85]

Hi I have 3 problems at the moment and im looking for advice. Firstly even though I cleab my chicken coop everyday and pick up poo etc I seem to have a huge number of flies in the garden is there anything I can do about this as it just isnt pleasant. I do use a cleaning spray is there anything else that will keep flies away or is it because of this hot weather?

 

Secondly I posted a while back about one of my chickens snorting. Shes dobe it from day one and always seems uncomfortable with her nose wiping it on the ground etc. I kwep cleaning it as she gets it all mucky but I boticed some clear discharge there today any ideas?

 

Lastly we are getring eggs now roughly one a day sometimes the eggs are great but sometimes they have a crack in them like a hen has pecked it. It hasnt penetrated the egg so I dont think theyre eating them but how can I get them to stop doing this as we wont eat them with a crack in

[Olly]

Dealing with question 1 - it's the weather, obviously keeping the coop as clean as you can will help. Try putting citronella oil on some kitchen roll and tucking it into a corner of the run - it may put them off. You can buy fly traps but apparently they are really disgusting when full - I've never tried one.

[PoachedPlease]

If it it makes you feel better the chickens love eating the flies! It keeps my chicks amused for ages

 

Xx

[Mrs_B]

Flies are horrible, I am always terrified about something like Flystrike. I buy Red Top Fly Traps and they are amazing - a bit gross - but they do the job very well. I also soak citronella oil into terracotta pots around the coop. There's still flies around, but it's not as bad!

 

With regards to the sneezing, is it worth checking with the vet?

 

I don't know anything about egg breaking I'm afraid - I am sure someone will come along soon

 

x

[good_egg]

I'm off to buy citronella just now - the heat seems to have brought the flies out! I usually spray with tea tree into the coop which seems to help.

 

In terms of egg shells then how are the shells themselves? I read that a hen will test shell quality after an egg is laid by tapping/pecking it so if your shells are a bit thin perhaps its happening at this point? Do you have oystershell out etc?

[Forestchook]

I've had cracked/dented eggs before. I've also done the damage myself a few times trying to write the date on a thin patch of shell. So long as the egg is not punctured, i.e the inner membrane just under the shell is not broken I still use the egg. Just use the damaged ones first (as soon as you can) and crack them before use to check they are okay. Other than a thin shell 99.9% of the time they are fine. It seems a shame to waste them.

 

How dark is your nest box? I found my chooks were less likely to give a egg a peck if it was too dark for them to see it properly. Also, as good_egg suggested try upping their calcium intake with ostershell etc. I was baking eggs shells and feeding them back to mine when I had a spate of softies.

 

Hope you get the problems sorted

 

N

[JS1]

Another happy to eat cracked eggs here - I just pop them in the fridge and move them up the priority list