Joany Posted July 14, 2016 Share Posted July 14, 2016 Hi Everyone, So... my girls have been getting on quite nicely since I was last on here. I have 3 Ambers but only one is laying, Joan, (I think the others are not quite old enough yet but I think Daisy might not be far off,not that I am experienced in this at all). Anyway so Joan has always laid one egg a day in the nesting box like clockwork, no problems. At the same time Jo-Jo (the youngest) likes to sleep in the nesting boxes so I have been doing what is suggested and filling them up with things last thing at night and emptying them again first thing in the morning as soon as I get up, this has always been fine as Joan tends not to lay until late morning. The other morning I noticed that Joan had laid her egg underneath the hen house (I put this down to it raining all day and her not wanting to come out to go in the nesting box). Then, a few days ago I came out in the morning to feed them and I noticed an egg membrane on the floor of the run, I got excited as I thought this might be Daisy starting to lay. However, since them there has been a soft egg on the floor of the hen house for the last 3 days. In addition to this Joan hasn't been laying her normal eggs i.e. a normal, had egg in the nesting boxes, so I don't know if this is 1) Daisy starting to lay or 2) Joan changing her laying habbits. I have 1) given them more grit/oyster shell 2) put golf balls in the nesting boxes 3) yesterday I didn't put anything in the nesting boxes at all in case this was putting Joan off going in but no still when I went out this morning there was a soft egg on the floor or the hen house. I'm wondering if it definitely is Joan as the egg is being laid much earlier than normal i.e. before I go to feed them but if it isn't then Joan has stopped laying. The only other thing to mention is that I noticed that Daisy looked like she had a patch where some feathers had come out (its not bald at all just had a couple of feathers missing and some sticking out) and there have been also some feathers in the hen house/run. Could this be anything to do with an early molt? Or maybe a change in pecking order which is causing a change in laying? I know there is a lot of information here, sorry but I'm hoping someone might be able to give me there thoughts or have had a similar experiennce as I'm not sure if I should be doing anything? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjp Posted July 14, 2016 Share Posted July 14, 2016 softies get laid anywhere as they are a painful exercise for the bird to lay as there needs to be a hard surface for the muscles to push against. eggs take about 26 hours to make so laying times do move as for soft shelled eggs there's a number of causes lack of calcium isn't always the main one it can be down to an amino acid deficiency which isn't as bad as it sounds as it is relatively easy to treat both meal worms (dried is the easiest way to go ) or cod liver oil contain as source of the amino acid c o d needs to be added to the pellets just enough to coat the feed normally one week month is enough if it's a long term problem meals worms every couple of days as a treat . dandelions are a good source of calcium in the form that the body can readily use that the amino acid isn't needed for as much as the calcium that is used in the feed and mixed grit . there is also life guard tonic that is made for getting new hens ready for laying that also helps with this problem . giving to much calcium can be as bad as not enough don't add calcium or grit to the feeder. also check the use by date on the feed sack as I had a spell of softies cause by a nearly out of date batch of feed just after I started keeping chickens changing brands fixed that out break c o d and life guard was the fix that worked with a hybrid that started laying softies regular c o d once a month Life guard every 3 months I've got a Light Sussex that nothing works with it's not that she lays soft eggs but thin shelled ones with the exception of extra calcium the meal worms, c o d , and dandelions and life guard can be given to all the birds in the group Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joany Posted July 14, 2016 Author Share Posted July 14, 2016 Thanks so much for this information, I'm going to try this and I'll let you know how we get on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joany Posted July 14, 2016 Author Share Posted July 14, 2016 Just been out and picked them a load of dandilion leaves, they are loving them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmalou Posted July 14, 2016 Share Posted July 14, 2016 Cannot find any here! How strange? Lots of flowers but no leaves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joany Posted July 14, 2016 Author Share Posted July 14, 2016 Took me ages to find some too. Typical always there when you don't want them and not when you do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joany Posted July 16, 2016 Author Share Posted July 16, 2016 Yay back to normal this morning, not sure if it's anything I did or just fluke. I have given them some poultry spice I had and I also thought that maybe I'd put too much ACV in their water and they weren't drinking (although after looking at it don't think this is the case) and were dehydrated so stopped putting Avc in their water (have been doing this this week). Also been giving them plenty of dandilions. Whatever it is glad it's back to normal for now. Am going to continue with the dandilions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjp Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 acv is one week in 4 I think it's been a long time since I used it through but I don't think it affects egg laying it.s more a gut conditioner to help prevent parasites Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
