Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[JCress19]

Hi Everyone!

I should warn you before I start that my description below might turn out a little gross.

For a while now one of our hens (Ruby) has had these bouts of illness where she suddenly appears really miserable, all hunched up in the corner, and each time I give her a strong vitamin supplement for a few days and then soon after she's as right as rain. She's not laying proper eggs, just the occasional soft one. At the moment she seems absolutely fine, her comb is large and bright red, and she's happily running around with her friends. But I'm posting this because just now when I collected this morning's eggs I found that she's laid another soft one - the yolk and shell looked fairly usual, but inside the egg there was all this red stuff, and the only way I can think of to describe it is that it looked kind of like body tissue (I do have a photo but I have no idea how to post it or even if that would be appropriate!). As I said, Ruby herself looks fine, but I wonder whether anyone might have any ideas about what this problem might be and whether I can actually do anything about it?

 

Thanks!

[sjp]

first part isn't an illness it's down to her trying to lay soft shelled eggs it's not vitamin supplement that you need. it's Life Guard tonic you'll need to get it online

the cause is lack of calcium in the diet or more over as it's just the one bird she's having a problem converting the calcium in the feed normally caused by an amino acid deficiency that's were life guard comes in it contains the amino acid amongst other things. it for young birds that are just about coming into lay mainly but it helps in this situation sometimes it cures the problem sometimes you have to use it as and when the bird starts to lay softies for me with the first bird I had this problem with it was about every 4-6 weeks while she was laying. one I've got now it didn't help but she was mainly laying thin shelled eggs she has grow out of that though

in the mean time meal worms can help as they contain a source of the amino acid. also dandelion leaves contain a form of calcium that the body can convert easier don't overdo feeding them though as to much calcium is as bad as not enough just use them as a treat a couple of times a week

[JCress19]

Hi! Thanks for your advice and soft egg shell tips! It's not so much the soft shells I was worried about, more how she seems to look on deaths door for a few days and then recover; I was giving the vitamin supplement for that!

 

Thanks for your help!

[sjp]

Hi! Thanks for your advice and soft egg shell tips! It's not so much the soft shells I was worried about, more how she seems to look on deaths door for a few days and then recover; I was giving the vitamin supplement for that!

 

Thanks for your help!

sorry I didn't explain that part properly the soft shells are the reason she's miserable the muscles need the hard eggs shell to push against to propel the egg through the system. a soft or shelless egg absorbs most of the pressure of the muscles ( think half inflated balloon) so it take a lot more effort and pain to pass the egg. that why the shell situation needs fixing

[The Dogmother]

Sounds like sjp is right There are a few possible reasons for soft shelled eggs, and it's important to work through them to eliminate each one-by-one:

 

What are you feeding them on and do they get any treats?

 

When were they last wormed, and what with?

 

How old is Ruby and is she an ex-batt? It could be that her shell gland is worn out and not functioning properly.

 

I would suggest worming them all with Flubenvet if you haven't done so recently. Add some extra calcium to their diet - the easiest way is to rinse and bake the eggshells after you've used the eggs, grind them into powder in a liquidiser, then add a little cod liver oil to the pellets - not much, just enough to bind the powder to the pellets. This is essential as the vit D3 in the oil will help them to assimilate the calcium. A good quality tonic such as Life-Guard or Nettex's Vit Boost is always a good idea.

 

Hope that you get it sorted

[Hippie Chick]

Just to add that sometimes vitamin supplements can cause blood within the eggs too which may be the mass you're seeing. I gave my lot soluble vitamins in their water during the winter and they bled into their eggs, a bit of research showed the vitamins were the cause.

[The Dogmother]

That's interesting... never heard that one before. The blood or meat spots are usually due to a tiny bleed at the top of the oviduct as the ovum is released.

 

I will do some research and testing of my own, although my birds have some sort of tonic in their water most weeks, and I have never had any bleeds into eggs.

[Hippie Chick]

The tonics are fine as far as I know, I've used several different types without any incident, it was the soluble vitamin powder when i used it at full whack that had the effect. It was the Intervits powder. When I eased off the dosage then the blood eggs stopped sounds like a satanic offering!

 

I don't think I've kept the link to the bit about the vitamins but I'll share it if I can find it again, it can't be a common thing as I remember I spent ages researching what was happening before I came upon it.

[JCress19]

Hi! Thanks for your advice and soft egg shell tips! It's not so much the soft shells I was worried about, more how she seems to look on deaths door for a few days and then recover; I was giving the vitamin supplement for that!

 

Thanks for your help!

sorry I didn't explain that part properly the soft shells are the reason she's miserable the muscles need the hard eggs shell to push against to propel the egg through the system. a soft or shelless egg absorbs most of the pressure of the muscles ( think half inflated balloon) so it take a lot more effort and pain to pass the egg. that why the shell situation needs fixing

 

Apologies! I've re-read and now understand what you're saying! This sounds exactly right. Thanks so much!

[JCress19]

Thanks so much everyone for all your wise advice! I'm so relieved this might be something I can actually do something about!

 

The Dogmother: In response to your questions, they're fed on layers pellets but they do get treats - usually left over salad; I give them herbal worming pellets once a month, is this okay or do I need something stronger? Ruby is about 4 years and no, she's not ex-batt.

 

Seems clear to me I need to get some more calcium into her diet, so I'm super grateful for your suggestions. I'll give them a try.

Thank you!

[The Dogmother]

Try to cut out treats where possible, as that will compromise the nutrients they need to be healthy layers. A small amount of dark green leaves at the end of the day is fine.

 

I'm afraid that there's no such thing as a 'herbal wormer'; the licensed wormer for poultry in the UK is Flubenvet, which you can buy online in pre-medicated pellets. You feed these and nothing else for 7 whole days, restricting them to the run as much as possible, preferably in the morning when they eat the most. This would normally be repeated quarterly, but as your flock hasn't been wormed before, they might have a high worm count, so I would follow the manufacturer's recommendations for this and worm once, leave a gap of 3 weeks, then worm again. The cheapest place to get these pellets online last time I looked was farmandpetplace.co.uk. It is also good practice to treat the litter in their run with a sprinkle of Ground Sanitising Powder when you do your weekly clean, and then use it on the ground when you muck out the whole run, before putting the new litter in; this kills off worm eggs in the litter and helps to prevent re-infestation. That regular routine will help to keep worm loads down and your flock healthy, it might well also sort out the problem you are having.

[JCress19]

Try to cut out treats where possible, as that will compromise the nutrients they need to be healthy layers. A small amount of dark green leaves at the end of the day is fine.

 

I'm afraid that there's no such thing as a 'herbal wormer'; the licensed wormer for poultry in the UK is Flubenvet, which you can buy online in pre-medicated pellets. You feed these and nothing else for 7 whole days, restricting them to the run as much as possible, preferably in the morning when they eat the most. This would normally be repeated quarterly, but as your flock hasn't been wormed before, they might have a high worm count, so I would follow the manufacturer's recommendations for this and worm once, leave a gap of 3 weeks, then worm again. The cheapest place to get these pellets online last time I looked was farmandpetplace.co.uk. It is also good practice to treat the litter in their run with a sprinkle of Ground Sanitising Powder when you do your weekly clean, and then use it on the ground when you muck out the whole run, before putting the new litter in; this kills off worm eggs in the litter and helps to prevent re-infestation. That regular routine will help to keep worm loads down and your flock healthy, it might well also sort out the problem you are having.

 

Thanks for your advice! I did know this about treats already, we're quite careful with what they get; but thanks anyway. I realise I phrased that poorly, you're right that I've never properly wormed them as such, I meant that we give them pellets that aid the digestive system etc. I check the droppings for worms often and have never found any? I've no doubt you're right however so we'll look into this.

Thanks again!

[The Dogmother]

That's good, I would worm regardless of whether you see any worms in their droppings - that's no indication of whether they are infested. Try to worm every quarter, or at least every 6 months.