Translation - No eggs today. This was the first day since the girls started laying eggs that we didn't get a single egg. Well, that's not exactly true. Coco laid a shell-less egg sometime last night or early this morning. She laid it from the roost and I found it this morning proudly sitting in a pile of droppings under where she sleeps.
Not exactly a keeper. More like, one for the compost bin. A shell-less egg is just that. An egg that never formed a shell to keep it contained. It's really kind of disgusting. It's like a blob of Jello in the shape of an egg. We've had one before and it didn't even have a yoke inside.
Not sure what the problem was today. Maybe I'm not dolling out enough treats. Or maybe I'm over treating. They could be protesting not getting enough time in the big garden to dig up the few Daffodil bulbs that are still planted. Or maybe they've become true California chickens and they are frustrated with the lack of sunny, warm weather. Not sure how they would know any better as this is their first spring EVER.
Regardless, I came home to three empty nest boxes. I thought someone was playing a trick on me. I even searched their run. I looked under the hen house, behind the compost bin, around the Camellia trees and behind the waterer. But nope. The only eggs to be found were the two plastic Easter Eggs I put in the middle nest box to entice them to lay there.
DH says I should give them a break. That they are over producing and deserve a day off. But I've come to expect colorful little presents waiting for me in the nest boxes at the end of the day. So I gave them some treats and told them how much I loved them. Gave each one a good scratch behind the neck. That is my role as their Flock Mistress since we don't have a rooster to do that for them. And hopefully, tomorrow, everything will be back to normal.
Perhaps the no egg day is a symptom of molting. Are you finding extra feathers around? Our girls' egg production went way down while they were molting and we had enough feathers everywhere to build three new birds out of!
ReplyDeleteClandestine, Thanks for your posting. I think I was giving them too many treats. Cuz I got two soft-shelled eggs following that day which scared me. So I stopped all treats and we're back to three normal eggs a day. So now they just get a handful of BOSS each morning.
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear things are back to normal. I have done the same thing myself.... it is just so easy to spoil them!
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI wanted to ask you something. As I was reading about your chicken "not laying" I was wondering if you had any ideas for me. I have an 8 mo. old pullet "Chickita" and she stopped laying eggs and was always staying in her nest. Since she didn't get up to eat and drink I took her to the vet. She had an egg stuck up near her spine. She cost me $300. with an exotic vet and since she survived that, still no more eggs and she still is behaving the same (in the nest). She will eat and drink if I take her out and put her in the run where the food is? Its been about 2 weeks now like this. She's has healthy looking droppings too. I, like you, have stopped all the treats and while my other chicken is missing those, I wanted to see if that was the problem? I feed chicken feed, grit, oyster shell and BOSS now. Occasionally bread. Any ideas whats happening with her?
PS - My chickens are underground (living in the basement.)
ReplyDeleteHmmm, I'm certainly not an expert. I'm learning as I go. I do know that if a hen becomes egg bound like yours, they can take many weeks or months off before they start to lay again. It's a pretty big shock to their system.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm also suspicious she might be broody if she's sitting on the nest all day like you say. If that is the case, then I would continue to remove her from the nest and that cycle should break in 2-3 weeks.
I don't think the fact that she's indoors has anything to do with this. Lots of people raise chickens indoors and the big commercial egg producers keep their hens indoors.
Good Luck
PS: LOVE her name. I might have to steal that one.