Egg shape and size

Tweetypie

Tweetypie

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Sorry to bother everyone again.

Cindy - for 2 weeks she laid an egg every day, apart from 1 day when she skipped. This week she laid an egg on Monday and Tuesday, she then laid a soft egg on Wednesday, (less than 24 hours of Tuesday's egg), no egg on Thursday and this large egg today.

There are some markings on the egg, that I just wanted to enquire if this is quite normal, along with the mishapen appearance.

It has been very hot this week, particularly on Wednesday and Thursday. They do have a lot of cool shade, which they take advantage of and have access to clean water and food at all times. She's very perky and happy as far as I know.
 

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Hi Tweetypie.
As a hybrid gets older, you can expect their eggs to get larger but less frequent. While some egg deformities can indicate problems such as IB I don't think you need to worry about that in this case. Cindy looks happy & healthy and that's the main thing.

(Sorry- I got distracted for a moment by a cream legbar climbing my leg to try to eat my Pringles!)

You're also likely to find that whatever their age, hens lay less regularly when it's really hot weather. Relax in the garden with a glass of something when you can, letting the girls eat your insect pests under your watchful eye. It's a great excuse for taking a half hour off work!!
 
I'm relieved to hear that Icemaiden. Being new to chickens, I want to make sure I do the right thing. Look at that whopping egg LOL. 84g

I took that photo when I let her out on the lawn. She decided to go into the borders and rearrange my gladioli's, so back into her own outdoor pen... ;-)
 
Tweetypie said:
Look at that whopping egg LOL. 84g
Click to expand...
It might be a double yoker - Thursday's and todays rolled into one.
Cindy looks like queen of the lawn :)
 
What a splendid bird! If Cindy is short for Cinderella, she's having a fairytale ending to her life story!
Egg oddities like in your pics are normal for older hens. They do show the bird's fertility is winding down, but the eggs are OK.
Have a look at this; http://www.aviculture-europe.nl/nummers/07E03A06.pdf
 
Ahh well I am pleased she is OK. I don't mind if she doesn't lay many eggs, I think both are great little pets to have. They always greet you with their individual clucking noise in a morning and when I close the door at night, they do a quieter, squeaky noise. I love them to bits.
 
Thats the most concise info Ive seen Marigold!
My blacktail Aerial is currently running the gauntlet of peritonitis (yes, with a smidgen of carefully aimed antibiotics that probably will fail to be a cure but ...)
There is a glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel Tweetypie! If they, as high production hybrids, can get through a first full moult (to surprisingly beautiful effect) then it refreshes not just their feathers but their oviduct too. Its all just part of the joy that is chickens - they don't expect any more than a good forage while it lasts but it can be a bit rough on us keepers.
Meanwhile - all's good!
 
There's a lot in that article that I wish i didn't know about, but on the other hand, it's good on diagnosis. There's more on abnormal egg laying and reproductive problems on Poultrykeeper, see https://poultrykeeper.com/reproductive-system-problems/ It's worth knowing about such egg laying problems, as early diagnosis will often help if it's going to be serious, and on the other hand, it's comforting to know which minor imperfections are normal and can be lived with.
Have you found a good chicken vet yet, Tweetiepie? Not all vets treat chickens, and few of them are experts. It may be worth ringing round local vets to enquire if they have an avian specialist and then register your girls with the one you choose, so in an emergency you'll know where to take them. I have a chicken vet and a dog vet, and both are good for their separate specialisms. There's a list of recommended vets on Poultrykeeper see https://poultrykeeper.com/poultry-vets/#Herefordshire but it may not be entirely up to date. If anyone notices any outdated entries, or knows of good poultry vets not on the list, please send Tim the details.
 
Hi Marigold, yes I already found a vet I can use if necessary. He also keeps hens, so it is good to know ;-) http://www.arnoldandcarltonvets.co.uk/ChickensPoultry1503.html I also saw the websites on that link a week or so ago.

Been out today and managed to locate the smallholder Allen and Page layers crumble someone recommended.
Just off to catch them, as I let them loose and they are digging near my gladioli's again...all that space and they have to go there, ha ha.
 
Cindy is a real stunner and very regal looking. We have had eggs like yours from our older girls now and then. We find that we get the odd soft egg when it has been really hot, cools down and it's all back to normal.
I know all that garden and they home in on the one area you don't want them to go. Like the time OH left the pepper plants within beak distance, well they did leave the stalks for us
 
It's not so much eating the plants in our garden as we don't grow anything tender and edible, the trouble is the way they scratch stones and rubbish out of the borders and on to the lawn, which makes big problems when mowing the flints. When I do let mine out I make a circle on the grass under the trees with chicken netting and push-in posts, not electrified, which usually contains them. I used to have one brown leghorn who would immediately fly out, but then spend the rest of the time peering through the mesh at her friends and trying to work out how to get in again. And of course they then dig holes in the lawn, you can't win really. Shaking the corn box brings them all running when I want to get them back in the run.
image.jpeg
 
OOH what beautiful looking hens, what breed are they? I love the cream/buckskin colour at the back. They do look like posh birds :-)

PS Yes I know what you mean about stones on the lawn. Today, I just put some old boards on their side, around the gladiolis . It did the trick. They have a huge garden to go out, but that's the bit they like, because the soil is nice.

Can I ask, which type of soil do you use in your indoor dustbath?
 
My girls dustbathe in dry garden soil to which I add a bit of wood ash from the log burner & a sprinkling of Diatom. Some people use play sand.
 
Tweetypie said:
OOH what beautiful looking hens, what breed are they? I love the cream/buckskin colour at the back. They do look like posh birds :-)
Click to expand...

The one outside the netting is Saffron, a Brown Leghorn. The smaller greyish one inside is Nutmeg, a purebred Cream Legbar. The big golden one is my beloved Marigold, a Buff Sussex, the one in my avatar.
Not posh birds, all good layers in their time. I think all chickens are beautiful, like dogs it's lovely to have so many different sizes, breeds and hybrids.
 
They are all beautiful. I just love the colour of Marigold. I am tempted to get another hen or two, just so I have enough eggs throughout the week. I'm just a bit cautious about upsetting my pair. They are quite happy together.

Icemaiden - I did wonder if sand was OK to use. I am currently making a little den for them, under the big tree where it is cool and shaded. I am going to put some weather/weed proof membrane down, followed by linoleum, so it can be easily cleaned if necessary and then add sand. This area will be good for winter so they don't get muddy, but in summer will be lovely and cool. Going to post a pic in Dustbath forum. :D
 
Another contribution to the Weird Egg Collection. This is from a 2-year-old leghorn hybrid, who has been laying well since starting in March 2018, with only brief pause this winter. She's been laying several like this in the last week or so. One or two have been pecked open and eaten, but this one is typical, seems to have a hole about 1cm. across, barely covered by membrane, clean and untouched. The side of the egg with the hole is flat. The rest of the eggshell is reasonably strong for a hybrid starting her third season. At first I thought she was maybe standing on the egg when she got up and nicking it with her claws, but most of the eggs are clean, like this one, as if a patch of shell on the flat side is undeveloped. Any comments?

image.jpeg
 
Hi Marigold, one of mine laid an egg similar to this, this week. The hole was on top of the egg, not at the side. I did wonder myself, so hope someone has the answers.
 
Not sure at all. If I saw that I would assume somebody had either stood on it or pecked at it because there does seem to be a fracture 'skein' in the depressed bit of shell?
 
Yes I thought that. I don't think it was a peck or she would have kept going, though, and the bit of very thin shell would have been fully pushed in and broken. Similarly if she had stood on it when she left the box. It was completely clean and untouched as far as I could see. Also, I've never seen an egg with a flat side like that.
Tasted OK, though, no abnormalities inside.
 
Most likely cause is two eggs entering the uterus where the shell is formed. The pressure from the second egg creates a flat on the first.
Stress can cause this and a number of diseases.
 
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