New Hens.

[Anonymous]

Hi there

we recently purchases 3 chickens from a local paper. The advert stated that they were very good layers but we have now had them a week and have only had 2 " proper" eggs and 3 eggs that were broke due to the soft shells.

We are unsure if this is the norm due to the journey, moving of coop ect ect, or have just been done over.

Any info would be appreciated.

Craig.

 

[E3lx]

Hi,
i think that the soft eggs could be due to stress, this does occur, or lack of calcium. Do they have oyster shell?
Other causes could be bullying, underlying disease etc...

 

[Marigold]

Did you find out how old they are, and do you know what sort of chickens they are? ie are they hybrids bred to lay lots of eggs in their first year or so? If they are young birds, ie hatched this year, they may well just be getting going into egg laying and the stress of a move may have disrupted their rhythm for a while. At least you know they are in lay, even if some of the eggs were soft-shelled. Were the 'proper' eggs thin shelled or were they strong when you cracked them? Any idea how many of them have actually laid, out of the three? However, if they are birds that someone just wanted to rehome, they may be older and thus less reliable layers. Sadly, many hybrid birds don't go on laying good eggs with hard shells once they get beyond 2-3 years, and anyway the quality of the eggs and of their shells also does depend on how well they've been fed and what conditions thye've been kept in. Did they come from a private house, ie from someone just keeping these few birds, or were they from a breeder with quite a few birds?

If you could let us know a bit more about them we might be able to be more help. Probably all will be well once they've settled down, but there are other factors which will affect their performance.

 

[Anonymous]

Cheers for the advice and info. We have recently give them a hand full of oyster shells but were told just to give them a handfull per week. They are rosscombe hens and we were told they are 1 year old. The proper eggs had good hard shells and very good yolks. They where purchased from a house who kept them on his allotment and said he needed to reduce the amount he had.

Thanks again.

 

[Marigold]

They should be OK when they've settled in. They need a mixture of chicken grit and oystershell, the grit is essential for their digestion because as they have no teeth they grind up their food with the grit acting as mini-millstones. They should get enough calcium from their layers pellets and if they are able to free range they'll probably pick up bits of grit for themselves, but it's good to make it always available so they can help themselves if they feel the need, as they don't use much and it's not expensive. I've filled a clay flowerpot with grit/shell mixture (the holes at the bottom give drainage) and put it in a corner of the run, blocked in by a couple of bricks so it doesn't get scratched over.

 

[Anonymous]

That is good to know. With us been new to the chick game all advice is gratefully recieved. At first light i will be out there and ensuring the grit/ oystershels are put out for our little girls. Its small tips like that to you that make a world of difference to us. Keep them coming please, lol.

Thanks again

Craig.