Wet Vent

W

wendywoggles

New member
Joined
Oct 2, 2011
Messages
59
Reaction score
0
A couple of days ago while doing the weekly vent check i noticed one of my girls had a very wet, slimy vent, like egg white. I do have one that's been laying a shell-less eggs for 3 months and haven't been able to find out which one.

1) could this be the 'culprit' ?
2)or could this wetness be something else?
3)and what to do about it?

Thanx

ps they are all little rescue hens.
 
Hi Wendy. I was just about to log out and this post appeared. It wasn't there a few moments ago??
If it feels like egg white and if she is otherwise fine it probably is. Presumably the membrane will appear later and hopefully no bits of shell that could cause internal infection. Three causes of soft shelled eggs I know of:-
Lack of calcium in diet (apparently -never ever had this problem as we use good layers pellets and we have now removed eggshells and oyster grit as they can overdose causing other problems)
Lack of sunlight which causes vit D deficiency I think, so the calcium can't be processed properly (-had 1 ever, resolved by someone on this forum)
Stress caused by bullying, change of environment, change of feed, fear or fright (had tooo many of these to recall).
So I would say look for the source of stress first.
 
Hi Chris,
I've done some googling and vent gleet came up but, this isn't white and it don't smell so rulled that out.
No stress at all, she's one of the 'middle girls' neither the bully nor the bullied. I feed them Smallholders layers pellets, which has every thing in it but do leave out some baked egg shells and also oyster shell/grit as one of them lays thin shelled eggs if she doesn't get the extra calcium and I don't want her to have one break on the way out 'ouch'.

They all get the same sun-shine and they are freerangers so out in all weathers if thats what they want. If it's not going to harm her laying these shell-less eggs that's ok by me, she's here coz she's been worked hard in a previous life. Eggs I can use would be good but not going to lose any sleep over it. I was just worried it might be cause for a health concern.

By the way, what does too much calcium do to them?
 
I would think that some sort of egg laying problem is the cause. Particulary considering the time of year causing hormonal changes and the fact they are retired ladies! :D

You can increase their calcium for a short period, adding a little limestone powder (easily absorbed) and balanced out with a mineral supplement such as Poultry Spice mixed into feed, you could use cod liver oil to help mix. It won't do any harm.

One thing to watch out for is their weight, so if you are giving treats, cut them out so their main diet at least 80% consists of their layers rations.

Observe for the next couple of days, check vent and watch out for any unusual or restless behaviour, looking agitated and frequent visits to the nest box which would indicate that an egg in situ is troubling her.
 
Hi Wendy. Among other things too much calcium causes kidney failure ('other things' I don't understand the technical terms). However this problem usually happens in young hens fed layers prior to laying and the paper I have just read also suggests reducing Calcium when they stop laying. So when they are laying they use the higher intake of calcium on the shells. When not laying it wrecks the kidneys. This isn't your problem though obviously. I had read that hens should be kept on growers until their first egg, so perhaps that's why. Now wondering if I should switch the hens to growers now they have stopped laying during the moult? The original info I read on this was in the pages of a poultry supplier, but of course I now can't find it.
 
Yes minerals need to be balanced...too much calcium without other minerals in young birds can cause problems and will interfere with absorption of nutrients needed for optimum growth and laying.
Which is why I think, the best approach is to look at diet first, just returning to layers rations will naturally correct a slight deficit in calcium not uncommon in older hybrid hens this time of year.
A little extra calcium to help over a laying hiccup I would consider to be fine. I tend to keep mine on layers rations throughout winter, as this time of year they need to build up calcium reserves for their next laying season.
Like you Chris I don't give any extra calcium supplements.
 
So now I am confused, I've got 7 birds, only 2 are laying eggs just now plus the shell-less layer and if it is this one I've been talking about she isn't showing any signs of moulting.
The other 4 are 3 who did lay something but not any longer and they are in various stages ot moulting,
1 POL, we got when she was 15 weeks old and we were told she could go onto layers with no probs at that time, she came with a sister who sadly didn't live very much longer.

As they all range together they are on the same diet but I must stress we did ask about this when we bought her and were told layers would be ok for her. She is now 22 weeks(ish) and I now don't expect her to lay before new year. I'll take the egg shell out for now then but it seems a bit late in the day to change her diet and apart from isolation there's no way to keep her away from the layers pellets.
 
What are you confused about Wendy? As far as I can see, layers for all your flock will be fine! :D

Hybrids in their second season will lay a lot less than in their first, and moulting birds lay less, so if four are in/just finished moulting then that's about right.
 
Hi Wendy. Sorry if I have caused any confusion -Foxy is quite right, layers is fine now.

I think, based on what I read , that layers at 15 weeks is technically a bit too early. But at 22 weeks it should be OK. Unfortunately the practicalities have to outweigh the niceties sometimes. The most dangerous period is as chicks -when they should be on chick crumb, not eating mother hen's food (mother eats chick crumb as well during this period) and the transition time from crumb to pellets when they should be rearers pellets not layers. If some in the flock are laying you have to stick to layers for all because separating them for different feed is completely impractical. Switching them all to rearers risks thin egg shells and calcium deficiency in the hens themselves (bone thinning) which must obviously be avoided.

At the moment everyone in our Orchard is on layers, with the exception of the two small groups where they are all moulting and two isolated cockerels (who have to eat layers when they are let out with their hens).
 
There's only one or two % protein difference between layers and growers rations and you don't have to be that precise with the feeding. If you want to lower the protein, just give a little more mixed corn or plain wheat.
 
Sorry to hijack the thread but am I right in reading that our two girls who are 18 - 19 weeks and not laying shouldn't be on layers pellets yet? We were also told this would be ok for them. We have one who is laying. They all have access to mixed grit and oyster shell. Is it possible that the younger two won't be eating the shell anyway as they aren't laying or should we remove access to it?
 
If you have one laying you have no option but to give layers pellets. I don't agree with extra calcium above what's in layers and the two youngsters certainly don't need it yet so I would remove the oyster shell other than what's in the mixed grit anyway. Extra calcium should only be provided if a thin shelled egg problem arises and if a lack of calcium is identified as probably the cause, in my opinion. We stopped giving our laying hens oyster shell and crushed egg shells two years ago with absolutely no effect on egg shell quality or their health, so clearly the layers pellets provides enough calcium under normal circumstances.
 
Thanks - will get them some plain grit rather than the mixed stuff as soon as I can. Incidently, the one who is laying has really nice firm shells.
 
There a couple of schools of thought when rearing pullets, some breeders do not like to give them layers rations too early, prefering them to mature fully before coming into lay. This is particulary so with the larger, soft feather heavy breeds e.g. brahmas, cochins and faverolles which in general are slower to mature than light feather or smaller hybrids.It is not unusual for large soft feather breeds to come into lay at 30 weeks plus.

With faster maturing hybrids it is usual to start layers at around 18 weeks, again the time of the year will have an impact on onset of lay what-ever the breed :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top