I love to collect fresh eggs for breakfast, but broken egg innards and shells were a gooey greeting this morning when I slid my hand under a Buff Orpington. Ick... I think there is a hen laying very, very thin shelled eggs that break under the weight of a chicken nesting. The hen wouldn't even have to step on the egg.
I have had those eggs break from the pressure of me just picking them up from the nest. They don't show up very often.
Lucky for me the next nest had two eggs. Two eggs. That's all this morning from 16 chickens. I did get two more this afternoon, but I think the heat might be slowing egg production down.The cracked eggs got me thinking about when I showed Tristan how to crack an egg and pull it apart (I was making pancakes when he was visiting.) I am a two handed egg cracker. I got to wondering about how to crack an egg with one hand. I have a lot of eggs around here to practice with so I think I will forego the golf balls.
How to crack an egg with one hand.
Then I got to wondering about the chicken feed. The chickens always will eat scratch, but I've noticed that the levels in the feeders that hold the lay feed are going down very slowly. I don't think they are eating much of the lay. Not eating much lay means not much in the way of laying eggs.
The problem may be the heat or the scratch and treats. I found this article about feeding chickens. My chickens eat up their treats and scratch inside of 5 minutes. That is way under the 20 minute rule but I could be messing up their nutrient levels.
I'll try cutting way back on the treats/scratch and put the oyster shell out in several places instead of just one.
The sage plant is very happy in the sun and has survived without any watering this year even with all the heat. It is shady in the photo because it is late afternoon, but it is usually sunny there all day.
It is very nice under the trees in the shade. Still hot... but nice. The sunny spot in the photo used to be a vegetable garden but the area was dug up because the city has rights to get to the pipes that are buried along there. Too bad. It is one of the few places that get sun most of the day.(July 18, 2009)
[4 eggs today]
~:>
Smiles
11 comments:
I can hardly crack an egg successfully with TWO hands.Someone threw an egg at our new female Prime Minister the other day.
I'm wanting to perfect that one-handed technique -- so showy! Or what if I could learn to do it left-handed as well? And do two eggs at once? Ah, the glory!
The chickens have slowed down in this heat here.
I would say you are on the right track for the thin shell problem.
Squished eggs,chicken poop and snakes! The 3 worst things to find in the nest box!
I like the idea of toast toad in a hole. We make toad in the hole with sausages and yorkshire pudding batter around here, which reminds me, I haven't made that in a while......
Gill in Canada
It really is a science isn't it!?!
Boo on the city. ;)
The other eggs look quite nice. Usually if I crack an egg single handed, I break the yolk, too. :)
Hope you have a good week!
When the heat goes up the food intake and egg production goes down, but that water intake goes way up. I don't have to worry about the feeders, but check waterers every couple hours in this heat.
I cannot crack an egg one handy without dropping some shell into the bowl.
~~Matt~~
I went through a spell of shell-less eggs for a while, but it seems to have worked itself out. Still don't know who - or how many hens - were responsible.
Mine aren't laying in the heat either. Of the six, one is broody and definitely not laying, and the other five have been giving me one or two a day, but I did have a 4-egg day yesterday.
The lil ones should start laying within a few weeks, hopefully.
I'm a one hand egg cracker, lol. I get some of those thin egg shells every once in awhile. I do give my chickens scratch as a treat and try to remember not to give them too much cause I've heard it will effect their laying. They gobble up their layer crumbles and LOTS OF FRESH WATER!
My girls aren't eating as much feed right now, but they are feasting on bugs. That's some pretty good protein for them. I do hate that squished egg in the nest, too.
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