Sunday, September 14, 2008

Casualty

No, not Inky - although she had me worried when I first saw her stretched out like that!

No, when I headed to the barn to ride Russell (yay me!), I noticed two Rhodies were in nesting boxes. "Good," I thought, "maybe the Rhodies will start pulling their weight around here!" After I finished with Russell I headed to the chicken quarters to check for eggs. The two Rhodies were sitting on the stoop, looking for all the world like they were taking a well-deserved breather.

But when I looked in the nest boxes, I saw this:I couldn't see any evidence of a yolk; I don't know if it got eaten or there wasn't one to start with. I cleaned up the mess in hopes that no one had gotten a taste for fresh eggs yet and took the surviving egg to the house. Since it was noticeably lighter than the broken egg, I thought it was Morgan's, but when I put it next to one of hers in the egg crate it clearly wasn't. So we did reach a new milestone of TWO Rhodie eggs in one day - sort of.

That's it for now at . . .

10 comments:

Unknown said...

First & foremost I am jealous that you have eggs & I do not! I had a long discussion with the girls today & pointed out that they are eating Purina Layena & its suppose to be the best so what seems to be the problem?LOL. I so hate it when my animals are laid out like that...freaks me out, freaks them out too when I come running! I have not milked. This spring will be the milking thing. I did not have a milking stand last year & to say it was a fiasco is an understatement. So this year I planned ahead...the goats & I have been "practicing":) Thanks for always coming by...I do enjoy to hear from you!

Tammy said...

Yikes, Michelle, that was kinda mean. ;-) My original Dorset ewe does that too, and it seriously used to freak me out. I even looked it up in the books (and supposedly sheep DON'T lay like this--but I guess they didn't tell her!). The first few times, I went screaming across the paddock, scaring her and everyone else into leaping to their feet. Hmmm... if the yolk is missing, the girls might have had a little snack. Hopefully not, and all is not lost if they did. Things like plastic eggs, deeper (softer) bedding in the nests (which makes them harder to break), and darkening the area that they lay in, will help discourage egg eating. Also if you don't already you might get them some oyster shells to help them with the calcium so their shells will be tougher. You are gonna be rollin' in the eggs! :-)
Tammy

Rayna said...

We always had problems with our production reds eating eggs...duno why. As for Inky...I had a little recently "de-rammed" ram lamb doing that the other day...lol. :) Hopefully it was just a squashed egg...but keep your eyes open!

Kathy said...

Sometimes, new layers will lay eggs without yolks, whites or even shells. BUT, if it keeps happening, you've got an egg-eater and I hate to say it, but they should be removed.
I think it's the former...young hens who's systems aren't quite up to running correctly. I have even seen them lay eggshells that were empty.

Kathleen said...

Your girls look as if they're having a good heart-to-heart there. Maybe discussing the dud that one of them laid? Hopefully it was a dud and not a snack for one of them!

Wilma Fingerdu said...

you can knit instead of purl, and it will be all in garter stitch....

and i just didnt block the corners, but you can block them straighter...

it should work out fine :-)

Anonymous said...

Hi! Try adding some table salt to the feed- not alot, but maybe a tablespoon or two, and make sure plenty of water is available. That, along with the oystershell, will keep them from pecking each other, and eating eggs. She probably broke it accidentally. If there was a yolk, they'll eat it once the eggs broken. Good luck!

Deborah Niemann said...

My Shetlands don't scare me like that, but my Babydoll does. I spent the first year thinking he was about to die, but he was fine, and now it's been five years, and he's still out there, lazy as ever.

~~Sittin.n.Spinnin said...

Wow, I coulda sworn I left a comment earlier! Hmmm

Nice 'dead sheep' pose, scarry!

Alaska Shetland Shepherd said...

Broken eggs......just catching up, sorry! Not enough shavings, nor deep enough, to cushion the eggs should a hen decide to leap out of the box for something very exciting out the door. Bedding needs to be at least an inch thick under the hen, and as evidenced by the photo....the egg is on wood because the shavings get shoved out of the box on entrance and exit. :-) Time for deeper nest boxes (another 2" board across the front) and more bedding. Every time our boxes get a little too low on shavings or bedding, we'll find broken eggs.