Topic: Really pleased.

[Ragdoll Lady]

Finally after about a month of laying nothing but the occasional soft shelled egg Scarlett has gone and done it and laid a perfect hard shelled one. I was seriously begining to think we had a duff hen. The lady we got them from told me not to feed oyster shell or roasted crushed up egg shells because as long as she was eating her ration of pellets the extra calcium could have the effect of making her not produce her own. Although I had heard different I thought I would give it a go. She also told me to cut down on the treats they should only be 20% of her total days food. Just as I thought it would never work and only two days before we returned to her breeder to pick up hen supplies she laid her egg. It may have been she thought I would replace her with an egg laying hen (of course I wouldnt) or maybe it was hubby saying he is going to cook coq au vin for dinner on sunday ;) You wouldnt think a hen laying an egg would put you in such a good mood.

[goodlife]

Ohhh..finally..well done for the 'little girl'.. ;D
But..the advise that you've been given I do feel like commenting little about it..
Domestic poultry keepers are always advised to include plentiful supply of mixed poultry grit to supplement the food..not only to aid the digestion but there is also broken down oyster shell too..for the calcium.
Professional feeds often has calcium added to the feed to ensure the egg shell quality and in feed it is easier given that going to trouble of providing it in grit form.
If chickens don't have enough calcium in their diet..it all comes out from their body resulting to poor condition..extreme cases they may suffer with brittle bones..!
I do agree for not giving plain oyster shell on its own..as it will be bit too much and may throw the nutrient balance off the scale..but I've never heard about 'producing her own' problem.
Crushed up egg shells are not recommended as that may get encourage/ bring on egg eating habit.
My girls have mixed grit available all the time..and they are free to pick and choose what ever they feel like getting out of it.. ;)

[sunloving]

Thats great news , it really does feel like a long wait doesnt it but well worth it when it starts.

I agree with goodlife and would add that a hen cannot produce calcium it can only use digested calcium from its food or as good life said in desperation harvest it from its own bones.

I use oyster shell pounded up; pounded and cooked in the oven egg shell (very small peices) and the odd cuttlefish bone from the beach washed and pounded and leave it in a container where the hens are so they can eat it when they want it.

Onwards and upwards what did you have? boiled/scrambled or are you waiting to make a quiche or omelette?
x sunloving

[Ragdoll Lady]

Hi, Goodlife and Sunloving. I think i probably worded my post a bit wrong (typical me). I do have mixed grit available for the hens 24/7 and I add a little extra oyster shell to the mix as well. I think I was giving too many treats to the hens at night as hubby got through a 2.5 kilo of mealworms in probably 6 weeks! His excuse that he was putting them out for the wild birds too doesnt add up.! We were also getting through mixed corn at an alarming rate. The hens get fresh greens and defrosted sweetcorn and peas every day and enjoy the odd bit of pasta,rice,porridge oats and mlon and cucumber. Funny lthings arent they?, if i cut the cucumber in slices or chunks they leave it but if i just cut through the middle they love pecking it out. Just another question how much in layers pellets should a hen eat in a day.?
i have noticed mine are eating more and the five are getting through at least a kilo in a day and sometimes I am refilling the hopper and they are eating another quater of that. I am going to buy a bigger pellet feeder today.
Scarlett has now laid three perfect eggs in three days  :)

[goodlife]

Ahh..ok..that sounds like they were eating bit like royals.. ;D ;D
Yep..they should have pellets as their main source of food and other bit are just complimentary feed. Sounds like they were having their 'chocolate' as food and bit of food as and when they felt like it.. ;D They would do that given a chance.. ::)

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how much in layers pellets should a hen eat in a day.? As a rough guide..about 100g per bird per day..large breeds perhaps bit more.
My 6 girls get through about 3x25kg of mixed corn in a year..and sack of layer pellets every 6-7 weeks.
I've got galvanized hanging feeder that the flow of the pellets can be adjusted...it has been kept to almost minimum so the girls cannot scrape the feed out but they have to work a bit to get the pellets to flow out.
That way I have hadly any waste/scrapings on floor and the sack of feed last bit longer.
Since I spent that bit of extra money for the feeder it has payed itself back many times now. And I think it will last for years to come. I payed about £25 for it and its got over hanging twist on top that will keep rain away. That feeder will take 2 days feed in it.

[sunloving]

Wow id like to come a be a chicken at your house, it sounds fab.

[grannyjanny]

Wow Rag Doll Lady. That is a lot of mealworms. Must have cost you a fortune. I've been getting 100g bags at £1.25 from Quality Save but they don't have them ATM & I refuse to pay more. My OH is not very happy with me & says 'I don't understand the psychology of chickens' No I don't understand him. He is rewarding them for non production. The bantams, 4 of, lay 1 egg every other day if we're lucky & now the speckeldy's do the same :o ::). I've just found out he's giving them corn again in the morning. Shakes head in disbelief :'(.

[Ragdoll Lady]

Grannyjanny, husbands! impossible arent they! ;) We have bought our mealworms on ebay 2.5 kilo for £25 which would be a good deal if hubby was stricter with the rations. Went back to the hen breeder yesterday to pick up supplies and as requested she gave hubby a firm talk about over indulging hens. ;) Problem for us is we like to see animals/people eat. Luckily the morning and daytime its me that feeds the hens so I can keep it under control a bit.  Funny thing is I am sure they have learnt their little ways to extract more treats from him from our 5 cats! The cats free feed cat biscuits all day and have a token amount of wet cat food in the morning as a treat. They see hubby and run to the cat bowls and put on a convincing act of 'being hungry' so he sneaks an extra sachet into their bowl. I actually hide the wet cat food now so he doesnt do it ;)

[grannyjanny]

Ragdoll Lady I think our OHs deserve each other. We were adopted by a cat some 11 years ago. It took her 5 years to sit near me & another 2 to get on my knee. She's quite content to sit on my knee but if she hears OH getting up she runs to her food bowl. OH gets quite irate with her as she mithers him constantly for food. He just can't understand why she doesn't ask me for food. Quite simple really, she wouldn't get it ::).

I must weigh some corn today. I looked in a chicken book yesterday & it said 15g of corn per bird per day. Watch this space ;) ;D.

[goodlife]

Well at least your OH's do take part for the care..
I once told mine off by over feeding our girls..and now he don't do anything unless I specifically tell him to.. ::)..but then again..now there is only me to blaim for any mistakes..and somebody in back round 'parroting'.. ::)

[grannyjanny]

He came in earlier with 2 eggs, I asked how the girls were & wish I hadn't bothered. They are utterly fed up, they saw I only had corn for them, no mealworms again so they are very unhappy. You just don't understand them. Oh dear, poor little chickens. If they laid some b....y eggs I might be tempted to get them some. The eggs were off the big girls, bantams still 1 every other day from 4 of them :o.
How I wish I had a husband who does as he's told, heavenly.

[Ragdoll Lady]

Well yesterday hubby was going to cook dinner and invited my uncle too. He planned a rediculously hard menu which he was going to cook and wanted me to make my home made ice-cream and biscuits. Well so far so good, untill he decided to change all the hemcore in the chicken run and give the chicken house a thorough clean out (it was only completely done around 3 weeks ago and I clean it out at least once a day)! Then he needed me to carry all the hemcore to the composter. Time was marching on and it was obvious he wasnt going to have time to cook. He was playing with the chickens"! So I ended up cooking the whole thing. Two courses of fiddly dishes (oysters for starters in beurre blanc with wilted spinach) and a proper coq au vin plus the dessert. I never learn as its the third time he has done this!
GrannyJanny I think the chickens are better off not getting too many treats as fat hens do not lay eggs. Our maran coucou is huge and she lays the smallest eggs. Seems to me that since the mealworms ran out the hens have definately laid  more eggs. We have always (touch wood 0been lucky with Abbygail  as she lays every day and now gemima is doing the same. Scarlett seems to be following suit and her eggs are big like Abbys. The Skyline Tamsin is just comming into lay and we have had about 4 blue eggs so far. Morwenna the other skyline is a bit younger and I dont expect her to come into lay for around 6 weeks at least.

Goodlife hubby likes to 'parrott' too he delights in finding knots in the cats coats or commenting if their claws need cutting. I think men like to nag as it makes them feel superior and needed.

[grannyjanny]

You know about treats Ragdoll Lady as does Goodlife & myself. I've left the Katy Thear book out but he hasn't taken the hint. He'll just put it back & moan that he's had to tidy up after me again ::). THe last time this subject came up he stopped & we had 4 eggs twice & 3 twice from the little ones but then it's back to 1 every other day. We had non at all from last August until February, that's why I got the speckeldys. I wish I new of a 'home' for retired chickens. I think we were sold 4 pigs in pokes with those madams. The breeder wanted them to go to the same home, mother & her 3 girls ::). I think she saw us coming ::).

[Ragdoll Lady]

I think GrannyJanny the 'pets' with complications are 'sent' to the people that 'god' knows will love them no matter what! You know the scenario.....you look after your pets like kings and queens and they get all sorts of ailments and problems but the guy up the road doesnt look after his pets properly and nothing bad ever happens to them.
We read no end of testimonials on the website of the lady who supplied our hens from thrilled new hen owners whose hens laid within days and sometimes hours of them picking them up. We waited weeks and weeks :) I know you wouldnt 'rehome' your girls but just if anyone ever asks you, the lady who we got our hens from will take in any unwanted hens for a small donation. She often takes back ageing hens she has supplied to people who then buy new ones from her (obviously they only want them for the eggs). I know in a commercial sense this makes a lot of sense if their egg laying has diminished because they are older but I couldnt do it myself. But hey I guess its a bit like docking in your ageing husband for a 20 year old with all his own teeth, a full head of hair, no belly, a firm bum and no interest in over feeding your hens.................now theres a thought.!!!!!!!!

[grannyjanny]

I couldn't do it really & we did check her out. I think God sends us animals that will have problems, a Westie that got cystitis every time she went to the groomers, a rescued bearded collie that had severe arthritis from a young age but fortunately we got him insured before it showed itself. I couldn't possibly swap OH :o, well I'd like to think I wouldn't. He wouldn't get much if he traded me in though. I hope we both feel best the devil you know ;D.
Our friends had chickens & they were fed on layers pellets & water & they layed almost 365 days a year. I looked after them the last 2 Winters at Christmas & they had their porridge before OH got his breakfast ;D ;D ;D.

[goodlife]

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But hey I guess its a bit like docking in your ageing husband for a 20 year old with all his own teeth, a full head of hair, no belly, a firm bum and no interest in over feeding your hens.................now theres a thought.!!!!!!!! ;D..ohh..dangerous thoughts.. ;D Could not do with 'puppy' training again.. ::)

[grannyjanny]

 ;D ;D ;D.

[Ragdoll Lady]

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But hey I guess its a bit like docking in your ageing husband for a 20 year old with all his own teeth, a full head of hair, no belly, a firm bum and no interest in over feeding your hens.................now theres a thought.!!!!!!!! ;D..ohh..dangerous thoughts.. ;D Could not do with 'puppy' training again.. ::)

Yes 'puppy training' too much like hard work ;D