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This Weeks Star
Photos
Florie -
life doesn't come any better than this!
Meet Sam and Josh from Derbyshire along with their
eggstremely friendly and very 'peckish' chickens Pepper
and Eggna! |
Barbara's Weekly
Diary!
Strange
Eggs
Most of the time, our hens produce
perfectly beautiful eggs but occasionally things can go
wrong. Oversized eggs can be caused by too much protein
in the diet or if the hens are old or diseased.
Sometimes the first few eggs laid by hens can be eye
wateringly large and contain double or even triple yolks
until their egg production settles down. This is nothing
to worry about and is rather exciting to find when you
crack open your egg. They are caused by more than one
yolk being released simultaneously which are then formed
into one egg. The very first egg laid by a pullet when
it is first coming into lay often contains no yolk at
all and can by tiny. These are called Cock’s or Wind
Eggs and can also be laid by hens after a shock. Blood
spots inside the eggs are caused by a tiny amount of
blood being released from the ovarian follicle and can
sometimes be caused by shock or stress.
Eggs, which have a ridge
or band around the middle, are caused again by a shock
to the hen which temporarily disrupts the egg laying
system. This is nothing to worry about and the hen will
usually return to laying normal production again
quickly. Eggs with wrinkled shells are an indication of
poor muscle tone in older hens.
Soft-shelled eggs are
fairly common and can be caused by a number of factors.
Shock again is a common reason for an egg being laid
with a thin or soft shell with something as simple as a
sudden rainstorm or spell of hot weather being the
cause. Lack of calcium in the diet is another reason so
give plenty of greens in their diet as many of these
vegetables contain calcium. Most commercial feeds have
added calcium but giving crushed oyster shell or
calcified seaweed as an additional supplement usually
rectifies this problem. A cheaper alternative is to wash
egg shells after using the eggs in the kitchen then bake
them in a moderate oven for 15 minutes. Crush them
finely with a rolling pin and add to their feed.
Regularly occurring soft-shelled eggs can be a sign of
illness or infection. Brittle shells usually occur in
the summer when the hens have been laying well and have
depleted calcium levels
Barbara
[ For more strange eggs visit our website here
- ed ] |
