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Took me 3 days to figure out why my hen stopped laying eggs
I have a 2 year old Rhode Island Red named Penny who lays like clockwork. She stopped laying for about a week and I wasted 2 full days checking for mites and changing feed. On day 3 I finally noticed a small bump under her vent. Turns out she had a hard bound egg stuck. I gave her a warm bath and some calcium and she passed it the next morning. Has anyone else missed something obvious with their hens?
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sandra9161d ago
Oh man, I did something even dumber once... spent two whole weeks convinced my speckled hen was going broody again. She was sitting in the nesting box all puffed up and grumpy. I kept checking for eggs under her, giving her space, the whole routine. Turns out she'd just gotten really fat from me spoiling them with too many scratch grains. She was just plump and lazy, not broody at all. Felt like such a goof when I finally realized she was just a little chunky chicken.
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clairec781d ago
Blamed myself for three days thinking she was just being stubborn or maybe she was getting too old. Turned out I had been giving her too many oyster shell supplements. Thought I was helping but overdoing calcium can actually do the opposite and make the shells too thick or weirdly shaped. Then the egg just sits there because it can't move through right. Now I only give it every other day and mix it into their feed instead of letting them free choice it.
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