Lets Talk About Eggs (Part 1)

All about Eggs

How to choose the right laying hens for yourself and your needs:

First of all, if you are looking for hens that are known for being good layers, it is best to do your research. You will not want hens that tend to go broody as they will not be laying eggs during their broody stage. Hybrids such as Golden Comets don’t go broody, as they have been bred to be prolific egg layers. Try to choose breeds that don’t go broody very often.

 

Also, keep in mind that some breeds are very friendly and docile, so they will not fare well with the more dominant type breeds.

Make sure your hens have access to free-range or have a run large enough to accommodate their needs.

Some good laying breeds:

Rhode Island Red – approximately 260 eggs per year.

White Leghorn – approximately 280 eggs per year.

Golden Comet – between 250-300 eggs per year.

Ameraucana- approximately 250 eggs per year.

Golden laced Wyandottes- approximately 200 eggs per year.

Barred Plymouth rock- approximately 280 eggs per year.

Speckled Sussex- between 250-300 eggs per year.

Australorp- approximately 250 eggs per year.

Bantam Australorp

Best beginner egg laying hens :

Rhode Island Red

Golden Comet ( Hybrid )

Buff Orpington

Plymouth Rock

Leghorn

Easter Egger

Golden Comets

Preparing for the big day:

Most pullets start to lay at around the age of 20 weeks.

And you have just realised that they are nearing that age! So what should you do to prepare for that big day?

 

 Nest boxes :

Nest boxes can be made out of pretty much any materials.

From crates made of wood or plastic.

Even wine barrels make ideal nesting boxes.

Bucket nesting boxes are simple and easy to make, they can be free-standing or fixed to the wall.

Use your imagination and DIY skills and you will be surprised by what you can create with very little material.

My hens are house hens so they have their nesting boxes in the bottom parts of our cupboard, and they love it!

 

Hen Nesting

Nesting materials:

Now the nest boxes are up and ready, so what about the nesting material?

Here are some Favourite nesting materials :

Pine Shavings.

Cedar Shavings.

Shredded paper.

Hay.

Straw.

Carpets.

Nest pads.

Remember to clean the nest box every few days.

And every nesting box should have some kind of filling no matter what the nesting box is made of.

 

How do you know if a hen has started laying :

If your hen is ok with being handled, pick her up, lift her tail feathers and inspect her vent.

A hen that has never lain an egg will have a round-shaped vent.

A hen that has laid an egg will have a more oval-shaped vent that will also be moist.

If your hen won’t allow you to handle her, you will just have to catch her in the act, or try to guess who the culprit may be based on her breed.

Pre-egg laying behaviour - nesting

What to feed my laying hens?

Once your hen begins to lay you will want to make sure that they get a well-balanced feed.

Complete feeds provide nutritionally balanced diets.

If you use a good feed with a well-balanced diet that meets all their requirements, supplementing with other items may cause an upset in the balance of the diet.

Some common mistakes:

.Providing vitamins and electrolytes for more than 10 days.

.Supplementing complete feeds with cracked corn, oats, or other grains.

.Adding green chops, lettuce, or other low nutrition ingredient to the diet.

P.S> A treat every now and then won’t cause any harm, just don’t overdo it.

.Administering inappropriate or unnecessary medications.

Supplements:

You may find it necessary to supplement your hen’s diet with crushed oyster shells, on a free-choice basis that is.

Some high production hen’s may benefit from the extra calcium in the oyster shells.

.Oyster shells- Slow-release calcium.

If you can’t get hold of oyster shells, you can crush up your hen’s own eggs and feed it back to them.

. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes – this destroys any possible bacteria etc. that may be present.

.crush it up into small pieces and give it to your hens on a free-choice basis.

Keep your eyes on the eggshell quality:

If your hens need extra calcium look for the following-

.Thin shell eggs that crack easily.

.Soft shell eggs that are easy to squish.

These may improve with the extra calcium.

Healthy egg on the right

What can eggs tell me about my hen’s health?

.Tiny eggs- known as Fairy eggs, fart eggs, or wind eggs.

Will be the right shape, but will be very small.

Will have little to no yolk.

May sometimes be the first or last egg of a clutch.

Are usually laid by pullets, can be due to their hormones and their bodies getting used to these new reproductive hormones and stress.

Softshell fairy eggs are also common.

.Lash egg – not an egg but solidified puss from an infection.

The appearance of irregular blobs of material in the nest or partial membranes surrounding these blobs is lash eggs.

They may have an egg shape appearance, but they are not eggs.

They are dried up puss from an infection in the hen’s oviduct.

When the mass is cut open, it may be possible to see bits of ova, shell, or other materials.

Causes: may be E.Coli or Mycoplasma infection.

Lash egg (Salpingitis) - Credit cluckin.net

Wrong shaped eggs

Not all eggs are smooth and egg-shaped, the shape can depend on the breed of the hen and or the individual bird.

Some lay eggs that are more pointed.

Some are more rounded.

Hybrids tend to lay good shaped eggs.

 

Golden Comet Eggs (Hybrid)

3 Eggs from the same pullet. She is a new layer, so odd eggs are to be expected.

 

Funny shells:

Many factors can affect shell quality:

.Disease

.Diet

.Stress

.And even the amount of vitamin D in their diet.

.There can also be a problem with the shell gland, causing many discrepancies to occur.

 

Common Abnormalities:

Wrinkled eggs

Flat sided/Slab sided eggs

Sand paper-like roughness

Calcified pimples

Body checks

Seemingly mended cracks are fairly common.

Thin shell eggs that crumple easily.

And no shell eggs are also pretty common.

On the right: wrinkled egg.
On the left: egg with excess calcium.

The top egg is a healthy egg.
The bottom egg wrinkled egg.

Pimpled eggs as well as slab sided.

Thin shell egg that tore internally.

Collection of eggs that can be laid by a hen.

Pimpled egg (can see the calcification pimples on the egg).

Healthy eggs:

In general healthy eggs should be clean, smooth and have strong shells.

There shouldn’t be any cracks in the eggshell

When opened the eggs should have a uniform colour.

Healthy Golden Comet Eggs will be smooth, large with an even strong shell and healthy brown colour.

Box of healthy Golden Comet and Bantam Austrolorp eggs.

Cause for concern:

There may be a cause for concern when your hens lay eggs that have rough shells, that are dirty, or thin.

Keep an eye on hens that lay their eggs on the floor or don’t make it to the nest box in time.

Backyard keepers should also be concerned if your hens regularly lay eggs with large blood and meat spots in the yolk.

The presence of these abnormalities may be an indicator that the hen may not be as healthy as she could be.

Monitor the egg production, collect as much data from your eggs as possible.

Get an idea what is a normal egg for a certain hen, in that the way you can easily spot when something is not as it should be. 

...more to follow in Part 2...