Chicken Keeping Secrets

“I thoroughly enjoy your newsletters, please keep them coming! I live in Kwa-Zulu Natal in South Africa. I keep a variety of chickens and ducks – in my backyard – I call them my living lawn ornaments. There appears to be a shortage of good breeding stock of Buff Orpingtons, Rhode Island reds, Faverolles, Turkens etc locally. The people who do have them seem loathe to part with them.

I have seen many overseas websites that offer fertile eggs or day olds sent to people across country by post. In my case fertile eggs would be the only option as I don’t expect anything to make it over alive! How long would fertile eggs remain fertile to hatch in an incubator, and are there laws that prohibit this kind of overseas transaction? I look forward to your answer.” ~ Regards, Samantha

Thanks so much for the question Samantha,

I’ll start with the answer that I don’t know – I don’t know if there are any laws that would prohibit fertile eggs being sent across borders. I would imagine that the laws would vary from country to country so this is something you’ll have to check into with your local magistrate.

Assuming it is legal, there are some things to keep in mind when considering shipping fertile eggs across long distances.

Let’s look at the ideal conditions in which you would store fertile eggs if you were collecting them from your own hens, and then we’ll compare those conditions to those you might find if the eggs were sent a long distance by post.

You would choose only clean (meaning not manured), medium sized, uniformly shaped eggs. You would collect 3 to 4 times a day until you had assembled enough eggs to set. (more…)

“I have 7 Ameraucana girls. They are very healthy and, I think very happy. However, they are only giving me an average of 5 eggs per day. I live in Pawleys Island, SC, and the weather is wonderful. This is the 2nd season of laying for them, but the production was the same last year. Is this just the norm for Ameraucanas or are they just being bad girls? Thanks.” ~ Lindy

Lindy,

I’m glad you wrote.

The rate of lay your are receiving is normal for Ameraucanas.

There are very few breeds in which you can expect an egg every day.

However, there are many factors that contribute to how prolific a particular hen is;

Breed is indeed a significant factor, but within the same variety, some lines are bred for egg laying, some to meet the standard. The back yard farmer may also breed for temperament, which would be unlikely in a commercial setting.

Unless you are involved in selective breeding, you have no way of knowing, for sure, the history of the line you have purchased.

Another factor in egg production is the age of the hen.

With most breeds, that first season your hens come into lay, they will lay more often then they will for the rest of their lives. (more…)

“We started keeping chickens about 1 year ago. We have 10 egg layers and they all seem to be doing well as we now get 7 to 10 eggs everyday. A very unusual event occurred 2 days ago that has me stumped. One of the hens, we don’t know which one, laid an egg that is about 1/3 the size of any we have seen from our flock. Our kids have been weighing the eggs from the beginning and tracking the weight and quantity of eggs per day in a spread sheet.

Very Small Chicken Egg

Every egg so far has been between 1.65 to 2.35 oz., the small egg was 0.50 oz. I also attached a picture for you. Can you explain to me why this happened and if we should be concerned about it? Thanks for your help.” ~ Vance Foster

And…

“Duncan I’ve been getting chicken keeping secrets for a while and find it to be a wonderful learning media. I’ve had some little things with Amberlink hens 6 and the answer seems to show up in your reports. But I have a picture of an egg that was laid by one of my hens and nobody has been able to help me so far.

Unusual Chicken Egg

Hope you will know. I think this is an egg plus a second plus an egg sac all at one time. Since this was laid all other eggs are normal except for one that was extremely oval shaped.
Thank you so much ” ~ Larry Tinsley, Lakeland Fla

Thanks so much to Vance & Larry for the questions and pictures.

My answer to both of you is, “I don’t know.”

Aren’t you glad you subscribe when you get sage wisdom like that?

Seriously though, sometimes the “conveyor belt” just gets off track.

Vance, we had a small egg like yours once and only once. We thought it was so neat that we kept it for months. For some reason, we never did crack it open to see what was inside. Now I wish we had.

It seems that I read that occasionally, the ovum doesn’t fully develop into a yolk. However, it is still released as a full sized yolk would be. It goes through the process of forming just as every other egg does. The end result is a tiny egg with no yolk or maybe a very small yolk.

I’d be interested to know if you cracked it open what was inside.

Larry, your situation is not dissimilar to Vance’s in that, sometimes things just don’t work quite right. (more…)

“Hi, thanks for a great site! I am interested to know the reason for a hole in each egg that our hen produces daily. I am not sure whether the hen / cock is responsible for this. The egg does not run out as such but the shell is always pierced (the hole being the size of a raisin). Is this a common occurrence or what is the reason behind this? Many thanks” ~ Mary

Hi Mary,

Thanks for the question.

It sounds to me like one of your chickens is pecking at the egg.

The contents is not running out because the chicken is not pecking deep enough to break the membrane that seals the contents of the egg.

Now is the time to take steps to stop this behavior before they accidentally end up with a beak full of egg white and are delighted by this wonderful, new, squishy food.

It’s can be very hard to break the egg eating habit.

In your case, the first thing I would do is make sure you collect often; the less time an egg sits in the nest box, the less likely it will be pecked at. (more…)

“An article you had earlier, about not damaging a film on the egg if you want to hatch them, has caused another concern in my mind. I clean all my eggs under cool water and soap before storing them. Is this the proper way to do it, or am I causing the storage life span of the stored egg to be shortened? Thanks” ~ Charlie

Charlie,

You have the same thing on your mind that so many people seem to lately; what is the best way to wash an egg?

I’ve been trying to get an answer our of a large egg producing company but can’t seem to get through to someone who will tell me how they clean their eggs.

So I’ll tell you how we wash our eggs and the reasoning behind why we do it this way. If there is anyone out there who disagrees with me, and feels there is folly in our practice, please write back with the reasons why and I will publish as an addendum next week.

Okay, a quick review of the “bloom” for those who are new to keeping chickens.

Just before an egg is laid, a protective membrane is applied to the outside of the shell. This membrane is called the bloom. The bloom is a thin protein coating that protects the egg from the entrance of harmful bacteria through it’s porous shell.

Once the bloom encounters water, it is quickly washed away and therefore cannot protect the contents of the egg any longer.

So, onto the actual washing of eggs and whether it’s even necessary to do so before storing them in the refrigerator.

If an egg is clean, meaning not soiled with manure or mud, I gently brush off any dust or straw and put it in the refrigerator. I use the word gently because I want to keep the bloom intact and a lot of handling of the egg can wear away the bloom. (more…)