Marmite has definitely been having an egg laying problem. It is odd because last year she laid with no problem at all and you can’t help wondering what changes to cause these little girls to develop an egg laying problem.
I am hopeful that Marmite may be okay again now. The problem seemed to be with forming a shell properly and I have seen Marmite going to the grit and eggshell hopper so it’s not because she isn’t taking it but it just doesn’t seem to be forming properly on the shell.
Marmite has been laying an egg, on average, every three days. She alternates between looking poorly and laying a soft shell or weird shell and in between laying a good shell.
The egg before last had another odd looking shell but wasn’t soft so I felt that her shells were improving. It was a strange greyish colour on the top and had some calcium pimples on top.
Three days later she went into the nest box without looking poorly before she went in and went on to lay a good shelled egg. It will be interesting to see if this now continues. I really hope so.
It would be great if this was just a blip and Marmite is now back to normal. Only time will tell.
In other news Flame started laying again exactly two weeks after she started her broody spell and then yesterday Smoke laid also exactly two weeks after she started her broody spell.
Breaking them out of being broody as quickly as possible gets them back to laying sooner and at the moment having our two best layers back on track is a real bonus.
Our girls eggs are giving us enough eggs to keep us going and we really appreciate the supply of our lovely eggs.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
I do hope Marmite is back to normal now xx
Marmite laid again yesterday and the shell was good but was slightly misshaped again. This time it was smooth but just had a sort of band round it so that it wasn’t quite perfectly oval shaped as if it had been squeezed. I definitely think she has a problem making the shells. She seems fine in between but it is a shame that she is struggling with her egg laying.
Luckey to have all thoes lovely eggs.
It is great having plenty of eggs. We had an egg and bacon sandwich this morning as the Saturday treat and the yolks are such a lovely rich orange colour.
I don’t know what causes this phenomenon, but I’ve had it too, over the years and again last week: a strange-shaped egg, almost flat on one side, with ridges and a very chalky shelland no idea who laid it, although it came from one of the white/cream egg layers. No more oddities since, but what was even more strange was that my wife cracked it to mix with milk for basting the tops of some pies she was making and there was no white at all – just a normal-sized yolk; I’ve had very small eggs without a yolk before, but never the reverse. I do hope that Marmite is okay – you use the word ‘blip’, and that seems to be what it is. Still nothing from Speckles, I suppose? Several of my older girls have not come back into lay, despite looking like layers!
Since this post Marmite has laid another two eggs that were just slightly misshaped. They just had a slight band around them. I will photograph them and put out another post. Marmite looks a bit “humpy shaped” as we now call it, before laying them, but seems fine afterwards and in between. I am reassured by you saying that you have experienced this too as it makes me think that these things are more common than we realise.
Speckles has showed no sign of wanting to lay since that post about her. She is still doing sloppy poops which has become the summer norm for her and I wonder if she just feels the need to remember the experience of sitting in a nest box from time to time. Whether she will lay a few eggs this year or not remains to be seen but she is well in herself so that’s good enough for me. She always chats to me and jumps on me when she gets the chance and she dust baths and soaks up the sun so I am happy that she is happy.
We never quite know what these girls will do do we! I know that as long as they are happy we are happy.