Amber has a problem again

I had really hoped that Amber was past her egg laying problem. After Bluebell went to Jackie’s flock Amber laid every other day for ten days. She then missed three days and laid again, missed another three days and looked ill again.

Amber is not looking at all well

It breaks my heart to see Amber looking like this

Poor Amber

I felt quite tearful to see her like this. She looked worse than she ever had before and I really thought we might lose her this time. My husband pointed out that the reason I wanted to add two more bantams to the flock was because we were worried we may lose Amber and I didn’t want Honey to be the only banty in with big girls. Even so I had really hoped that Amber had got past this.

We have always felt that there is something adrift with her egg laying as she has been like this from the start of laying, last summer. It always follows the exact same pattern. She looks really unwell and miserable then two days later she lays her egg which is sometimes  soft shelled.

I give her limestone flour and crushed egg shells but this still happens to her every now and again.

It was heartbreaking as Amber still ran to me when I went in but she wobbled. What I think happens is that she feels unwell so she stops eating and being so small she very quickly gets weak. I hand fed her some chopped grapes and sunflower seeds as she was too slow to compete with the other girls. She ate them and within half an hour she had perked up again. I think the food really gives her a boost.

I gave the girls mash the next morning (with limestone flour) to make sure that Amber was still eating. She seemed better but not quite her usual self.

This morning I expected to find her egg as it was two days later and she seemed back to herself again. There was no egg in the nest box or coop but when I poop picked the run I found what looked like a bit of congealed egg yolk. I think she must have laid a soft shelled egg and it had been eaten.

I gave the girls some scrambled egg this morning with limestone flour added and Amber tucked in as usual. The crisis has passed once again.

Amber looks much better as she tucks into some scrambled egg

I know that it takes between twenty four and twenty six hours for an egg to start it’s journey and reach the point of being laid. Amber always starts to look really ill forty eight hours before laying her egg. I just can’t understand what it is that makes her feel so unwell before the egg has even started it’s journey.

I do fear that Amber may not live a long life but in between these episodes she is perfectly normal. She is such a lovely little character and I keep hoping she will grow out of this but sadly that seems unlikely. I always feel so helpless but hand feeding her does seem to keep her strength up.

The girls tuck into the scrambled egg except for Sparkle who is off to the nest box

Amber has a beak full of scrambled egg

Sparkle never shows any interest in what I put in the white dishes. She pecks at apple and grapes and greens but doesn’t seem to want to get involved with the bustle around the dishes. Sparkle seems to be a bit of a loner, she is a quiet girl with a mild temperament and keeps herself to herself.

I really hope Amber will be okay now but I think in our hearts we know that this will probably keep recurring.

I have to add a footnote to this post. I was wrong about the soft shelled egg. Perhaps it was a bit of squashed corn I found not egg yolk. I just went to give the girls their afternoon apple and Amber was missing so I looked in the nest box. As luck would have it just at that moment she stood up and there was her warm, damp, egg. The shell is normal so it makes it even more difficult to know why she has such a struggle with it.

She is now happily pecking at apple and looking back to normal.