The nest in the window box

is the site of a successful hatch. Yesterday there were two baby robins. When they first break out of the eggs, they are limp and naked.

This morning a third chick hatched. Perhaps the fourth will emerge later today or tomorrow.

What a contrast to chicken chicks that take a few hours to dry off, and then are up and on their feet and able to eat and drink on their own by day two. Parents not needed. But these robin babies need two parents to survive. The father has been bringing insects to the setting mamma to eat.

Soon, both parents will be bringing food for their ravenous chicks. Childhood for these babies, though, is condensed into a few short weeks. For some species, the parental bonds never end. Yesterday at the nursing home I met a 101 year-old woman and her granddaughter.

Happy Father’s Day.

It’s very difficult, as the keeper of a small and varied backyard flock, to make an accurate diagnosis about most health issues. Hen standing like a penguin? It could be cancer. Or she could be constipated. Rattly breath? Respiratory disease (and there are many) or ascites, or peritonitis. Or she swallowed a bit of straw wrong and will be fine by evening. If you’re looking for answers and go to an on-line poultry forum you’ll get a lot of misinformation, rehashing of Damerow’s books, and maybe some good tips, if you can sort the useful from the bad. There are plenty of blogs out there long on advice, but short on actual experience with the diseases they’re talking about.

When I’m faced with an issue with my girls that I need to know more about, I turn to Veterinary manuals, scientific journals, poultry industry research and fact sheets put on-line by Extension Departments (United States and Canadian agriculture colleges have these outreach offices to help farmers). I’ve gleaned much enlightening information from these sources, but it is not always applicable for my situation because all of the research is done on young, commercial flocks, and the protocols and advice given are for farmers, not a suburban chicken keeper who dotes on her old hens. As one extension fact sheet stated, layers are usually kept for 52 weeks. My Gems are 110 weeks old. Twinkydink is 416 weeks old. To poultry scientists, these birds don’t exist.

When researching what might be going on that the Gems are laying eggs with ridges, crackles, and rough surfaces, I came across photos of eggs that exactly matched what I’m finding in the nesting boxes. This photo from Cornell (scroll to photo # 5 of 8) matches Florence’s egg. These photos match the other eggs that I’ve been blogging about. The culprit appears to be infectious bronchitis (iB). On a production farm, with pullets of one breed, crowded by the tens of thousands inside buildings, this can be devastating. Birds will exhibit severe respiratory symptoms. Egg production will drop to near to nothing for up to four weeks. Eggs that are laid will be large and thin-shelled. iB is caused by a virus. There is no treatment other than time. Eventually the symptoms will pass, normal eggs will be laid, and the farmer will have to add up the financial losses. At 52 weeks all of those layers will be slaughtered, the housing disinfected, and the farmer will hope not to see this in the next group.

My Gems might have iB, but they never showed respiratory symptoms, egg production has dropped by only 10 % and less than half of the flock are laying odd eggs. Is this because older chickens some have immunity? Pullets on production farms are under a huge amount of stress. Perhaps that’s why entire flocks on factory farms succumb so severely. I have no way of knowing.

Or, perhaps my hens are carriers of another virus, one that causes Egg Drop Syndrome. Unlike iB, the affected flocks don’t show respiratory symptoms. They do lay eggs with shells the texture of sandpaper. Only one of my hens does that. Wild birds carry this virus, so perhaps that’s how it got a foothold here. Again, there’s no cure other than time. Since these viruses only affect birds (iB afflicts only chickens) the eggs are safe to eat.

If I were a commercial farmer, I’d follow the recommendations and slaughter all of the birds, disinfect, and begin anew. I’d also pay for lab tests to accurately identify the pathogen. But, I am not a farmer. I’m not even trying to have a sustainable homestead. As someone who keeps old chickens, I already accept the fact of life that egg production peaks at the first year, and goes down from there. I’m fine with a few less eggs because of this virus. I am not going to keep my chickens indoors away from all wild birds and possibly infected soil. I like to think that the healthy, less stressful housing, with fresh air and sunshine that I have here offsets the downside of possible exposure to pathogens. Since viruses lurk in damp and dust, I am obsessive about keeping my coop clean and dry.

I am concerned about the thin-shelled eggs caused by the virus. Thin eggs are already a problem with my older hens, simply because as chickens age they are less able to metabolize calcium for egg production. Fragile shells can lead to laying issues, including breakage and infection in the hen, impaction, and the bad habit of egg eating. I will have to be especially vigilant about collecting eggs frequently, watching for laying discomfort, and feeding a balanced diet to promote the sturdiest eggs possible.

I have a feeling that these viruses are prevalent in home flocks, as one of the most emailed questions that I get is about odd eggs. I think that most of us with older flocks live with some level of infection. The viruses do not survive long in fresh air, but still, I think about biosecurity. I am already careful not to wear barn shoes and jackets when visiting friends with flocks, and I ask them to do the same when coming here.

So, once again, I have to fall back on common sense and experience. I think that I’ve struck the right balance here, but I’m always learning. I’ll keep you updated.

Onyx settled down into the nesting box this morning.

I waited. And waited. Jasper came over and Onyx rattled her feathers and yelled at her to go away. I waited some more. But, I couldn’t stay in the barn all day.  I came back forty-five minutes later, and there were three eggs in the nesting box! But, I knew which one was Onyx’s.

It’s too squat, it has a bulge, and the shell has lines. Those aren’t cracks and it’s still good to eat. However, another hen, shoving about in the nest, could easily have smashed it. No wonder I haven’t found many of Onyx’s eggs. She’s laying infrequently, and when she does produce an egg, it could easily be broken.

Making fewer, and less than sturdy eggs, is not unusual for hens in their second full year of lay. Even with an excellent diet, shells thin and production drops. (I’ll be writing about this more in a future post.) The danger to the hen is when the shells thin out so much that they break inside of her before laying. The trouble for the henkeeper is when chickens find broken eggs, they get into the bad habit of egg eating. So, for now I’m relieved to see an intact egg.

Whether Onyx laid the mystery egg outside, or whether it was Jasper, remains to be seen. I’ll be watching the Welsummer closely, and will hopefully catch her in the act!

The pullets don’t know anything about rabbits, so I wasn’t too worried about introducing Phoebe to them. Phoebe galloped through them, and they scattered. But the Old Girls have years of experience with the Empress Candy, and I didn’t know what sort of a welcome they’d give her. I let Phoebe out of her hutch and watched.

Betsy, though diminutive, never put up with Candy’s hijinks, so when Phoebe hopped over to say hello,

I wasn’t at all surprised that Betsy made a show of how little she wanted to get to know this new rabbit.

Phoebe, in classic rabbit insouciance, was not impressed.

Next, Phoebe decided to go inside to visit with Buffy. Buffy was in her “leave me alone” place.

Phoebe did not leave Buffy alone. Buffy started chuck-chuck-chucking in a loud and agitated manner. She heaved herself up. She  walked over and pecked Phoebe’s nose.

Phoebe wasn’t thinking much of this welcome, but, she wasn’t ready to give up yet. Off she went to say hello to Twinkydink.

It goes without saying that the old Australorp was uninterested in amusing this young bunny. So, Phoebe galloped about on her own,

and when she tired of that, she went back into her hutch. Life in the penthouse, Phoebe said, is fine.

I fear that she is already plotting ways to amuse herself… at the chickens’ expense.

I’ve been paying close attention to the Gems’ egg laying. Someone is leaving this egg, willy nilly, outside on the dirt, inside on the shavings, but never in the nesting box. The egg is misshapen, lacking it’s outer protective bloom, and thin-shelled. I want to know who is producing it.

Since the girls often lay in the same box, it’s hard to tell which egg belongs to which hen. This is true even for chickens that are touted to lay eggs with distinctive colors. I have two hens that are supposed to lay dark brown eggs: Jasper the Welsummer and Onyx the Barnevelder. Neither lay chocolate-colored eggs. In my flock, the hen that lays the darkest egg is Ruby, the Rhode Island Red. Ruby and Garnet are the same age and same breeding. Awhile back, Ruby had issues with laying large, pale, thin-shelled eggs. I stopped feeding table scraps like rice and bread, and the laying went back to normal. Normal, that is, for these two Rhode Island Reds. Ruby lays that dark egg. Garnet lays the pale one.

Rhode Island Red eggs

Despite raising chickens whose DNA is tightly controlled and in a narrow range, variation in egg color, size and shape happens at the large factory farms, too. However, what makes it into the cartons sold in supermarkets is uniform because all non-conforming eggs are diverted for other uses, like powdered eggs. This is done by machines. Because of this, the average consumer thinks that all eggs are the same. Those of us with backyard flocks know that is far from the truth, and in fact find the differences charming.

But, an egg like that discolored thin one can be an indicator that something is amiss with a hen. So, I have been spying on the hens via the BarnCam, and running outside whenever I think that a hen has laid, and collecting the eggs while still warm, and so I have identified which egg belongs to which hen. Note that Florence, Agatha and Etheldred are all Speckled Sussex, and yet there is variety in the color, shape and size of their eggs. Each egg is unique, and is consistent day after day for each hen. For example, Florence’s egg is always the smallest and the shell texture not as smooth as the others.

I’ve narrowed down the odd-egg culprit to either Onyx or Jasper. Neither have laid for the last two days. That lack of production might be due to Edwina in their midst. Both Jasper and Onyx are the lowest status hens in the group. Edwina has been sleeping in the nesting box and stomping around the coop, which could put anyone off laying! However, this odd-egg laying has been going on well before Edwina moved in with the Gems. I believe that Onyx is laying that strange egg because yesterday she sat in the nesting box for a long time and looked uncomfortable, but didn’t produce anything. A rough and thin-shelled egg like that odd one is difficult to lay. I’ll be keeping an eye on her.