T Melville learns how (not?) to raise chickens on a budget.

Are the laying hens in the small tractor when this happened? If they don't have much room, they very easily may have stepped on it. Once it's broken, chickens will eat their own eggs.

***Edit, but for me, they have always eaten the whole thing... and not left the shell.

Matt McSpadden wrote:Are the laying hens in the small tractor when this happened? If they don't have much room, they very easily may have stepped on it. Once it's broken, chickens will eat their own eggs.

***Edit, but for me, they have always eaten the whole thing... and not left the shell.

Yes, they're still in the small space. I expect more room and a nest box to do wonders, if they don't develop bad habits first.

Reached the 21st egg today. They've been laying for two weeks. $3.87 per egg, $46.35 per dozen. Still pricey, but better all the time.

I just fed some faulty numbers into a spreadsheet to get a faulty projection of when they'll be paying their own way. It shows the first day of 2030, the cost per dozen of my mostly small (a few peewee) eggs will be the same as the current price at walmart for a dozen large.

Faulty assumptions: feed price won't change, they'll consume a sack per month (Last sack went a month and eight days.), every month is exactly four weeks long, production won't change, the flock continues to cost money but never makes money, I keep the same number of hens, and they don't get old.

In reality, feed price fluctuates, one sack lasts more than a month, when I get them in their final tractor, they should eat more grass, so I can reduce feeding, production (and egg size) should continue to increase for a while longer, and if I sell some eggs, that will offset expenses and upset the whole projection.

My projection is too flawed to show me what will really happen, but it has me thinking about improvements to efficiency, which is probably it's only real value.

I've got a hen who I at first thought didn't feel well. She can stand, though generally chooses not to. She seemed lethargic. She was not on an egg. When I fed and watered, the others just ran right over her, and she stayed put. So I brought her back in the house and put her back in the brooder to quarantine and to avoid trampling. I gave her some food and water, the water having a little antibiotic in it. She has no visible wounds and is still fully feathered out. She does not have "pasty-butt". (I don't even know if an adult can get that, but I checked.) The following day she seems less lethargic. I gave her an egg today, hoping to find out if she's sick or broody. I haven't seen her put it under herself properly, but even if I stand her up and move the egg, she lays back down with it against her.

I also gave antibiotic to the rest of the flock. Nobody else is showing me obvious symptoms, but one of the other hens laid a tiny egg with a thin fragile shell. I can't imagine it's related, but thought I should document it. In the two attached pictures I placed it's remains next to a normal egg. (I weighed all the normal eggs today, except the one I gave to the sick/ broody hen. The normal egg is probably 48g. It definitely is near that. 48g is a small egg in the US. 49.6g - 56.7g is medium.)

Hi T,
While I am not super familiar with taking care of sick chickens, it sounds like you are doing the right thing to separate and monitor for a while. It sounds like the chicken is still eating and drinking which is a good thing.

The small egg is probably what some people call a fairy egg. Getting one is nothing to worry about. Getting them consistently could be of concern.

Have you checked the chicken poop, any streak of blood in it? Buy if she is not eating there might not be much coming out. My flock had coccidiosis once, though most of them showed no symptom, (blood in some poop but I wasn't sure which one), one pullet had pale comb, not active or eating. I bought a bottle of 9.6% amprolium solution and added to her drinking water and she recovered in just a couple days. MFA has it but buy it from the cattle section not the $100 bottle from the chicken section.

May Lotito wrote:Have you checked the chicken poop, any streak of blood in it? Buy if she is not eating there might not be much coming out.

I haven't noticed blood outside with the flock. I'll watch for it with her, in the brooder. I don't think she's gone yet. The food I gave her looks like she disturbed it, but I haven't caught her eating yet.

Went to lay down yesterday (9/19/24) and found the hen I was trying to nurse had passed away. The reason why is still not obvious, the rest of the flock seem perfectly healthy. I'm going to have to bury or burn her body later.

On the plus side, we passed two milestones the day before (9/18/24):
1) That day marked one month since they started laying. (Five hens, except for maybe the last day or so, 82 eggs for the month.)
2) That's the day we got more eggs back than I have dollars invested. ($81.10 invested, 82 eggs laid.) My cost is now below $1 per egg. And still improving.

Had to educate a possum last night. It seems he missed the lessons about leaving my chickens alone. I did everything I could to scare it off, and it was either too scared to run or too sick or stupid. I yelled at it. Then went inside for the spray bottle, then sprayed it. (Yeah. like you spray a cat. In case you're curious, that is a less effective training method for possums.) Then went inside for the gun. Didn't know where the zipper started, (It's in a case.) or where the shells were. Came back, yelled again, taught myself how to load a pump action, put in one shell. Went close enough to be sure. (And to miss the chickens.) Shot up in the air to scare it. I went back to the porch, loaded another shell, chased the ejected empty, went back, shot the ground about three feet in front of it. On purpose. It backed up about a foot. This was the first time it moved. I went back to the porch, loaded another shell, chased the empty, went back over and showed it I can't shoot. At any time it could've left and we'd've called it a wash. It didn't. Sadly, I had to administer the final lesson. It was a little sad, but it took. We're getting along much better now. Today I helped him move into his new place. I marked the spot, so I can come visit. (After I put the shovel away.) This spring, I think I'll try to teach him to push up daisies squash. David Good (David the Good on youtube) has had some success in that area, maybe it'll work for me too.