Many many questions!

[Hungry Hannah]

Hi All, I have a few questions so please bear with me.. this could get long!

I have had my ex--batts about 3 weeks or so and all is well, They put themselves to bed, they know where to lay and are fab! but.. this morning when I went down to let them out, there was an egg in the pop hole door way (slightly unusual as they normally lay earley afternoon) the top was soft and a bit bashed but the bottom was hard. they recently have all started sleeping in the nestbox and so am wondering if egg got chucked out the way and so got bashed or was the egg a little soft for other reason (also is this still ok to eat?)

next question, .. they are rapidly disovering ways into my veg patch and have begun munching on potato leaves and onion/garlic leaves. are these ok for them- but also will my onions survive without many leaves (ok so that wasn't about the chooks!)

ok so didnt turn out as many questions as I thought!
Thanks x

[bluemoon]

Don't know about the egg, but your onions definitely need leaves. An onion puts most of its energies into leaf growth for the first half of the year then, when the days begin to shorten, the sugars are stored in the bulb; so no leaves = very small onions.

[Flummery]

Potato foliage should also not be eaten. Can you surround the veg patch with some wire netting?

We had an early egg from one of our Point of Lay pullets that was slightly bashed in at one end - the shell was a bit more fragile there. Make sure they have oyster grit as well as stone grit scattered around their run and I'm sure all will be well. You can eat the egg but I wouldn't store it for long.

[Glutton4...]

Try blocking off the nest box at night, and providing enough perching space. My Batties didn't perch until I got the Free-rangers, who soon taught them! I've got one who still sleeps in the nest box, so I have to de-poo it when I collect the eggs.

As for the damaged one, personally I wouldn't eat it, I give those to my cat - she loves them (too rich for the dog's dodgy stomach)! Good luck!

[Flummery]

I thought about blocking off my nest box at night but they lay before I'm out and about - 7.45 a.m.!

If the egg's freshly laid and the inside membrane is intact I'd still eat it. We old'uns are tough!

[RedThorn]

You have to net/ Block off all your veg that you want to protect, I've also got a problem with my girls and potato leaves... they seem to love them and it's all I can do, to keep them away from them. I have now put in 3 x 1/2 metre square beds which I'm gonna put chard and spinach in for their exclusive munching...hopefully this will keep them happy enough to stay away from the tattie's leaves will let everyone know if it's sucessful later in the year once I've seen if it works.

[Hungry Hannah]

Thanks all, The plot is netted off, but they found a way through! The tatties have just come out of greenhouse in a pot as were blocking too much light. They were straight on them so covered it over in fleece. Think we're now building a fence at weekend to make sure they cant get at it! Ive also planted some chard and spinach for them, they love it and have demolished 3 big clumps! (thankfully i was done with them and needed it out the way!) will have to see if their laying time has changed with regards to blocking off, feel mean keeping them out- they DID perch-thats the strange thing, seem to have changed their minds!

[Suechooks]

Ex-batts often lay funny eggs. That's why they're got rid of. The supermarkets won't sell eggs from older hens because of shell quality. If it continues get some limestone flour from horsey place. I give mine a spoon of this daily and the shell quality has improved a lot. They still do a few thin/shell-less ones but much better generally.
And unless the shell and membrane is actually broken I eat them - dogs get the broken ones!

[jbalmer]

Mine have always and still do sleep in the nest box and lay in between the perches!!!. Also to keep them out of the veg patch we used stakes of wood in the corners and mid way if a big plot and use green scaffolding netting (fab stuff on ebay) and attached this using a staple gun pulling it taught. It looks great and the chucks dont go near my raised beds any more!

[Flummery]

Problem with a fence is they will fly up, perch on top then fly down again on the other side. If you can use some netting of any sort they can't take that little break on top and really need to get a good height to get over - less likely!

[Bephlam]

I finally stopped the nest box problem....I blocked it off for 1 week, and now they don't even attempt to sleep in it. They never fail to surprise me....they really aren't as stupid as they look!

I don't know what's happening with my girls either...I got 5 faverolle eggs (white/peach) from my three girls in one day (All big healthy eggs)...and 3 maran eggs (chocolate brown) from 2 girls!

Bizarre!

[Suechooks]

I don't know what's happening with my girls either...I got 5 faverolle eggs (white/peach) from my three girls in one day (All big healthy eggs)...and 3 maran eggs (chocolate brown) from 2 girls!

Bizarre!

Maybe they're making up to you for having to wait so long before they started laying!