ArcticCuddlefish
In the Brooder
- Jun 10, 2022
- 15
- 20
- 34
Edit: resolved, seems okay, photos below.
TL;DR big quail lays big weak eggs. Didn't lay yesterday but had one in the chamber. Today the egg is bigger, but still very weak and still inside.
I have a quail who is a hefty girl, easily 20% larger than the rest, and she lays some hefty eggs, but they're always weak. In fact, I actually shared a picture of one of hers recently which had an interesting cracking pattern on it. User @sourland was right - the cracks were incidental to the treatment, and they've all been crackly since. We've been kinda worried about her because they haven't definitively gotten better, and we're working out how we can help with that. The eggs, if we stick them in the fridge to observe, collapse within a day at the weak point, though the membrane is intact. Her Calcium is fine, and we're adjusting protein presently. We think mainly her problem is just being a really big girl with big eggs and a little stressed.
The last egg she laid was two days ago, and it was a weird one. She was in a soak for her feet and when we pulled her out after about 5 minutes she had laid an egg. It came out more like a squid egg, no shell and floppy, but also open at one end and with a white in there but no yolk.
Yesterday we kept an eye on her all afternoon and evening, and she started her egg song at the usual time, but no egg. She sang about 15 minutes off and on, then stopped. Gently feeling, she definitely had an egg, and it was definitely weak and flexing under the lightest touch, but not broken. She also definitely has feelings about the touching, closing her eyes and holding very still, but we're not sure quite what those feelings are and we didn't want to needlessly prod a weak egg inside her. She was otherwise normal, so we didn't do any foot treatment and figured she's just gonna bake this one for two days. Maybe it has the missing yolk, too.
Today no egg again, and same deal with careful palpitations. Still feels like a single egg, still weak and with a gentle flex I'd describe as crackling but not broken. This egg is a mighty one, though, and I worry she's going to run into complications if she can't get it out. It doesn't feel any thicker or more sturdy, but she's also not acting particularly distressed. We've got her in a soak now to see if that helps her relax (our birds really like foot baths) but otherwise we don't have any idea what we can or should do. Her vent looks fine with no shell, yolk, blood, nothing wrong. This hen, lovingly named Jumbo/Jimbo, is about 9 weeks old and she's successfully laid like 14 compromised eggs which get cooked for birds or the cat. She hasn't been around a rooster in like 2 weeks and she's the boss of her roommates, so no injuries despite her healing feet.
Maybe relevant, the two other ladies in with her ARE acting a little distressed, but they had a weird morning. One of the nearby chicks managed a huge leap out of his brooder sometime overnight and fell through the bars into their pen, and they did not appreciate the visitor. He's okay (and the chicks are all in the closed-top pen now) but his toes got roughed up plenty. Jumbo was in a pen right next door and didn't get to peck any toes, which is her favorite pastime, but I'm guessing her calm and their distress is because she wasn't in the cage with them to fight off this mighty week-old chick.
TL;DR big quail lays big weak eggs. Didn't lay yesterday but had one in the chamber. Today the egg is bigger, but still very weak and still inside.
I have a quail who is a hefty girl, easily 20% larger than the rest, and she lays some hefty eggs, but they're always weak. In fact, I actually shared a picture of one of hers recently which had an interesting cracking pattern on it. User @sourland was right - the cracks were incidental to the treatment, and they've all been crackly since. We've been kinda worried about her because they haven't definitively gotten better, and we're working out how we can help with that. The eggs, if we stick them in the fridge to observe, collapse within a day at the weak point, though the membrane is intact. Her Calcium is fine, and we're adjusting protein presently. We think mainly her problem is just being a really big girl with big eggs and a little stressed.
The last egg she laid was two days ago, and it was a weird one. She was in a soak for her feet and when we pulled her out after about 5 minutes she had laid an egg. It came out more like a squid egg, no shell and floppy, but also open at one end and with a white in there but no yolk.
Yesterday we kept an eye on her all afternoon and evening, and she started her egg song at the usual time, but no egg. She sang about 15 minutes off and on, then stopped. Gently feeling, she definitely had an egg, and it was definitely weak and flexing under the lightest touch, but not broken. She also definitely has feelings about the touching, closing her eyes and holding very still, but we're not sure quite what those feelings are and we didn't want to needlessly prod a weak egg inside her. She was otherwise normal, so we didn't do any foot treatment and figured she's just gonna bake this one for two days. Maybe it has the missing yolk, too.
Today no egg again, and same deal with careful palpitations. Still feels like a single egg, still weak and with a gentle flex I'd describe as crackling but not broken. This egg is a mighty one, though, and I worry she's going to run into complications if she can't get it out. It doesn't feel any thicker or more sturdy, but she's also not acting particularly distressed. We've got her in a soak now to see if that helps her relax (our birds really like foot baths) but otherwise we don't have any idea what we can or should do. Her vent looks fine with no shell, yolk, blood, nothing wrong. This hen, lovingly named Jumbo/Jimbo, is about 9 weeks old and she's successfully laid like 14 compromised eggs which get cooked for birds or the cat. She hasn't been around a rooster in like 2 weeks and she's the boss of her roommates, so no injuries despite her healing feet.
Maybe relevant, the two other ladies in with her ARE acting a little distressed, but they had a weird morning. One of the nearby chicks managed a huge leap out of his brooder sometime overnight and fell through the bars into their pen, and they did not appreciate the visitor. He's okay (and the chicks are all in the closed-top pen now) but his toes got roughed up plenty. Jumbo was in a pen right next door and didn't get to peck any toes, which is her favorite pastime, but I'm guessing her calm and their distress is because she wasn't in the cage with them to fight off this mighty week-old chick.
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