[whiskygalore]

Nothing prepared me for the arrival of the delivery of
Delia's egg. She is a white star, aged around 35 weeks.
Measured 3 inches long by 5 inches wide. Fantastic!!
I cannot actually get it into the egg box..

[muntjac]

:shock: wot the f kinda bird is delia?

[Kym503]

one of mine layed something similar (not sure if it was sussex silver or the boven nera)  However who ever laid it, it was double yolk and it must have made her eyes water!  We still get the odd larger egg and they are always double yolks.  Why do hen lay double yolked eggs???

[muntjac]

cos the 2 yolks fall off the cluster and get covered in albumen   then shell

[Kym503]

so if they lay one double yolk egg will they then continue to lay them.  I ask because we get one double yolk a day ....just not sure which one lays it but it's always the same colour shell!  Narrowed it down to one of two chickens.... Peanut or Pie!

[muntjac]

they can do it for life .its actually a bad thing for them as they run out of  yolks  very quick

[Aunt Sally]

they can do it for life .its actually a bad thing for them as they run out of  yolks  very quick

They also run the risk of one of the yolks slipping into the body cavity and causing peritonitis, so keep an eye out for this.

[dawninspain]

We have had some huge eggs recently as well - and some very tiny ones:



The largest one was 104g the middle 'normal' one was 72g and the tiny one was 42g.

Did you weigh yours Whiskygalore?

[agapanthus]

:shock: wot the f kinda bird is delia?

White star mayhap?? :roll:  :roll:

[muntjac]

turkey lol  

[milliebecks]

They also run the risk of one of the yolks slipping into the body cavity and causing peritonitis, so keep an eye out for this.

What should I be looking for Aunt Sally?

[muntjac]

poorly birds .. they will show obvios signs so worry not if urs are fine .its not unusual for big eggs to be layed  

[Aunt Sally]

They also run the risk of one of the yolks slipping into the body cavity and causing peritonitis, so keep an eye out for this.

What should I be looking for Aunt Sally?

As Munty says an unhappy bird, moves slowly, sits fluffed up and has a swollen tummy (the bit between the vent and keel bone).

[milliebecks]

Peritonitis sounds like something that would kill them quickly without big doses of antibiotics.
I had a hen with a swollen belly for some weeks - although she seemed quite happy and was still chasing round for food.  The swelling went down and she died about a week later. Was that just coincidence?
Must confess that I don't tend to worry too much about a hen that's still eating and scratching for corn, even if they don't look 100%

[Aunt Sally]

Egg peritonitis is quite complicated and I am by no means an expert  :!:

There is basicaly two types of this condition :

Sterile peritonitis where egg material goes into the body cavity ans the hens body reacts to it by filling the abdomen with ascitic fluid.  Uncomfortable for the hen, slows them down, makes breathing a little difficult.

Septic peritonitis is when bacteria leaks out of the gut (which it does in all animals) and infects the ascitic fluid.  This like any infection causes serious illnes and quite quickly death  :cry:

I'll see if I can find a link to explain it more fully