Thanks joepyeweed and soccer dad, I appreciate you taking the time to respond. I didn't want to add too much information in the first post and overwhelm. Cultural Practices: Yes, I mow at the highest setting and water deeply and infrequently. I am still learning how to measure fertilizer in #/1000sqft instead of using Scott's rotary spreader and throwing it on the lawn, but I think the lawn has plenty of Nitrogen. Using the Scott's 4 step program in the past, I've started with step 1 in late April/early June when the ground temp is 50-55F and I see Forsythia bloom. Other Scott's steps have followed 6-8 weeks after the previous one. As I read more on this site I find steps 2 and 3 are not so good and my constant use of fungicide in the past has probably killed the good fungus too. After reading up on healthy soil I'm betting mine is lacking at this time. While I know it is great to mulch I have bagged since my fungal problems started and, very unfortunately, mulching simply spreads the lawn diseases. I may mulch my leaves this fall. I pull weeds by hand or use weed-B-gon to spot treat. pH: The pH has been a long issue and I'm not sure why. I've had several tests from the local Coop Ext as well as my own solution tester. The back yard has been between 5 and 5.6 for the last 5 years and the front has dropped from 6.8 to 6.2. I do test before I apply lime but I don't know why I can't keep the pH up. This is one reason that the organic method appeals to me - less pH testing and liming. Fungus: I agree with your assessment that N is too high. I should go test that with my solution tester. This is another reason to not follow Scott's program to the letter and go with organic or something hybrid for my lawn. In the past I was uneducated regarding NPK/ compost/ microbes/ bacteria/ good fungus/ and simply followed the steps not knowing if I was putting down a 30-2-4 or a 4-15-10 (just throwing out numbers). Grubs: In year 3 when I applied 24hr control I did have a problem and the grass came up like a carpet. Since then I have used the 3month control (July/Aug/Sep) every year. I don't want to go through that issue again. My area is notorious for grubs and moles and I'm reluctant to skip grub treatment for fear that they will return and I will be unaware until it is too late. Overseeding: Aside from re-seeding small and large(30'x40') patches I haven't overseeded the lawn. I've seeded over some thin areas with some luck by hand and am considering renting a slit-seeder this fall to try and fill out the thin areas. I may wait until next year for this if it takes some time to amend the soil before seeding. Organic: I've been reading lots of posts here about organics and the FAQ is great too. I am going to search my local big box stores and feed stores for corn gluten meal, soybean meal, corn meal and alfalfa meal. And maybe even Scott's organic lawn food (I have lots of gift cards to Lowe's). I understand corn meal is for disease and I'd like to apply it now. How will it affect my current year schedule: Late April: Scott's step 1 Mid June: Scott's step 2 I don't want to over N the lawn again. I don't know much about compost and will read more. 1td/1000sqft sounds like a lot. I have a bad back, is there any way to spread compost other than by hand? A drop spreader? I've read how great compost is but I haven't seen it in any annual schedule. Is that because composting is a one time shot to get microbes and bacteria back in to the soil? How often should one apply a layer of compost? I definitely realize this isn't a quick fix but I'm looking to take the lawn in the proper direction. As long as my practices are good, I'm confident the lawn will respond in time.

Perhaps stress can accelerate egg passage so that a shell doesn't get deposited before the egg is expelled. I'm not a vet, but the timing, & all THREE laying shell-less eggs, right after a couple of stressful events... I'd keep an eye one them, but would be inclined to write it off to stress--this time. (for what it's worth, my pet duck had some sort of metablic disease, possibly even cancer. Her bones were terribly decalcified--had her x-rayed--& the vet was able to humanely euthanize her with an injection. don't want to worry you, just explain the radical & probably completely different problem she had. She was laying soft-shells regularly, which is why I took her in to a vet who treated birds) It's true that various grain fungi--like aspergillosus (sp?) can be deadly to birds--if consumed. That's why the seed in feeders needs to stay DRY & the feeders frequently cleaned. But the effects are pretty severe--staggers, respiration difficulty--& your hens sound fine. As you observed, home laid eggs from hens well-cared for that have access to greens--the shells are like rock! & the yolks are so much deeper colored & tasty.

Those new pix are CLEARLY Japanese Stiltgrass. You will need a regimen to kill what you have this year and breaks through next year with Acclaim Extra (Fenoxaprop). You will not find it at big-box stores - look online. It's like $82 or so. You will also need to apply a pre-emergent like Prodiamine or Dimension to cover the period of May to Early June. Repeat the process for a full two-year cycle (not just where you see it for the Pre-emergent). The Acclaim Extra isn't necessarily going to kill the other weeds.

Yeah, I can already hear the excuse coming because if I didn't know what happened, I would have pronounced it dormant. due to the location and visual from a distance. Unfortunately, proving that will be almost impossible. Most herbicides can and will burn the lawn if the temperature is above 80-85 when applied and in sunlight (and blanket spraying is not recommended at any time unless the problem is also very wide-spread). You know that now...they should have known that, but, as Sherry noted, they had a timeline and probably a boat payment to make. Spot spraying herbicides later in the evening can be OK if you know your lawn is up to it. But that's only true on established lawns, is very herbicide-dependent, and not something I'd do over a wider area. I did it on my own a few days ago in two tiny areas of less than a square foot to remove a piece of nutsedge and a tiny bit of creeping Charlie that had gotten started in a dormant bit, but I was very careful not to overspray and I was using an herbicide that's not particularly known to cause damage even in heat. The good news. Some of that is going to recover because it's top burn. The blade and crown burned, but from the before shot, the grass very clearly has lots and lots of carbohydrates stored in the roots to use to regrow the crown and blade. That does take a lot of energy, and some time, but keep that watered and it should work. The bad news: These idiots managed to hit this at, quite literally, the worst possible moment on the calendar when carbohydrate reserves in the roots are at their lowest point, so some of it is NOT going to recover. I can't see the grass type at this distance (and I'm pretty visually disabled so have trouble with plant ID even up close sometimes unless the color stands out), but hopefully at least some of it is Kentucky bluegrass. Bluegrass spreads when well-fed, so your Labor Day feeding will encourage that to fill right back in. First, fire them. Or restrict their care to mowing it if they do that. Taking over your own care is very easy if they won't do it right. Second, water. Keep the soil damp to moist for a week or so in the burned area to see where you are, if rainfall doesn't do it. Just moist, not wet or soaked or squishy or puddled or... This is the one case where I'm actually going to recommend shorter, frequent watering. Thirty minutes, every other day? If it works to keep it damp, sure. But just for a week--we do not want to set off a fungal infection in that yet and the lawn is stressed. Cut it off dead after that and resume weekly watering unless... Third, seed. If you're really not seeing recovery when you spread the dead stuff and look down, you might want to reseed. Normally I'd give it longer, but you're on the clock here, and Labor Day is really the outside acceptable date for reseeding (you could re-sod that area much later, however--out to about September 20th or so). If it comes down to that, get back to us. There's a whole rigmarole for that. And for general lawn care if you choose to do it yourself--it's pretty easy--or just dictate what they're going to do in the future (which they usually will disobey because...hey--boat payment). Watering: Weekly, deeply, if rainfall isn't doing it, a full inch at a time in most soils, but there are some exceptions, a very few. That's the general rule, although during very hot periods, you can certainly nudge that down to every 5 days or so and I won't argue. (How do I do it personally? I don't water. My bluegrass lawn is allowed to go dormant and return when rainfall returns, but it's fully mature and healthy enough that this is not a problem). Feeding: Four times yearly (three can be acceptable). Memorial Day, Labor Day, October first, and when the last mow of the year is done, give or take some. The first three can be organic or synthetic, the last has to be synthetic. Either one of the last two is optional as long as the other is done, so a very cold year may end in October, or a year where you're not sure may end with delaying October's feeding but doing the shutdown feeding later in October or early November. For Maryland (and up here in PA), both can almost always get done as even December features green grass these last three decades. Weed and Feed: Never. It does neither job well as the appropriate weeding time is not the correct feeding time. Spot spray weeds, if any, as they appear. Try not to apply synthetic feeding to a damp lawn as it can burn the lawn--which is how Weed and Feed is supposed to be applied. Really, once established and healthy, lawns are mostly butt work. You sit and look at it because it mostly does its own thing. Those two weeds are the only two I've sprayed all summer, and they're only there because the lawn is partially dormant and rains just resumed. If I'd ignored them, the sedge would have grown, but the Charlie would get choked out.