Bone Broth during Molt

[Farmgirl1878]

Has anyone made beef bone broth as an added source of calcium for their birds? My girls are in the midst of a supremely ugly molt and are not eating as much as they usually do. Plus, they seem to be ignoring the oyster shells and their eggs are getting pretty darned easy to crack.

I’m thinking of making some homemade beef bone broth and adding it to their chow. They go nuts for wet chow (I guess in the henhouse it’s considered fine dining!), so it should be a no-brainer. Thoughts? Any additions to the broth to add even more nutrients?

 

[nuthatched]

Some salt free stock into a mash may be a nice treat but a better solution is a higher protein feed, since what they need is protein, not calcium, during molt.

 

[Sally PB]

I have a few birds who are going through a hard molt. I feed Kalmbach 20% Flock Maker. When they're molting as hard as they are, I give them a treat of about 1/3 cup calf manna mixed with about 1.5 cups of Flock Maker, and wet it into a mash. This is their afternoon "snack" 3-4 times a week. The rest of the time, it's just the Flock Maker as a mash.

 

[nuthatched]

They’re already on an 18% protein feed. I’m a little more concerned with the lack of calcium. They’re on layer chow, but the shells are thinner than this time last year.

Get a 20% feed to mix in, also oyster shell on the side
As birds age, their shells get thinner, especially as the lay cycle ends.

 

[Morrigan]

Bone broth won't hurt anything and I think they would enjoy it, but a more concentrated protein source would be more help. Canned sardines or tuna or even wet cat food are options, as is switching to a high protein feed.

 

[Farmgirl1878]

Bone broth won't hurt anything and I think they would enjoy it, but a more concentrated protein source would be more help. Canned sardines or tuna or even wet cat food are options, as is switching to a high protein feed.

I do feed canned cat food once a week during the molt. Some love it, some don’t.

 

[NatJ]

Has anyone made beef bone broth as an added source of calcium for their birds?...they seem to be ignoring the oyster shells and their eggs are getting pretty darned easy to crack.

Most people worry about protein during molting, but weak shells are a good reason to be concerned about calcium.

I’m thinking of making some homemade beef bone broth and adding it to their chow. They go nuts for wet chow (I guess in the henhouse it’s considered fine dining!), so it should be a no-brainer. Thoughts? Any additions to the broth to add even more nutrients?

Another possibility: most bags of oyster shell have powder at the bottom. You could add some of that to the wet mash, as a way of forcing the hens to take in more calcium.

The bone broth sounds fine too, but I expect it would be more bother for less calcium, as compared with just adding oyster shell powder.

(Note to anyone else reading this: most chickens are good at eating the right amount of calcium for their own needs when they have free-choice oyster shell. Forcing them to have more calcium can be bad for their health. This is a special case, because weak eggshells show that something is not right, and the hens likely do need more than they have been choosing to eat.)

 

[Nadawi]

Has anyone made beef bone broth as an added source of calcium for their birds? My girls are in the midst of a supremely ugly molt and are not eating as much as they usually do. Plus, they seem to be ignoring the oyster shells and their eggs are getting pretty darned easy to crack.

I’m thinking of making some homemade beef bone broth and adding it to their chow. They go nuts for wet chow (I guess in the henhouse it’s considered fine dining!), so it should be a no-brainer. Thoughts? Any additions to the broth to add even more nutrients?

I made bone broth and soak some bread in it. Mashed couple of slices of carrots that were in the broth and added a spoon of yougurt, all organic. They went crazy for that and finish it in seconds.

 

[Sally PB]

Bone broth won't hurt anything and I think they would enjoy it, but a more concentrated protein source would be more help. Canned sardines or tuna or even wet cat food are options, as is switching to a high protein feed.

I do like the idea of the calf manna!

I tried to buy a 10 lb bag at TSC yesterday. THey no longer have it in 10 lbs, only 50. And they were out. I'm not going to buy 50 lbs of something I use just a few weeks a year.

So I'll get some sardines or something. Just have to make sure they aren't laced with salt.

 

[oliverlangon]

Using beef bone broth as a calcium source for your chickens during molting is a creative idea! Chickens love the extra nutrients. You can enhance the broth by adding some crushed eggshells for an extra calcium boost. It's a great way to support them through their molt.