Soft shell, no shell, then pacing in and out of nesting boxes

[aart]

has oyster shells available at all times and only gets blueberries every few days.

What is their regular feed...brand, model, protein and calcium percentages?
No other foods/treats other than the berries?

Are they/is she eating the OS?
Any other birds with this issue?

 

[CJS Flock]

What is their regular feed...brand, model, protein and calcium percentages?
No other foods/treats other than the berries?

Are they/is she eating the OS?
Any other birds with this issue?

Feed is Purina layena pellets 16% protein/3.5% calcium. oyster shell is out at all times for them to eat at their leisure and I’ve seen her peck at it. Just blueberries. No one else is having this issue. They do have a large grass area to free range as well.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Feed is Purina layena pellets 16% protein/3.5% calcium. oyster shell is out at all times for them to eat at their leisure and I’ve seen her peck at it. Just blueberries. No one else is having this issue. They do have a large grass area to free range as well.

I just thought about one other thing that has helped my hen that has shell issues. After multiple occasions similar to what you went through, I started thinking about how I didn't recall seeing her eat the oyster shells very often, if ever, but after she found some broken egg shells on my back porch, she'd rush up to the porch looking for more eggshells as soon as she was let out of the run everyday. She just prefers crushed eggshells. I keep both oyster shells and eggshells out at all times now. Her shell issues aren't gone completely but it's improved a lot. I hope this helps and wish you the best

 

[aart]

I keep both oyster shells and eggshells out at all times now.

If you mix them, it can be good.

 

[CJS Flock]

Yesterday I crushed up half of a 400 mg calcium citrate with 500IU D3, mixed it with water and then used a small corner of a piece of bred to feed it to her. She ate part but flung it and another lady ate it. So I took the other half and pressed it into blueberries and she ate it. This afternoon she laid a regular egg. I don’t think she has been eating the OS or at least not enough. I’ll keep watch on her and if she misses a few days of laying (outside of her normal pattern) I will give her another half a tablet. I’ll let you all know how it goes. Thanks for all your help!

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[CJS Flock]

She laid another soft shell last night. I’ll continue to give her a pill/day until there are no more soft shells. I do wonder if the Nutrena feed is better than the Purina. Any thoughts on that? I noticed it has a lot more vitamins and minerals than the Purina Layena.

 

[aart]

I do wonder if the Nutrena feed is better than the Purina. Any thoughts on that? I noticed it has a lot more vitamins and minerals than the Purina Layena.

Might want to start a new thread in the feeding forum for that question.
You'll get a lot of anecdotal info...
....difficult for most to accurately assess all the micro-nutrients.

 

[CJS Flock]

***Update*** I’ve given her a calcium tablet every morning since Saturday. She has not laid a soft or shellless egg since. She has laid a normal egg daily since Tuesday. I’ll update again in a week or if something changes before then. So far, this seems to be working!