Trying to get one chicken to eat her calcium

[DonyaQuick]

I have 6 hatchery buff orpingtons, all just under 1 year old. 5 out of the 6 lay around 3-4 eggs per week. Sometimes they'll lay eggs two days in a row but usually there are break days in between, and all those chickens' eggs look great. Then there is Brownie, who makes an egg every day with very few exceptions. The only break days she's had have come after laying weird eggs: 2 tailed eggs and more recently 2 shell-less eggs and a nested shell-less fart egg. Unfortunately I most likely caused the shell-less ones because I had to switch feeds. I had been offering chick starter alongside layer crumbles up until recently because my chickens took a long time to warm up to the larger sized oyster shell grid. Eventually they ate it, so I quit giving the layer feed because it was barely being eaten and just getting filthy. I reduced to just the chick feed for a couple weeks, and then I had to switch feeds completely to a locally-produced all-flock crumble.

I thought all my chickens were eating oyster shell grit just fine since their eggs have nice hard shells, but I presume now that Brownie was the sole eater of the layer crumbles when I quit offering it. I can't go back to offering that layer crumble on the side because I can't get bags that are newer than 9 months old and it doesn't get eaten fast enough; even small bags mold quickly when in a sealed container. I was starting to see the same bag date issue with the chick starter, so I have now switched to a locally-produced all flock crumble and want to keep that since all of my chickens LOVE it and it just smells better and fresh. But...it's an all flock mix, so Brownie needs to get her calcium from somewhere.

Since Brownie seems to not like the rock-type calcium carbonate, I have tried two other things this week:
1. Cooking and crushing up eggshell. She didn't eat it so I mixed it in with the new yummy feed. She picked out the feed and left the shell.
2. Crushing a bit of dried crickets in oyster shell grit to get them all powdery with calcium and to coat the larger pieces with cricket bits. This did work to get her to eat some but also doesn't feel like the best solution.

So, I'm looking for recommendations on what to do with this situation that can get Brownie her calcium while not overdoing it for the other five who are eating the oyster shell grit just fine (but also lay fewer eggs per week).

 

[rosemarythyme]

Since you know exactly which bird is the problem bird, isolate her for a private breakfast. 2-3x a week serve a small bowl (like 1 Tbsp is fine) of wet or fermented feed with oyster shell mixed in. If she does not like chunks of oyster shell, crush it up or use the powdery remnants from bottom of the bag (in your case, the powder is the way to go). Should only take her minutes to eat and after that she's free to go.

Assuming her issue is simply insufficient calcium intake, you should see results in a week or two, and you can try reducing it to 1-2x a week and should hopefully continue getting good results. If you still have the same issue, then you might need to try pills of calcium citrate instead for a faster, bigger calcium boost.

 

[DonyaQuick]

isolate her for a private breakfast.

Well...it will be a fun and interesting endeavor lol. Realistically, I thin the only way for me to easily make sure it's just her that gets supplemented without chasing her around with a little cup as she constantly gets distracted (basically what I did before) is to take her in the house to eat. I bring everybody inside at some point or another for blueberry treat time, so they're used to it to a degree, but I have not done it as much with Brownie as the others because she sometimes switches into chaos goblin mode.

It's still snowing outside right now but should clear up soon, and then I'll try bringing her in for some calcium eats. Might still mix in some crickets this first time around to try to keep her attention on the food and not on like...randomly charging into the laundry room.

 

[DonyaQuick]

This afternoon I couldn't easily extract the oyster shell dust (bag is too full right now) so I ground up some eggshell really small and did a moistened mix of the regular feed, shell bits, and crushed up cricket and fly larvae.

Phase 1: Brownie realizes she can throw it everywhere to separate things and eat just cricket bits. I did not add enough water.

Phase 2: with more water, Brownie can't separate it anymore but--oh what's that over there? Apparently not being able to pick out the cricket bits makes it uninteresting. The remaining wet cricket bits are starting to smell terrible. The dog disagrees.

Change of tactics: bringing in a calmer, more focused chicken as competition. This gets Brownie back to gobble some more. Dog is patient. Very patient. The wait will be worth it to lick the floor clean when the chickens leave.

I have a good-sized mortar and pestle coming later this week that should let me actually powder things properly, so at that point I may try just coating some wet dried bugs in eggshell powder and see how it goes with Brownie. Looks like I can also get calcium citrate powder online; not as cost effective as the eggshell but I think I'm just going to go ahead and get some in case Brownie does need that form to overcome her egg issues.

 

[WIchickMama]

I love the look on the dogs face. At least she was getting some more in without picking through the food

 

[rosemarythyme]

Brownie is quite the character!

When I do the calcium infused wet breakfast I keep the amount of feed and calcium small (like 1 Tbsp wet feed), and I give it to my birds first thing in the morning (I take in the feeder at night, so they're hungry and looking to eat). So they'll just chow down, no desire to look around and get distracted by other things!

 

[DonyaQuick]

Brownie is quite the character!

When I do the calcium infused wet breakfast I keep the amount of feed and calcium small (like 1 Tbsp wet feed), and I give it to my birds first thing in the morning (I take in the feeder at night, so they're hungry and looking to eat). So they'll just chow down, no desire to look around and get distracted by other things!

I realized after I added the extra water that I did too much of it. Unfortunately feeding first thing in the morning will be tough with Brownie because she tends to lay her eggs very early. Often she'll come out of the coop when the door opens to say hi and then run straight back in without really eating.

Today as an experiment I tried adding a bit of crushed eggshell to oatmeal and letting everyone give it a sample. I didn't add much eggshell since everyone got a nibble - just enough to make sure they couldn't pick it out easily. Brownie really went for it and ate the shell with the oatmeal no problem, so the next time I bring her in I may try a blob of that and see if it holds up better to her antics.

My mortar and pestle also came sooner than I thought so I should be able to make powdered or at least very finely ground eggshell in the future.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Got this egg from Brownie today. There's a shell but it's very thin and got damaged just from me inspecting it. When I opened it the rest of the way, the contents were normal but the shell halves were a bit springy. The rough texture and bumps are unusual for her. The color is normal; her eggs are always very light.

Currently cooking up some oatmeal to do another calcium snack for her with powdered eggshell. Should have some calcium citrate powder later this week.

 

[kerbotx]

Just wanted to throw another idea out there - some chickens prefer one type of calcium over another. I buy the white rocks from Manna Pro, but I also like to provide actual chipped oyster shells, the ones that are gray & can smell a little fishy, but local availability varies. I can get this from Walmart if all else fails - Vibrant Life

 

[Aunt Angus]

Just wanted to throw another idea out there - some chickens prefer one type of calcium over another. I buy the white rocks from Manna Pro, but I also like to provide actual chipped oyster shells

I was going to suggest the same thing. There are other forms you might try so that you might be able to avoid special feedings and save some trouble. My birds love flaked oysters (like the Vibrant Life ones) or ones I've bought off Amazon. I also feed them shells from hard boiled eggs, which they think is a treat! I feed all flock, too, because of a rooster and a mixed age flock.

That said, it sounds like your girl has a wonky reproductive system. I have one like that, too. Mine only lays, like, once every 3 months. I thought for sure there was something terminally amiss, but she's almost 4 yo now and is as feisty as ever.