4 Hens- 1 egg per day...at the end of my rope

[Sea Wolf]

Take a pan and put in about 8 cups of feed. Wet it till it is all mushy. Stir in 3 tablespoons of powdered cayenne pepper. Mix it in well and give it to the girls. They love this and birds do NOT FEEL HEAT. It does help. I do this twice a week for my birds. But your soft shelled/no shelled eggs indicate a problem with calcium too. Try the Tums. And ... are you sure that these were young birds? I have old ladies that do this all the time.

 

[fanniefarmer]

Their feed has calcium in it and they have the oyster shell. Is calcium deficiency the only reason for no egg production?

The calcium in most feeds is not enough IMHO. Use calcium grit instead of oyster shells. They can’t use all the sizes of oyster shell pieces so when their size is gone they’re out of oyster shell. The rest will just lie there to make you think they aren’t needing it. I hate that stuff. What a waste.

 

[50-45-1]

se calcium grit instead of oyster shells

What exactly is calcium Grit?
I use a small feeder and have granite grit and oyster shell avaliable at all times. They take it when ever they need it.
I free range too, but they are locked in for the most of the winter here.
A bag of either one of these products are some of the most inexpensive things you might have to spend on your chickens and both last a long time, years even.
No problems here with thin shells.
The feeder i use.

 

[rosemarythyme]

What exactly is calcium Grit?

I want to say it's limestone, which contains calcium. My feed store mentioned it as an option when I went to get oyster shell and they were out, but as my hens happily take oyster shell I didn't try it.

 

[aart]

Mine take the oyster shell just fine too.
They can easily swallow the larger pieces(~1/4"),
and it will last longer in the gizzard.

 

[BEAR HUGS]

Background on the hens: we got them at about 5 months old. 2 of them were laying and continued to for about a week or so, then 3 of them were and was consistent for a few days. then all of them stopped for almost a week. (breeds: 2 barred rocks, 2 red sex links)

Now they are about 8-9 months old. only one of them is laying(barred rock) and that has been going on for almost a month. One other is laying blobs of egg white with no shell every few days or so but that is it.

I have asked for advice on here several times, and have followed a lot of it. they have been wormed, given probiotic, I changed their feed to Nutrena Naturewise hearty hen 18% protein pellets all day every day, and oyster shell is available to them. my husband is ready to cull the ones not laying, and I cant defend them much longer. Advice??

I had an Orpington that wasn't laying well at all and when she did it was shell-less. I was ready to make chicken pot pies out of her. I started feeding my entire flock of 8 cracked corn, carrot bits and crumbled egg shells along with their Manna Pro egg Maker feed and low and behold she is now laying an egg every day with a strong shell. No clue if any of this made the difference but she didn't make it to the crock pot.

 

[GardenDmpls]

You said they were in the coop most of the day until you came home. How much light is in there? If they are not getting enough light, they will slow down or stop laying. Mine have a large enclosed run and a solar powered door with a light sensor that opens at dawn and closes at dusk. In the spring and summer we get a lot of eggs. They slow down and then stop laying in the fall, during molting. They start up a little when their feathers are in and then we get less and less until the shortest day of the winter, when we get none. As days get longer they slowly start up again until we are giving away dozens a week (luckily we have a large family).

 

[Mary Chapman]

Would there be any place they could be hiding their eggs? I know I have 3 hens and only 1 is laying. But I get an egg from her every day. I think here it' the weather.

 

[Lisa-Lu]

Thank you all so much for your input!! I will try to answer and comment on everything said!

Their oyster shell is in a metal feed container similar to the one shown above and in their yard. I am of the same frame of mind that I thought because there is always plenty in there, they aren't eating it, but I will look for the calcium grit. Is there another calcium supplement you can actually give them so that you know they are getting it?

When I said they are in their coop most of the day, I meant their run. They are locked in their coop at night which has plenty of ventilation and 2 screened windows, and let out into their caged run every morning early. Plenty of light, air, and sunshine. Half of it is covered so they have shade, 2 water sources inside and 2 feed sources inside as well.

Their nest boxes are padded with wood shavings (not cedar) and their poop board and boxes are cleaned out every day.

Our soft shell layer has been laying consistently this week, and the eggs are getting better and better. The eggs are almost completely solid and then cracked open or not formed on one end every time. So now we are at 2 eggs a day, the other 2 hens I just dont know what to do.

Should I throw some oyster shell in with their feed? I never see them taking any from the trough. Thank you all so much. We are fairly certain of their age as the farmer we got them from was very knowledgeable, and we trusted him.

 

[CWDancer]

I have a suggestion for the use of the excess oyster powder and whatever else they are not eating (leftovers) to get them to eat it. Collect it and make some oatmeal, mix it in the oatmeal along with some berries or seeds and feed it to them as a treat. I know a sneaky way to get them to eat more calcium, but it also helps keep the waste down too.