4 year old comet chicken eggs breaking to easily help please

[Yuki]

Studies have shown that calcium stays in the gut longer, and thus is more beneficial if it is given in larger particles. I save my shells in a bowl, and simply toss them into the run, give them a stamp with my foot, and walk away. And, no... giving egg shells to chickens in this manner WILL NOT turn them into egg eaters.

Don't worry I know that thank you for responding I appreciate it I will try this as well

 

[Kat C]

Thanks my hens are like my babies to me will do and would putting the crushed eggshells in water work or in the bread that I feed them to trick her into eating the egg shells because this morning I tried putting it in bread or hand feeding her but she was very stubborn plus I haven't had for year old hens before so I'm very worried about them hopefully they live over a decade it's my goal I'll put vingar on the list I have allot of chicken books and even a medical book but I don't give much ideas for this sort of stuff including how they're bodies change trust me with what every spare time at school I look up on anything on chickens to improve things I'm also studying to be a vet tech and already have plenty of really experience so hopefully that will also help me with them too and thanks so much again

If your hen needs calcium you shouldn't need to trick her to eat egg shells, she should just go for them. They don't look appetizing to us, but to a hen short of calcium they look delicious. We wash them lightly to break the inner lining and just let them sit to dry then crush them to pieces about 1/4 inch in diameter. Over the years the pure bred chickens we have purchased have seldom lasted more than four years. Our cross breeds have lasted much longer, but not a whole lot made it over a decade. Don't feel you have failed if this one doesn't make it. Some just don't and its really hard sometimes to pinpoint what is wrong.
Romaine is better than iceberg lettuce but only barely. Kale, collards, turnip greens are better and kale is supposed to have lots of calcium. Chickens need greens and much more than people think, but grass will do as do many weeds without paying money at the grocery store. I feed my chickens an array of greens from the garden and the yard. Here is one article.... plenty more out there. http://www.fresheggsdaily.com/2012/02/winter-weeds-101.html I have been learning weed identification over the years to be sure which are safe. That is fun and educational as well. Greens make the yolks much deeper color and I trust my chickens to eat what they need and leave the rest. Mostly they want more.
Old dogs can learn new tricks and so I am starting to experiment with fermenting feed which I just heard about here on BYC and have been researching. You can sprout grains as well. Seems like more trouble tho....Being in the south I just plant wheat in the winter garden and harvest it with scissors...that that the doves miss.

 

[Yuki]

If your hen needs calcium you shouldn't need to trick her to eat egg shells, she should just go for them. They don't look appetizing to us, but to a hen short of calcium they look delicious. We wash them lightly to break the inner lining and just let them sit to dry then crush them to pieces about 1/4 inch in diameter. Over the years the pure bred chickens we have purchased have seldom lasted more than four years. Our cross breeds have lasted much longer, but not a whole lot made it over a decade. Don't feel you have failed if this one doesn't make it. Some just don't and its really hard sometimes to pinpoint what is wrong.
Romaine is better than iceberg lettuce but only barely. Kale, collards, turnip greens are better and kale is supposed to have lots of calcium. Chickens need greens and much more than people think, but grass will do as do many weeds without paying money at the grocery store. I feed my chickens an array of greens from the garden and the yard. Here is one article.... plenty more out there. http://www.fresheggsdaily.com/2012/02/winter-weeds-101.html I have been learning weed identification over the years to be sure which are safe. That is fun and educational as well. Greens make the yolks much deeper color and I trust my chickens to eat what they need and leave the rest. Mostly they want more.
Old dogs can learn new tricks and so I am starting to experiment with fermenting feed which I just heard about here on BYC and have been researching. You can sprout grains as well. Seems like more trouble tho....Being in the south I just plant wheat in the winter garden and harvest it with scissors...that that the doves miss.

Wow well Sunday I had crushed hey egg shell once dried into small pieces she ate allot of it I've been feeding her a bit of meal worm every night since then and on Monday a day later she laid another egg only this time the shell was thicker it didn't break I'm trying vingear to help with digestion my granddaughter parents are sending me vingar that is formulated for chickens I'll start getting kale and along with with the Roman lettuce I love in the North I might try growing some veggies just for my hens this year hopefully it will go better than last year but we got a good amount of lettuce last year I might grow kale to I will see about getting some grains to I wouldn't even get anything from the garden it would be do for them thanks for responding I'm taking all of this into mind one thing I hope over all is that all my hens live over a decade at least so they have happy a long lives my comet hen want lame or weak thank God for that caught it in time I just don't want her eggs breaking inside of her and killing her I could care less about the eggs that they produce I just care about the hens they are my kids to me so I don't care how much I have to pay or do to make them happy thanks again good luck with your beautiful hens saw all I don't have a rooster my mother won't let me get one yet in two more years after college and starting to work in a very clinic I'm getting more once again thank you!!!!!!!!

 

[Yuki]

Wow well Sunday I had crushed hey egg shell once dried into small pieces she ate allot of it I've been feeding her a bit of meal worm every night since then and on Monday a day later she laid another egg only this time the shell was thicker it didn't break I'm trying vingear to help with digestion my granddaughter parents are sending me vingar that is formulated for chickens I'll start getting kale and along with with the Roman lettuce I love in the North I might try growing some veggies just for my hens this year hopefully it will go better than last year but we got a good amount of lettuce last year I might grow kale to I will see about getting some grains to I wouldn't even get anything from the garden it would be do for them thanks for responding I'm taking all of this into mind one thing I hope over all is that all my hens live over a decade at least so they have happy a long lives my comet hen want lame or weak thank God for that caught it in time I just don't want her eggs breaking inside of her and killing her I could care less about the eggs that they produce I just care about the hens they are my kids to me so I don't care how much I have to pay or do to make them happy thanks again good luck with your beautiful hens saw all I don't have a rooster my mother won't let me get one yet in two more years after college and starting to work in a very clinic I'm getting more once again thank you!!!!!!!!

My goal is for them to have happy lives

 

[Yuki]

If your hen needs calcium you shouldn't need to trick her to eat egg shells, she should just go for them. They don't look appetizing to us, but to a hen short of calcium they look delicious. We wash them lightly to break the inner lining and just let them sit to dry then crush them to pieces about 1/4 inch in diameter. Over the years the pure bred chickens we have purchased have seldom lasted more than four years. Our cross breeds have lasted much longer, but not a whole lot made it over a decade. Don't feel you have failed if this one doesn't make it. Some just don't and its really hard sometimes to pinpoint what is wrong.
Romaine is better than iceberg lettuce but only barely. Kale, collards, turnip greens are better and kale is supposed to have lots of calcium. Chickens need greens and much more than people think, but grass will do as do many weeds without paying money at the grocery store. I feed my chickens an array of greens from the garden and the yard. Here is one article.... plenty more out there. http://www.fresheggsdaily.com/2012/02/winter-weeds-101.html I have been learning weed identification over the years to be sure which are safe. That is fun and educational as well. Greens make the yolks much deeper color and I trust my chickens to eat what they need and leave the rest. Mostly they want more.
Old dogs can learn new tricks and so I am starting to experiment with fermenting feed which I just heard about here on BYC and have been researching. You can sprout grains as well. Seems like more trouble tho....Being in the south I just plant wheat in the winter garden and harvest it with scissors...that that the doves miss.

So do you have any garden technique I could possibly learn for growing grains please trust me I won't let her die early I already lost a guinea hen at the age of 3 from cancer or from fatty liver she want fat she was healthy no mother wouldn't let me take hey to the vets she is not a chicken person but if so anything for them I wouldn't let her die without trying anything or without a fight if work over time just to pay for vets or supplements etc for any of them

 

[Kat C]

So do you have any garden technique I could possibly learn for growing grains please trust me I won't let her die early I already lost a guinea hen at the age of 3 from cancer or from fatty liver she want fat she was healthy no mother wouldn't let me take hey to the vets she is not a chicken person but if so anything for them I wouldn't let her die without trying anything or without a fight if work over time just to pay for vets or supplements etc for any of them

Growing your own grains for feed is not something for a small garden. Grains are made by the plant once a year so would involve storage as well as a large area to grow them on. In the winter I do plant wheat to provide wheat greens. Again being in the south where winter wheat is grown, I get grass greens from wheat all winter, but when it starts to go to seed I pull it for mulch to make room for other crops. The grain would be negligible but the greens are substantial. Growing greens for your chickens is much easier. Kale is a cold weather crop and needs to be planted early in spring or early in fall. We dabbled in growing various greens and found the one that worked best for us is sorrel. In our climate it is perenial and if the weather is not too cold I can harvest some even in winter. Here is one source http://www.southernexposure.com/sorrel-garden-04-g-p-770.html I don't have as much trouble with insects with it as I do with kale but I like to use both. I got sorrel for the chickens, I use it for us as well for salads, on sandwiches and for wonderful sorrel soup. I also grow pumpkins for chicks and us. They love the seeds (even though they are quite large) and the gooshy insides. If I have a bumper crop I also cook the flesh until tender enough to cute in little cubes. I like the Seminole Pumpkin as here in the south it does better and being smaller is easier to use. http://www.southernexposure.com/seminole-pumpkin-3-g-p-166.html They store well too. But any winter squash could do the job. In summer when I can tomatoes they get all the cores and any excess I have. They go nuts over tomatoes.
I feed about 3 to 4 gallons of greens + whatever else I have every day to our 60 chickens. I also dump grass clippings from mowing in the yard and coop (they have destroyed all the grass in their yard). After the greens I give them, they are still ready to eat grass clippings and pick through it quite avidly. My lawn doesn't meet the good housekeeping seal of approval as I mow it for my chickens, a bit each day, not for appearances. I go easy on how much green stuff I put in the coop, but tossing some out over the litter makes them scratch and turn the litter. When they have their fill of grass clipping they stop. Greens and other veggies make them healthy and makes their yolks nice and yellow. Our chickens love banana peels, the rinds from pineapple (it appears that by the end of the day they eat the whole thing but of course start on the juicy stuff that is left when we cut off the part we eat. They will eat carrot peelings although it is not a favorite for our flock. Here is a pretty good list of what they can and shouldn't eat https://www.newlifeonahomestead.com/what-chickens-can-eat/

 

[Kat C]

Wow well Sunday I had crushed hey egg shell once dried into small pieces she ate allot of it I've been feeding her a bit of meal worm every night since then and on Monday a day later she laid another egg only this time the shell was thicker it didn't break I'm trying vingear to help with digestion my granddaughter parents are sending me vingar that is formulated for chickens I'll start getting kale and along with with the Roman lettuce I love in the North I might try growing some veggies just for my hens this year hopefully it will go better than last year but we got a good amount of lettuce last year I might grow kale to I will see about getting some grains to I wouldn't even get anything from the garden it would be do for them thanks for responding I'm taking all of this into mind one thing I hope over all is that all my hens live over a decade at least so they have happy a long lives my comet hen want lame or weak thank God for that caught it in time I just don't want her eggs breaking inside of her and killing her I could care less about the eggs that they produce I just care about the hens they are my kids to me so I don't care how much I have to pay or do to make them happy thanks again good luck with your beautiful hens saw all I don't have a rooster my mother won't let me get one yet in two more years after college and starting to work in a very clinic I'm getting more once again thank you!!!!!!!!

Glad you are stating to do the egg shells! I understand your concern about an egg breaking inside the hen as I have read about it, but never had it happen. The lining they put on before the egg shell is pretty tough and we have had hens actually lay eggs with only the lining and no shell occasionally. You can see one at this link https://vitalfarms.com/big-small-blue-green-everything/ Not having had a hen have an egg break inside her I can't really comment on how often this happens and how dangerous it is.
With your caring about animals I am sure you will be a very great addition to any vet clinic you work at!

 

[Yuki]

i will have to try and make a big garden then! i must make a bigger garden then so. my mother keeps saying by adding more greens that it will become gassy for the hens and kill them im not sure if she right she was a vet tech over 10 years ago but she couldnt do her job anymore because of medcial problems with her back so yah im with a single mother as a parent whos disabled so good thing i have a job so i can pay for this but i dont know if her infomartion is even correct

 

[Yuki]

Glad you are stating to do the egg shells! I understand your concern about an egg breaking inside the hen as I have read about it, but never had it happen. The lining they put on before the egg shell is pretty tough and we have had hens actually lay eggs with only the lining and no shell occasionally. You can see one at this link https://vitalfarms.com/big-small-blue-green-everything/ Not having had a hen have an egg break inside her I can't really comment on how often this happens and how dangerous it is.
With your caring about animals I am sure you will be a very great addition to any vet clinic you work at!

thx i cant wait to help animals

 

[Yuki]

Glad you are stating to do the egg shells! I understand your concern about an egg breaking inside the hen as I have read about it, but never had it happen. The lining they put on before the egg shell is pretty tough and we have had hens actually lay eggs with only the lining and no shell occasionally. You can see one at this link https://vitalfarms.com/big-small-blue-green-everything/ Not having had a hen have an egg break inside her I can't really comment on how often this happens and how dangerous it is.
With your caring about animals I am sure you will be a very great addition to any vet clinic you work at!

wierd question do hens try to eat screws i was trying to fix a latch of a 5 year old coop and the screw fell into the nesting box i spent over an hour trying to find it but couldnt i even used a screw magnet and found nothing it terrifies me hopefully they wont but i post an image of Comet my comet hen to this thread and yes its a very orginal name