I'm just going to lay it all out there, and I appreciate in advance any responses. There have been a number of issues with our flock that we have been dealing with for a few years now, but to no avail. In dealing with the issues, I think we're just putting "bandages" over the outcomes but not fixing the root cause, which I'm guessing is a a nutritional deficiency. About our flock: typically ranges from 4-6 hens and is a mixture of a few older birds (3 years) and younger birds (1-2 years), and of a few different breeds (typically wyandotte, rhode islands & americanas). We feed them Nutrena NatureWise Layer 16% and supplement oyster shell. Coop is 4x6 ft and run is 6x8. And we let them out to roam free a few times a week.
Issue 1: Regardless of the current mixture of individual birds & breeds, we always end up with a bird that's pecked to the point of bloody wings, back and neck. Most of the other birds also have minor pecking. We have tried to observe the birds pecking on her but they don't do it much when we're around. The best we can tell is that one of our older birds who has nearly perfect feathers does most of the pecking, and she is actually eating most of the feathers she pecks which makes me think nutritional deficiency. The other birds will also gang up on her but to a lesser degree. We have tried isolation, but then a different bird ends up being the pecked "runt", and when we bring the original healed bird back it happens all over again. We spray medicine which seems to deter the pecking a little but isn't a hard-fast solution. Our next step is going to be to get rid of the main culprit.
Issue 2: Our birds like to peck at and sometimes eat eggs. This would possibly signify a calcium deficiency but we already offer them oyster shell. How fast is it expected the birds go through it? We have a small tin and it goes down very slowly, over many months. Is there a way to train the birds on the oyster shell rather than their own eggs? I have heard of other methods of calcium like old crushed up egg shell, but I'm concerned that will encourage them to eat their eggs even more.
Issue 3: Egg shells are very thin, again calcium deficiency. I have tried to look this up but most of the comments and threads talk about how much thicker farm eggs are compared to the cheep store-bought eggs. However, I find this to be the opposite for us. Our egg shells are very thin with a thick membrane so in order to crack them in a pan we end up having to press thumbs into the egg to break the membrane and pry the eggs apart. It is difficult to avoid shattered egg shell in the pan and to keep the yolks intact (which brings me to the last issue).
Issue 4: Our egg yolks in general do not keep their form and many will break easily. I like over easy/medium eggs which is difficult to do with ours. The yolks tend to spread out thin when they sit in the pan and many times break on their own. And forget flipping the eggs. The store-bought eggs are much nicer to cook this way as the yolks maintain a round ball while sitting on the pan and do not easily break. I'm assuming this is an issue with the vitelline membrane that encases the yolk, so would probably indicate another nutritional deficiency but I don't know enough about this to diagnose.
Issue 1: Regardless of the current mixture of individual birds & breeds, we always end up with a bird that's pecked to the point of bloody wings, back and neck. Most of the other birds also have minor pecking. We have tried to observe the birds pecking on her but they don't do it much when we're around. The best we can tell is that one of our older birds who has nearly perfect feathers does most of the pecking, and she is actually eating most of the feathers she pecks which makes me think nutritional deficiency. The other birds will also gang up on her but to a lesser degree. We have tried isolation, but then a different bird ends up being the pecked "runt", and when we bring the original healed bird back it happens all over again. We spray medicine which seems to deter the pecking a little but isn't a hard-fast solution. Our next step is going to be to get rid of the main culprit.
Issue 2: Our birds like to peck at and sometimes eat eggs. This would possibly signify a calcium deficiency but we already offer them oyster shell. How fast is it expected the birds go through it? We have a small tin and it goes down very slowly, over many months. Is there a way to train the birds on the oyster shell rather than their own eggs? I have heard of other methods of calcium like old crushed up egg shell, but I'm concerned that will encourage them to eat their eggs even more.
Issue 3: Egg shells are very thin, again calcium deficiency. I have tried to look this up but most of the comments and threads talk about how much thicker farm eggs are compared to the cheep store-bought eggs. However, I find this to be the opposite for us. Our egg shells are very thin with a thick membrane so in order to crack them in a pan we end up having to press thumbs into the egg to break the membrane and pry the eggs apart. It is difficult to avoid shattered egg shell in the pan and to keep the yolks intact (which brings me to the last issue).
Issue 4: Our egg yolks in general do not keep their form and many will break easily. I like over easy/medium eggs which is difficult to do with ours. The yolks tend to spread out thin when they sit in the pan and many times break on their own. And forget flipping the eggs. The store-bought eggs are much nicer to cook this way as the yolks maintain a round ball while sitting on the pan and do not easily break. I'm assuming this is an issue with the vitelline membrane that encases the yolk, so would probably indicate another nutritional deficiency but I don't know enough about this to diagnose.
