Calcium Booster?

[ClareScifi]

Do you think I should take my chickens in to get shots of calcium?

I didn't realize that spinach was bad for them, depleting them of spinach, and I fed them a lot of spinach over the past month. They loved eating raw spinach out of my hands. They are 13 months old. One is not laying much at all, and the other is laying 2 hard-shelled eggs at a time, when she does lay (not every day), which makes me wonder whether she might have egg peritonitis or something, caused by the spinach depleting her calcium. They both got poopy butts twice when I was feeding them spinach, and now that I'm not the poopy butts have gone away.

I bought them oystershell but I don't see them eating it much. Would free-choice oystershell be enough to correct the spinach-induced calcium depletion? They were eating 16% laying mash at the same time as the spinach (though they preferred the spinach), free-ranging, and getting scratch treats.

I just wonder how much damage I did with the spinach? I guess there's no way to tell other than to take them to the vet? It could be they are not laying well due to being too fat, but when I posted photos, no one thought they looked too fat, though I guess looks can be deceiving. I guess I need to weigh them. One will maybe let me pick her up, but I'm sure the other won't. And I worry about breaking eggs inside them when I pick them up.

Clare

 

[Sorin]

Hello, im not sure that spinach is bad for chickens, i know a lot of people feed their chickens spinach, it actually is high in calcium along with a lot of greens. If you want a calcium booster and worry about them eating the oyster shells then try some plain yogurt, or sprinkle the oyster shells right in their food. Also, watch how much other treats they get. Treats are good, but their main source of food should be the layer feed. If they have the layer feed available all the time they shouldnt need extra calcium, mine dont at least. If they free range, then they will get most of the nutrition they need from bugs and grass. Good Luck! Hope this helps.

 

[ClareScifi]

Thanks for your reply. I know the spinach question has been controversial, at least in humans. A few years ago there was talk that the oxalates in it aren't good, but I thought it had been debunked. But then when the chickens got sick I read several places in poultry forums that it isn't good to give it to ducks, geese, and chickens, because it depletes their calcium, making it hard for them to lay eggs. It is high in calcium, but according to what I've researched, the oxalates don't allow the calcium to be processed by the chickens-- instead they deplete it. Kale, mustard greens, and endive don't have this effect, as best I can tell. Kale is high in calcium, so I have started giving them that instead of the spinach.

I would love to read something saying all this spinach research is bunk, but when my chickens got diarrheah-ish after eating it, and stopped laying eggs, I do have to wonder??? If anyone can find some current articles saying it's okay to feed spinach to chickens (they just loved eating it-- it was their favorite treat), I'd be thrilled and so relieved!!!

 

[dawg53]

If you ate spinach all the time you'd get diarrhea too. Too much good things arnt necessarily the best things for chickens or humans for that matter. Their main source of feed needs to be layer feed, it contains about 3.5% calcium...adding calcium upon calcium throws their system out of whack stressing them and on their immune system leading to causing diarrhea, their system cant properly absorb nutrients because of it. The next thing you know, you'll have chickens becoming sick with some kind of disease. You gotta look at the big picture.

 

[ClareScifi]

I know, dawg. That is why I am so worried about them. I think the spinach threw their systems out of whack. I thought they needed some greens, and they liked spinach best of all the greens I tried, so that is what I gave them. At the time they weren't free-ranging as much. I didn't know they were eating too much of it. When I tried other greens, they didn't want them, except for arugula. They turned up their beaks at purslane and watercress and lettuces and kale. They were eating layer mash while eating spinach. If the spinach depleted their calcium, it may have caused egg peritonitis, and that is why the one is no longer laying. That is what I don't know-- what is out of whack and how much. I hate to stress them by taking them to a vet.

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
Ok ...let's get their systems back in order. Provide them buttermilk and scrambled egg mixed in their feed to make a mash. Feed that mixture to them for a week, there should be some improvement. If not, continue the buttermilk and scrambled egg, feed mash for another week. Buttermilk is a probiotic, scrambled egg is extra protein. Good luck. Also, leave the greens out.

 

[ClareScifi]

Thanks for the tip, dawg. I did give them some scrambled eggs after the spinach scare, and a bit of plain yogurt, but I haven't tried buttermilk. They ate a bit of the scrambled eggs, and my good eater loved the yogurt, which I gave with some fresh strawberry bits. I've considered drying and crushing their eggshells and adding to their food, but like you say, it's scary thinking I might get their calcium too high. I did up their feed from 16% laying mash to 20% pellets recently.