Calcium citrate question

[LalaP]

I’ve been reading new and old threads here on BYC and just learned about giving calcium citrate with D3 to a hen having trouble laying. The member @azygous had posted great info in several threads and I was hoping to get some clarification.

My 4 austrolorps are 6 months old and 2 are laying. One of the layers has had some trouble. First egg had no shell and no membrane just yolk and white. Second egg shell-less. Then the eggs were fine but her schedule is all over the place, sometime laying in the night. She takes a long time to lay her eggs and is often in and out of the nest box, sometimes looking very frantic. Then there was another shell-less egg under the roost in the morning. I’m not totally sure it was hers but most likely. So my question is wether the calcium citrate could help her get on track. If so how many days should I give it? Most importantly, when during the day should it be given? I read that it induces contractions to help get an egg out but if I give it too her while she is still forming the egg will the egg be expelled too early causing further irregularities in her cycle?

She eats layer feed and has access to oyster shell but she doesn’t seem to eat it.

 

[azygous]

That's a good question. Thank you for that observation. I've not seen it happen, though, where a hen that is being given calcium citrate for therapeutic purposes expels her egg prematurely. Probably, the calcium isn't going to produce such strong contractions that this would be a problem.

Also, I expect since the "action" is smooth and normal as the egg makes its way down the oviduct, her body isn't struggling with contractions to expel an obstruction, the additional calcium isn't going to generate the same kind of "push" that it would if the hen was already pushing hard.

But we are speculating without any anecdotal information to go by. As time goes by and more people use calcium to help in reproductive crisises, perhaps we will learn that it can have this unwanted side effect. I will certainly be looking for evidence of this.

 

[LalaP]

That's a good question. Thank you for that observation. I've not seen it happen, though, where a hen that is being given calcium citrate for therapeutic purposes expels her egg prematurely. Probably, the calcium isn't going to produce such strong contractions that this would be a problem.

Also, I expect since the "action" is smooth and normal as the egg makes its way down the oviduct, her body isn't struggling with contractions to expel an obstruction, the additional calcium isn't going to generate the same kind of "push" that it would if the hen was already pushing hard.

But we are speculating without any anecdotal information to go by. As time goes by and more people use calcium to help in reproductive crisises, perhaps we will learn that it can have this unwanted side effect. I will certainly be looking for evidence of this.

Thank you for your reply. So given your experience would you start giving my hen the calcium citrate to deal with her mild laying issue or just wait to see if she can work it out on her own.? She is a new layer so I gather that her troubles are common in the beginning and she will most likely get over it.

 

[Sueby]

Take a look back on a thread I started about my problem girl, there are links to a couple good articles on calcium amounts & some comments from some smarter than me people here at BYC! I don't think it could hurt to give it a try based on the research I did at the time. But if she isn't in any pain or having troubles I might just chalk it up to a new layer & wait.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-of-calcium-for-shell-less-egg-layer.1387168/

Good luck.

 

[azygous]

It's entirely your call. There are calcium citrate tablets called "petites" which are 500mg, a bit lower dose than the usual 630mg. I wouldn't hesitate to use it for up to a week to give her a little boost.

Calcium supplements become toxic to a hen upon long term consumption, a month or more. It can be rough on the kidneys after that long. A few days to a week isn't going to cause harm, though.

 

[lizo97]

It's entirely your call. There are calcium citrate tablets called "petites" which are 500mg, a bit lower dose than the usual 630mg. I wouldn't hesitate to use it for up to a week to give her a little boost.

Calcium supplements become toxic to a hen upon long term consumption, a month or more. It can be rough on the kidneys after that long. A few days to a week isn't going to cause harm, though.

I think those petites are actually 250 mg of calcium per pill.