Calcium supplement for hens who don't like oyster shell

[Folly's place]

I didn't do the math, but think about the weight of each egg shell!
Mary

 

[SarahGfa]

I didn't do the math, but think about the weight of each egg shell!
Mary

An egg shell has 2 grams of calcium. Chickens need way more calcium than I ever thought!

https://www.purinamills.com/chicken...what-to-feed-laying-hens-for-strong-eggshells

 

[rosemarythyme]

Probably hard to know for sure, but possibly she's not eating the calcium supplements available for her. If you haven't seen her eating oyster shells or egg fragments, try supplementing her for a week or so to see if that fixes the issue (if it doesn't improve then it might be a reproductive issue).

I have a layer that doesn't want oyster shell so rather than use pills I simply mix a bit of oyster shell into a small amount of fermented or wet feed, and put her some place where she can eat a private breakfast. Once she's done eating she can go back to her daily routine. I do this 3x a week while she's laying and that's fixed up her shell issues.

 

[ariri30]

Probably hard to know for sure, but possibly she's not eating the calcium supplements available for her. If you haven't seen her eating oyster shells or egg fragments, try supplementing her for a week or so to see if that fixes the issue (if it doesn't improve then it might be a reproductive issue).

I have a layer that doesn't want oyster shell so rather than use pills I simply mix a bit of oyster shell into a small amount of fermented or wet feed, and put her some place where she can eat a private breakfast. Once she's done eating she can go back to her daily routine. I do this 3x a week while she's laying and that's fixed up her shell issues.

Every time I notice the tale tell of a hen or pullet in distress because of lack of calcium I grab her and give her a calcium pill for humans and the next day they will lay an egg.

 

[Friendly_Lurker]

I’ve been wondering about that. See, my eggs lately have had very thin shells but my hens don’t like oystershell!

 

[arkansas_ash]

I forgot to mention that my hens also free-ranged, so they were eating less of their layer feed than a penned hen would, which would partly account for the lower calcium intake, besides the age of the hens.
Their favorite calcium source? We once had a pile of river sand dumped on our property to use in the garden. Every small river clam shell in the sand pile was devoured by our chickens. After that I would pick up river clam shells while visiting the river for a day trip, take them home and grind them up in a hand-cranked grinding mill we have attached to a bench out in the shed. They loved getting this.