Chicken with calcium issues

[Emma1231]

Hello all !

I am new to chicken keeping, we just got our hens last year. They have been excellent layers and not had problems when it comes to laying.
But the last few days our Americana, Lily, suddenly stopped laying. Finally I called the vet and brought her to the animal ER. The vet said she was in fact egg bound (what I was scared of) and she had to remove the egg, which seemed larger then her usual small eggs. Luckily it went well and she seems back to normal, (now to see if she can lay tomorrow).
She has always had a nice fluffy bottom, unlike our two other chickens, but her eggs seem to to have improper calcium distribution. The shells are thin, yet also have calcium deposits. I think when she first started laying they were not like this. And lately they have been a little unsymmetrical at the pointy end.
This was never really an issue (we would still eat them and she was acting happy and healthy)until she became egg bound, and I'm hoping it won't be a recurring thing because of the calcium issue.
They do have constant access to oyster shell by their food, and they free range at least six hours a day. And I'm going to start crushing up their shells and giving them to the chickies, which the vet recommended.

Does anyone have experience with a chicken who was like this ?
Could these things be connected?
Or was this just random ?

She is also skinnier then the other Americana we have. Even though she is the alpha.

 

[Mace Gill]

If she goes egg bound again administer sodium bicarbonate (a crushed up Rolaids tablet), soak her bottom in a warm bath, and apply some lubricant to the cloaca. After some rest, she should pass the egg on her own.

Calcium being off MIGHT be a temporary condition, mix some crushed p egg shells with the feed. Hand feed her forma while as much as possible until you know she's gotten at least some calcium in her.

Some folks Sa no to yogurt, others swear by it, but besides it's other benefits, it is also a source of calcium and easy to mix with treats.

 

[Purina]

Hello all !

I am new to chicken keeping, we just got our hens last year. They have been excellent layers and not had problems when it comes to laying.
But the last few days our Americana, Lily, suddenly stopped laying. Finally I called the vet and brought her to the animal ER. The vet said she was in fact egg bound (what I was scared of) and she had to remove the egg, which seemed larger then her usual small eggs. Luckily it went well and she seems back to normal, (now to see if she can lay tomorrow).
She has always had a nice fluffy bottom, unlike our two other chickens, but her eggs seem to to have improper calcium distribution. The shells are thin, yet also have calcium deposits. I think when she first started laying they were not like this. And lately they have been a little unsymmetrical at the pointy end.
This was never really an issue (we would still eat them and she was acting happy and healthy)until she became egg bound, and I'm hoping it won't be a recurring thing because of the calcium issue.
They do have constant access to oyster shell by their food, and they free range at least six hours a day. And I'm going to start crushing up their shells and giving them to the chickies, which the vet recommended.

Does anyone have experience with a chicken who was like this ?
Could these things be connected?
Or was this just random ?

She is also skinnier then the other Americana we have. Even though she is the alpha.

Great questions, Emma1231! Relatively speaking, the occasional thin-shelled egg is normal. But if you are noticing a trend that your egg shells are lacking strength, a few things come to mind: 1. Nutrition: At least 90% of your layers’ total diet should be the complete layer feed. Extra grains, treats or scraps can dilute the balanced nutrition of the layer feed and may leave the birds subclinically deficient in several nutrients, especially calcium. Balanced nutrition can also help maintain adequate bird body condition. Birds that are overweight or underweight are known to produce lower quality eggs and can even stop production all together. 2. Bird breed and age: It is not uncommon for high-producing breeds to produce an occasional soft egg. This happens because they can produce eggs faster than the actual shelling process. It usually takes 24 hours for an egg to be developed; every now and then, high-producing breeds can actually produce an egg in less than 24 hours, which can result in a soft-shelled egg.

You can provide egg shells to your hens instead of oyster shell. Just be aware that there could be some issues with this approach. The calcium in egg shells is not as available to the animal as oyster shell. Your birds will have to eat more egg shells to get the same amount of calcium from oyster shell. You could be teaching your birds that eating egg shells are ok, which could lead them to start eating the eggs that they are laying. Be sure that you are drying and cleaning the egg shells prior to giving them to your birds. You could be feeding the hens bacteria that you do not want them to have and could potentially make them sick.

If you feed a complete feed like Purina® Layena® with Oyster Strong™ System you do not need to supplement with oyster shell, since it’s already in their feed. The only occasion you may need to provide supplemental oyster shell would be in the hot summer months when feed intake is low. When it is very hot, birds tend to eat less feed. In this case, the amount of calcium that they are consuming may not be sufficient to support egg production. Learn more at www.oysterstrong.com.

 

[DRutt]

Great info, thank you!