Excess calcium

[Tumbleweedlynn]

Hi All

I have one olive Egger that has consistently put out eggs with excess calcium, but not one with this much. Where could the source of this extra be coming from? No one else in my flock has this issue.

They eat layer pellets with scratch occasionally, and free range in my yard for a couple hours a day. They have all been laying since January, more or less.

Thanks!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Hi All

I have one olive Egger that has consistently put out eggs with excess calcium, but not one with this much. Where could the source of this extra be coming from? No one else in my flock has this issue.

They eat layer pellets with scratch occasionally, and free range in my yard for a couple hours a day. They have all been laying since January, more or less.

Thanks!View attachment 3473215View attachment 3473217

Every bird is different - the calcium needs of a hybrid like an Olive Egger (which can have great variety in its genetic background, as long as that includes both the blue shell gene and the brown shell gene(s)) is not the same, necessarily, as a production red hybrid or a prime leghorn designed to be egg producing machines. Layer feed was originally formulated to support egg machines in commercial conditions under commercial management, the calcium levels may be a bit high for birds that produce smaller eggs and lay less frequently.

Its part of why many of us feed an all flock/flock raiser type feed with free choice oyster shell, so they can self regulate calcium intake.

But some birds simply "do that", all other things being as perfect as we can make them. Responsible breeders simply choose not to incubate their eggs, hopefully removing that tendency to make mistakes from their subsequent generations.

(and some yard bugs are high calcium, as are some plants IF they are grown on high calcium content soils)

 

[Eggcessive]

What are you feeding, and do you have crushed oyster shell available? Most chickens need access to calcium, and will take what they need. I have seen calcium deposits in a few eggs on a consistent basis, but I believed it was an individual issue with the hen. Exposure to infectious bronchitis virus in pullets can cause a lot of different shell problems, including shell gland disorders, soft spots, wrinkled egg shells, and others. Here is an interesting article about shell differences and possible causes:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/common-egg-quality-problems.65923/