First Egg: Too Much Chick Starter?

[JEsqueda]

Hi Folks,

My RIR hens started acting strange today-- letting us reach down and touch them, and "bowing" when we do so. This is new behavior, since they are usually skittish! I told my husband we'd have eggs really, really soon. About an hour later, one of my hens laid an egg-- on the roost!!

The egg had a soft shell and splattered, unfortunately. I know it'll take some time for the eggs to normalize, and they have Oyster Shell available for extra calcium.

My question is, my husband just bought 75 pounds of feed- the wrong kind, too. It's chick start! Is this okay for them to continue eating, provided the oyster shell is available, or do I need to switch to layer feed immediately? We also supplement with meal worms and crickets for extra protein, and the girls free range.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Best,
Jess

 

[Wishing4Wings]

First, congrats on the egg, even though it went splat. Pullets often have odd eggs when they begin to lay. Their plumbing sometimes needs a little time to get in order.

As for the chick starter, if it is non medicated you should be alright using it along with free choice oyster shells, especially if your flock gets to free range. Many people do not use laying feed. The extra calcium is not good for roosters. If it is medicated, I'd do a little more research. Amprolium is a thymine blocker (which kills coccidia), but I don't know if it also inhibits the absorption of thymine for the chickens.

 

[donrae]

Starter is fine for your birds to eat. Layer has less protein, so I don't feed it. I keep my birds on a grower-type ration all their lives. Oyster shell and eggshells for a calcium boost and you're good to go.

The soft shelled egg had less to do with feed and more to do with the fact she's a new layer. A new layer has a good store of calcium in her body, she's not depleted like a mature laying hen. So it's not that there wasn't enough calcium available for a good shell, it's simply that her system hasn't worked out all the kinks yet. It's not uncommon for new layers (and even mature hens, from time to time) to "forget" to put the shell on, or have an occasional brittle shell.

 

[JEsqueda]

Hi there! Thanks for your reply! Here I was, thinking the soft shell was because I should have started her on oyster shell and layer feed weeks ago =)

I've got another hen who has taken quite a bit of time to put herself together a little nest in the pile of grass clippings I put in the nesting boxes. We may have two laying soon! I'll go ahead and let them eat through what I've got, in that case-- no sense wasting perfectly good feed.

 

[JEsqueda]

First, congrats on the egg, even though it went splat. Pullets often have odd eggs when they begin to lay. Their plumbing sometimes needs a little time to get in order.

As for the chick starter, if it is non medicated you should be alright using it along with free choice oyster shells, especially if your flock gets to free range. Many people do not use laying feed. The extra calcium is not good for roosters. If it is medicated, I'd do a little more research. Amprolium is a thymine blocker (which kills coccidia), but I don't know if it also inhibits the absorption of thymine for the chickens.

Thanks for your reply as well =) My girls free range from sun down to sun up. It's nice to know that the laying feed is a choice, not a necessity. I'm a bit new to the chicken thing, but completely in love with my flock. I'll give it awhile- I imagine those eggs should harden up in no time!

The egg was exciting, soft shell or not-- it's the promise of many more to come!