Food question

[rosemarythyme]

If at any point the one girl having issues goes back to doing the same thing, then I guess she’ll get some special treatment, maybe I’ll feed her alone with eggshell to keep her calcium where it needs to be. It could of been a glitch with her as well, she was my first layer at 16 weeks (red sexlink) and maybe her body was just catching up. She seems to be doing well now. She was laying soft shell eggs for about 4 days, and even lying 2 within hours of each other.

New layers are prone to various glitches/problems, including soft shells.

If this continues, and you know which bird is the one with soft shelled eggs, isolate her for a private breakfast. 2-3x a week serve a small bowl (like 1 Tbsp is fine) of wet or fermented feed with oyster shell mixed in. If she does not like chunks of oyster shell, crush it up or use the powdery remnants from bottom of the bag. Should only take her minutes to eat and after that she's free to go.

Assuming her issue is simply insufficient calcium intake, you should see results in a week or two, and you can try reducing it to 1-2x a week and should hopefully continue getting good results. If you still have the same issue, then you might need to try pills of calcium citrate instead for a faster, bigger calcium boost.

 

[22ChickenNuggets]

New layers are prone to various glitches/problems, including soft shells.

If this continues, and you know which bird is the one with soft shelled eggs, isolate her for a private breakfast. 2-3x a week serve a small bowl (like 1 Tbsp is fine) of wet or fermented feed with oyster shell mixed in. If she does not like chunks of oyster shell, crush it up or use the powdery remnants from bottom of the bag. Should only take her minutes to eat and after that she's free to go.

Assuming her issue is simply insufficient calcium intake, you should see results in a week or two, and you can try reducing it to 1-2x a week and should hopefully continue getting good results. If you still have the same issue, then you might need to try pills of calcium citrate instead for a faster, bigger calcium boost.

Thanks! She’s doing ok now, she laid a couple dinosaur eggs. And she’s back to normal now, I definitely keep a very close eye on her. And I love the idea of bringing her in to chow some special food. She’s probably like the bonding time.

 

[22ChickenNuggets]

Just an update. We haven’t had any issues with my little girl since this post. I switched to Nutrena All flock pellets. (Well mixing the layer and all flock I don’t want to waste the bag) and everything seems good. Thanks for all the info and advice.

 

[AntiqueB]

Just as an add-on, there are different types of oyster shell. My girls like the natural-looking flakes, which I get from Scratch & Peck. Unfortunately, they have supplier issues, so I had to switch to the oyster granules, which they eat, but without the same level of gusto.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Helping each other out on our chicken journeys is what BYC is about. Happy we could offer something of value.

 

[22ChickenNuggets]

UPDATE AGAIN

I jinxed myself. She’s in the house doing the same thing I’m at a loss. Do I cull her?

 

[rosemarythyme]

UPDATE AGAIN

I jinxed myself. She’s in the house doing the same thing I’m at a loss. Do I cull her?

How old is she? She's still young right? I wouldn't give up on a young layer that fast, plus it takes a few weeks for calcium to really get into her system, if you're supplementing on the side.

 

[22ChickenNuggets]

How old is she? She's still young right? I wouldn't give up on a young layer that fast, plus it takes a few weeks for calcium to really get into her system, if you're supplementing on the side.

She is 23 weeks, she started laying maybe 31 days ago. She does have unlimited oyster shell, 3 different brands. Crumble, and flake. She’s just a weird chicken. I did just switch over to Nutrena all flock.