Has anyone safely supplemented Vitamin D long term for a single laying hen? How have you done it?

[BuddingGardener]

Hello everyone!

I have been to a veterinarian with my hen, so we have a definitive conclusion about the cause of her 'issue.' Basically, our sweet Salmon Faverolles (two years old) has been having a bit of difficulty with egg laying. She would lay a lot of soft-shells, sometimes more than one in a night. When her shells were fully formed they were often pimpled. I got blood work done on her and her calcium levels were great/high (I was giving her a few calcium + vitamin d pills to try and straighten her out), and we concluded that vitamin d is the issue. She has NO internal laying and isn't otherwise sick, and she has no parasites. She gets the same amount of sun as our other girls every day and she is the only one with the issue. So far I've switched from calcium + vitamin d pills to rooster booster poultry cell twice a week or so, and though she is greatly improved she still has a soft shell about once a week, so I suspect we're not supplementing the vitamin d regularly enough.


Does anyone have a recommendation for a strict vitamin d-only supplement for a hen that's safer for more frequent dosing? I don't want to overdo other vitamins and minerals in her system. My vet was not sure she really needed the supplement, but I'm seeing more regulation and noticeable improvement in laying and shell quality when she takes Poultry Cell (I only give her 1CC directly syringed into her beak). He also suggested it wouldn't hurt if we keep up at twice a week, but I'm concerned she may need more than we're getting to her to keep her from laying soft-shells.

My girls are fed Nutrena Naturewise Layer Crumble, by the way! Thanks for any input!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

suggested it wouldn't hurt if we keep up at twice a week, but I'm concerned she may need more than we're getting to her to keep her from laying soft-shells.

First a disclaimer, I don't know anything about this. But just going on what you've said here, I have a question: if you do keep it up twice a week does she still lay soft shell eggs? If yes, could you bump it up to 3x and see how she does? Just curious.

 

[Eggcessive]

You have to be careful with vitamin D since it is one of the fat soluble vitamins that are stored in the fat, and can be overdosed if given too much or too often. Does she eat a balanced chicken feed? Does she get outside in the sun daily? She shouldn’t need extra D if she does those 2 things. Usually most people may give human calcium citrate with vitamin D tablets for up to 7 daily doses when a layer is having soft or shell-less eggs. Poultry Cell is more for a boost when you have a weak or struggling chicken, and dosage is 1 ml for every 3 pounds daily for just a couple of days.