Help! (Does this get some attention?) LOL

[dbblondee]

I have an almost 6 month old Opal Legbar. She laid her first egg about 2.5 weeks ago in the dirt and there was no hard shell. My flock thought it was a treat and chased each other around eating it. About a week later, she laid in a nesting box this time 2 at once! One had very little if any shell and the other one had a thin layer around it (scrambled them up and fed them to my dogs can't waste these little nuggets) BUT NOW she is not laying anything. All the others are laying nice hard shelled eggs. What is happening with her? I have good laying feed and oyster shells for them to grab anytime. I do feed them live meal worms a few times a week (it's quite entertaining) and dried larvae thrown around their coop. They get good quality snacks from time to time as well. I'm lost on what is happening to her now. She is not sick and eats very well (also she has a very loud voice she likes to express often) and I can pick her up and pet her. Any ideas or suggestions? I've read many different things and some say she may not lay anymore? Is this true? I'm a first time chicken momma so this worries me. Some of you seasoned owners have such great suggestions so I'm hoping to find out something I can do to help her. Thanks in advance!

 

[thecatumbrella]

One of my first hens was like this. She just had a hard time making eggs. You said you have both layer feed and oyster shell, so that's all good. I'd try supplementing her with calcium citrate tablets, 1 per day, for up to a week. Pull down on her wattles and just pop the pill in her mouth. She should swallow it.

Here's an example of what you're looking for at the drugstore.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I don’t know that I would worry. She’s new to laying so it might take her body some time to figure out how to do it. I would check for any hidden nests in case she just hasn’t figured out where to lay consistently and then give her a couple more weeks and see how it goes. I found a soft-shelled egg under my roost last week and a fairy egg a couple days later. No idea if they were from different chickens or what but my girls are about 6 months old and I am not getting consistent eggs from any of my pullets. I might be kind of blasé about it compared to other people but I know they’re getting what they need to lay so I am not worried about it.

 

[Mrs. K]

Laying is considerably more genetic than it is diet. I would guess this is an internal genetic malfunction. Unless the diet is grossly not meeting their needs. Yours is perfectly adequate as in the other birds are laying fine on it.

You can treat, but I don't think it will make any difference. You really cannot make a bird lay eggs.

Mrs K

 

[dbblondee]

As always, you all never disappoint. Thank you so much. I just may have a backyard freeloader and for me I could care less, I love them all the same This helped!

 

[dbblondee]

I got another egg from her today. Just wish I knew how to fix this. I'm not sure she is eating the oyster shells. Has anyone ever used oyster flakes or four?

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I got another egg from her today. Just wish I knew how to fix this. I'm not sure she is eating the oyster shells. Has anyone ever used oyster flakes or four?

I use flaked oyster shells instead of the chunks, along with crushed eggshells (eggshells alone aren’t enough.) My pullets seem to like the flaked version more. I got it on Amazon.

For her specifically, I’d give her calcium as @thecatumbrella suggests above. Be sure that whatever brand you give her also has vitamin D, which is necessary for calcium absorption. Maybe poke one vitamin D capsule down her throat separately in addition to the calcium. If you’re uncomfortable with pill-poking, you can crush the calcium tablet and mix it into canned cat food or something similar.

Do this every day for a week. You should see improvement. If it doesn’t work, she might have a glitch in her reproductive tract. But she is still a new layer, and it often takes a month or so for everything to get in sync.

 

[thecatumbrella]

If you’re uncomfortable with pill-poking, you can crush the calcium tablet and mix it into canned cat food or something similar.

This is such a smart idea. Here I am, coating black solider fly larvae with EVOO and using the crushed calcium as "breading", like I'm some kind of chicken sous chef. Work smarter not harder!

 

[Mother of Chaos]

lol!

My “compounding pharmacy” for this:

Smash the tablet with the back of the spoon, then use the spoon to mash it into the cat food or scrambled egg or raw ground beef or whatever.

Those little Sheba cat food packets are pricey as hayul for regular cat feeding, but perfect for this use. The longest it’s ever taken for one of the girls to eat it was under 2 minutes.