Hen won’t eat extra calcium no matter what

[MotherofOrpies]

I have a very proli egg laying young hen, she is prone to laying shell less eggs, but won’t eat the extra calcium, no matter how I try feeding it to her ( and yes, it has an extra portion of vit D3 and vit. K) at first when I noticed her having problems, I soaked bread with liquid calcium , after a few days, she stopped eating it ( she refuses to eat oyster shells, calcium grit, backed crumbled egg shells and the feed I serve every day with extra calcium which contains shredded carrots, zucchini and cottage cheese) then I tried soaking waffles, a few days she ate them, then nada, I then tried cut up calf heart with very fine oyster shells kind of sticking to it, she has now even stopped eating that, today, she almost had her egg duct prolaps, cos her egg shell was so rough cos she doesn’t eat enough calcium ( she is the only hen with this problem, the others eat enough of what I serve) , I am at my wits end

 

[CFLRanching]

Try plain yogurt mixed with a raw egg. Praying you can get her to stick to eating something. Another thing to try is fermenting your chicken feed. We used to get really weak shells from our girls and we switched to Purina flockraiser with a scoopful of scratch grains mixed in and we ferment it (like you would a sourdough bread starter) and usually the batch size we make lasts a few days before we have to make more. Our birds love (and I mean gobble it up) love it. We mix oyster shell in when we serve it and we haven't had a hen lay a weak shelled egg in months. Youtube fermented feed to watch some videos on how to make it. Best of luck with your girl

 

[MotherofOrpies]

I do ferment feed, but have the problem that after a while, the liquid somehow slimes after a while, I don’t know why, I always ferment in glas and put them in the dishwasher after using …so I only do it until it starts getting slimy, then stop doing it, but I will start it up again, the other problem is, only she needs it, but she won’t eat if the others chickens aren’t there ( I tried seperating her for her extra calcium) but the others don’t need the extra calcium, but gobble it up anyway, which isn’t good for them

 

[CFLRanching]

We don't get slime but sometimes the top gets a layer on it of something that looks more like the way beans do if you soak them and cook them. I think it's probably something to do with the casing on the grain seeds and breaking those down (probably what is causing your slime too, believe it's to protect the seeds). Essentially we just scrape it off and throw it down on the ground. They eat it anyway. We ferment in a large five gallon outside with a lid. It gets "burped" a couple times a day when we access it to feed them. Try the egg and yogurt mixture (you can even get the flavored yogurts) see if she likes it at all.

https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/sprouting-vs-soaking-fermentation/

 

[MotherofOrpies]

Ok, thanks, I will try all of the above

 

[MotherofOrpies]

She didn’t even look at the egg with yogurt, when I dropped some sunflower seeds into it, she tried to pick at them, and then very thoroughly cleaned her beak, cos some of the egg and yogurt had touched her beak I had enough, grabbed her and popped 2 calcium pills into her beak

 

[Arelwood]

I am NOT at all sure about this, but I used to work with tortoises and reptiles. There is a fine calcium powder that you could sprinkle/shake over/rub into their food. It might be fine enough she doesn't notice!
Another idea is some food that she DOES like that is soft-ish. Something she can eat whole. Maybe small strawberries or blueberries. Inject calcium inside, so she doesn't taste it.

 

[MotherofOrpies]

She needs 2 g of calcium a day, it is a lot of powder, and she somehow seems to taste it, whether it is liquid, powder or in oyster shell form , and that is just vor the egg shells, and another gram for her bones… it is very hard getting the stuff into her, I tried adding some to the drinking water, and they drank so little it wasn’t healthy either, we are supposed to be the smart ones, but she’s really got me baffled and as I said before, no use separating her, she won’t eat alone

 

[NC_Quail]

She needs 2 g of calcium a day, it is a lot of powder, and she somehow seems to taste it, whether it is liquid, powder or in oyster shell form , and that is just vor the egg shells, and another gram for her bones… it is very hard getting the stuff into her, I tried adding some to the drinking water, and they drank so little it wasn’t healthy either, we are supposed to be the smart ones, but she’s really got me baffled and as I said before, no use separating her, she won’t eat alone

I have no idea if this is a thing, but is it possible to inject it? I know not everyone is comfortable with doing that, but it would solve the problem of her not eating any. I’m not sure how often you would have to do it though.

 

[MotherofOrpies]

I can ask a vet, but I know calcium as injection is way too much fluid (10 ml/400 mg) for a chicken, just to give her enough for a day, she would need to get 100ml injected