Hens eggs look very bad after travel

[Sherri1990]

Hello,

I had to make a 13 hour drive with 8 hens and my roo. I know that travel is very stressful for a chicken so I expected some issues. In 4 days I have soft shelled eggs, brittle to the point that when I touched it then eggs broke, and several eggs that I cant even explain where they went...only that yolk was left behind. I have 3 hens that aren't laying at all ( I expected this). I have them on Dumor starter grower 20% protein. I give them their eggshells and they have oyster shells available to them. I realize that many people use layer 16% due to the calcium content and that may be a suggestion. I did offer this to them....they don't like it...(i know...if they are hungry they will eat it....). I need to get calcium in these hens asap. What can I do? What's the fastest way to do this to help them recover?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Eggcessive]

Stress is a big problem which can lead to egg shell problems. Did you move them to a new place? If so, the new surroundings and the travel probably are the cause. Many people use an all flock feed plus crushed oyster shell without problems. Chick starter is very similar. But I would give them either human calcium with vitamin D3 for a few days, or switch to layer feed only for a while to see if they start laying hard shells again. All flock and chick grower contain 1% calcium, while layer has 4% calcium. Calcium citrate with d3 is readily absorbed, but you can also use other calcium. 600 mg of calcium daily for several days may be a good dosage.

 

[Kiki]

Switch them to a layer feed asap and let them get used to their new home.

 

[Sherri1990]

Stress is a big problem which can lead to egg shell problems. Did you move them to a new place? If so, the new surroundings and the travel probably are the cause. Many people use an all flock feed plus crushed oyster shell without problems. Chick starter is very similar. But I would give them either human calcium with vitamin D3 for a few days, or switch to layer feed only for a while to see if they start laying hard shells again. All flock and chick grower contain 1% calcium, while layer has 4% calcium. Calcium citrate with d3 is readily absorbed, but you can also use other calcium. 600 mg of calcium daily for several days may be a good dosage.

Thank you!! I have 8 hens, so how do I dose the 600 mg? Is it per bird individually? They returned to their original home after living with my daughter for 3 months. They went back in to their original coop. However all of them are being treated for scaly leg mites.