hi new chicken owner from UK needs any advice please x

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fluffycucky

fluffycucky

Chirping
7 Years
Sep 9, 2012
11
1
84
hi, i recently bought 2 hybrid girls Betty and Wilma and all seems well they have settled in, loving the large garden, which they never stop stratching around and finding grubs etc, have even accepted the dog and she them!!!

Today i made the decision to leave them in the garden while i went out for a couple of hours, brave or stupid i think but anyway when i returned home and opened the back door i saw a large fluffy cat jumping over the fence, the girls are fine and did not seem flustered so i dont know if it frightened them at all.

when i went to put them to bed tonight i moved the feeder to take indoors and found a soft shelled egg on the floor of the pen!!
whether this was bacouse of the intruder i do not know !! i hope so as all their other eggs have been laid in the nesting box and have lovely brown shells.

firstly can i eat it!! or shall i boil or scramble and give to the girls!!

also i bought a grit block that hangs on the wire of their pen but they have not pecked at it and so i am worried they are not getting grit!!

there are plenty of stones etc in the garden, but have decided to give them their crushed up egg shells to supplement the calcium.
can anyone please tell me how to prepare the egg shells please.

also when and how should i worm them.

sorry to seem a newbie!!! just that i am and want the best for my girls as they are now part of our family. and wont be leaving them out again when i go out as im too scared lol xx

thanks for any advice.
 
1000


im not sure. we had one do that but i think it was because she was old ???
 
Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan :D

You will find the answers to many of your questions in the Learning Center above, or by doing a search (for example type in Feeding Eggshells). Good luck!
 
Hello and welcome to BYC
frow.gif
Glad you joined us!

It is unlikely the cat is to blame for the soft shell egg, though stress can cause malformed eggs. You should offer them some oyster shell in a separate dish if this problem persist. You can eat the egg, don't worry about that. It's o.k. but don't keep it too long. It'll dry out quick.
If they are free ranging they will get enough grit from scratching and pecking in the garden.
If you want to feed them egg shell, break it into pieces and bake it in the oven to sterilise it before crushing it and mixing it with their food.
Deworming should be done twice a year as a preventative. But if you see worms do it immediately. There are different dewormers you can use. I see you are in the UK, so I can't recommend a brand. I don't know which ones you have there. I'd suggest you ask your vet to recommend the best one.
Enjoy your chickens!
 
Thankyou all so much for your welcome and comments x much appreciated I'll update hoPefully when I get a good egg today x now off to roast my eggshells!! Lol happy chucking x x
 

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