How long are brittle eggs “normal” for new layers?

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

requires it to be of large partical size

So what do they add to layer foods? How do they come up to the right % ?

With the textured feeds I see the powder at the bottom of the bowls and it has little specks, which I always suspect of containing the vitamins & minerals they should be eating.

 

[azygous]

@Mother-Hen-Michele That is an excellent question.

When we want to extract calcium from a source to create a concentrated supplement, here are three different sources of, all different, all digested and absorbed at varying rates of effectiveness. The most common source is calcium carbonate. This is what egg shells, oyster shell, and calcite derived calcium supplements are. It's the highest in calcium, but it's the most difficult to digest and absorb. Some hens absorb it so slowly and inefficiently that it's not able to adequately supply their shell gland. So, they often produce shell-less eggs or very thin shell eggs.

The second kind of calcium is calcium gluconate. It comes from fruits and vegetables such as spinach and cataloupe. These sources are not very high in calcium and still harder to digest and absorb quickly and easily.

The third kind of calcium is calcium citrate. It's the by-product of the manufacturing process of making citric acid. This form of calcium is very easy to digest and absorb. For this reason, it works much, much faster than the other two types of calcium. This is the form of calcium that's best to use when a hen is having reproductive issues from the relatively minor one of shell quality to the most serious and life threatening one of egg binding.

One calcium citrate tablet with vitamin D given right into the beak once a day until the issue is resolved is what I strongly recommend. Here's what to buy.

Calcium citrate is not meant for daily use as a calcium source, only a temporary intense calcium boost in a reproductive crisis. Good quality oyster shell is still the very best source of calcium you can provide for laying hens. But be sure they're getting the large oyster shell particles and not the powdery residue left in the bottom of the container as it runs through a hens system much too fast to be properly absorbed. The larger particles remain much longer in the digestive tract allowing for much greater absorption. This will help to assure your hen is keeping her calcium stores topped off and will have less tendency to have egg issues.

So, when manufacturers of feed and processed foods wish to fortify their products with calcium, they have all these sources to choose from. My reason for recommending calcium citrate when a hen is in a reproductive crisis is because it works the quickest, and that's what we want when we have a sick hen that may not have time for other sources of calcium to work.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Would you grind up oyster shells and give her that (like in a snack) ?

You can do that as an alternative - though I don't grind it, I use the oyster shell fragments and dust from the bottom of the container. It is more work than simply popping a pill, but I have time to do so. Instructions as follows:

If you know exactly which bird is the problem bird, isolate her for a private breakfast. 2-3x a week serve a small bowl (like 1 Tbsp is fine) of wet or fermented feed with oyster shell mixed in. If she does not like chunks of oyster shell, crush it up or use the powdery remnants from bottom of the bag. Should only take her minutes to eat and after that she's free to go.

Assuming her issue is simply insufficient calcium intake, you should see results in a week or two, and you can try reducing it to 1-2x a week and should hopefully continue getting good results.

 

[RockyTM84]

**Update**

The food dye didn’t work, other than giving us multicolored poo. Lol. Not sure if it was too cold to work right or what. I’m going to have to come up with another way to figure it out. Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[Beer can]

I had some brown leghorns that laid monster double yolkers when they first started laying. After a month or two they straightened out and started laying regular eggs.

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

I am assuming you don't have temporary access to a nanny cam?

Sorry it didn't work... But at least now we all know how to make multi-colored chicken poo... In case the need arises... (Ok, maybe you need to see if someone has funky poo? That could be helpful... Or just to make the morning cleanup more seasonal? Like green & red for Christmas or orange for Halloween?)