OK to give my hen human mineral supplements?

[chickbliss7]

My almost-two-year-old hen is laying no-shell eggs. I'm first assuming she's not eating her oyster shell. I bought something called Cell-Food for humans. Dose is 8 drops in water 3X/day. Is it okay to give her a little bit of this? It has a full range of minerals plus amino acids and electrolytes. Is iron not good for them? What should I try alternatively? I should mention my other 5 chickens are barely laying at all--maybe one or two a day. But it's SPRING! Shouldn't they be laying a lot?? Thanks for any suggestions you might give!

 

[feathersnuggles]

Iron is a big NO. So, I wouldn't give her human mineral supplements.

You can give her an emergency dose of calcium by crushing 1/2 Tums and mixing with plain active-culture yogurt. It's not calcium carbonate, which is the composition of shells, but it will do temporarily.

You could also try a little raw apple cider vinegar (ACV) in the water. Use a non-metal waterer for this, though, as the metal reacts with vinegar to leach harmful stuff into their water. ACV can help them assimilate the calcium better.

To lay well, hens need good quality layer feed (at least 16% protein), plus a free-choice dish of oyster shell. And they need constant access to plenty of good clean fresh water, in order to produce those eggs.

What else? Do they look healthy? Do their feathers look good? Have they been stressed in any way? If all that is good --- they may be taking a little break, or getting ready to molt (although this isn't the usual time for that). I have one hen that just came out of being broody (tis the season) and she JUST started laying again.

ETA: are they eating well and does their poop look normal and healthy?

 

[RocketDad]

Here's a discussion about Cellfood. I wouldn't waste my money, personally.

Meanwhile, some general thoughts on "supplements:"

1) If a health related product is efficacious it will be regulated by the FDA. If it's not regulated it's efficacy is negligible.

2) If a product IS efficacious (like a multivitamin) it will be based on a nominal 150 lb body weight mammalian metabolism. A chicken is, what, about 3 pounds? So you'll use 1/50th of a human dose, just based on body mass. Then you get into the differences between mammals and birds, metabolically. Medicines and such are tested with creatures as metabolically similar to humans as possible, like mice, rats, guinea pigs, monkeys, dogs or cats.

3) Your chickens may be adjusting to the changing daylight balance and timing as spring progresses. Feed them well, give them plenty of water, and make sure they have calcium supplements. Check for mites, stress sources (like neighborhood cats harassing them) or signs of illness.

My Red Star, who has never taken a day off, appears to have taken today off. I suspect springtime. She'll probably go nuts in another week or two.

 

[chickbliss7]

I think I'd feel safer if I didn't give my girl the drops. Instead, I'll grind up the oyster shell finely and mix it with their feed. A couple of my hens have just finished molting and look like they've grown a lot in the last few months (although they're not laying). The one who's laying the shell-less eggs is the "runt,"and never has molted in almost 2 years. Is this normal?

Any other suggestions?

 

[WoodlandWoman]

What are you feeding them?

 

[chickbliss7]

They eat 20% (sometimes 16%) protein crumble. In the mornings, I also put out a variety of grains, such as whole wheat berries, raw oatmeal, flax seeds, Cheerios, some scratch, greens and oyster shell. Several times a week, I spread out some meal worms. In the afternoon, they get more greens, a little fruit or vegetable, maybe some organic cottage cheese or shredded cheese. This "snack" varies, sometimes with leftover rice or pasta (plain) or cooked egg. Their poops are generally soft brown with white on top.

The "chicken" man at the feedstore said they may have some virus. If then, what do I do? Just hope it goes away? They all act normally. Energetic, eat well, vocalize, etc. BTW, is there a website that interprets chicken "talk?"