Ok so I have been having thin and broken shells on eggs for over a week and I finally figured out which hen it was. I went out as soon as she came out of the coop this moring and it was already broken. She is a little over one year old. I have had oyster shell out all the time and have added a little to the laying mash to enure they are getting it. They are new to me about 2 weeks and were laying fine before I got them. They are now free range but on same laying mash as before (layena). I had about 5 days of good eggs then the thin ones started last week. How long might the "stress" of a move last? When should I hope to see improvement or any other suggestions for boosting her calcium? Tausha
Try giving her some cottage cheese or plain yogurt, mixed with some raw oatmeal. Sounds like she could use another source of calcium.
Here are some other sources of calcium: 1.Spinach 2.Turnip greens 3.Mustard greens 4.Collard greens 5.Blackstrap molasses 6.Swiss chard 7.Yogurt 8.Kale 9.Mozzarella cheese 10.Milk (goat's milk and cow's milk) 11.Basil, thyme, dill seed, cinnamon, and peppermint leaves 12.Romaine lettuce 13.Rhubarb 14. 15.Broccoli 16.Sesame seeds 17.Fennel 18.Cabbage 19.Summer squash 20.Green beans 21.Garlic 22.Tofu 23.Brussel sprouts 24.Oranges 25.Asparagus 26.Crimini mushrooms Some people do not feed their chicken citrus, and molasses can cause diarrhea. And some info about eggshells: http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publi...ndbook/16/thinshelled-eggs-and-shellless-eggs If she is fine otherwise, I'd give her some more time before I'd start worrying. Good luck Imp
Ensure she has adequate vitamin D (necessary to absorb calcium), easy source is fortified margarine on bread. Grated cuttlefish bone and your own hens' egg shells roasted and crumbled into their feed will soon sort any deficiency. It is sometimes necessary to isolate the hen who has been laying the thin-shelled eggs until she is well and truly supplemented. Good Luck, sandie
Thank you all! She is acting just fine and tends to be head hen... I will try some of the listed foods.. that is a great list and thank you for the link! Tausha
Imp, great list! Many good foods on it. Only two items that might be contentious....spinach and rhubarb. We all know not to eat rhubarb leaves. They are toxic, so be sure to carefully trim any rhubarb to just the stalks before giving it to our chickens. And spinach is such good stuff, but it also should receive a huge caution. It does contain a lot of calcium, but it also contains oxalic acid, which combines with calcium in the body to form calcium oxalate. It also happens to be the main compound that makes rhubarb leaves toxic. Interestingly, citrus fruits contain citric acic, which is also metabolized to oxalic acid in the body. Many vegetable leaves contain some levels of oxalic acid, but most of them have too low a level to worry about, but rhubarb and spinach are high. Also, parsley is extremely high in oxalic acid. We don't eat it in large quantities, but our chickens might. Oxalic acid and chickens are a bad mix. My own birds loved spinach until their eggs got thin. I also discovered that a common weed in the yard was contributing. I had wood sorrel/redwood sorrel/oxalis growing in the yard. The chickens were eating it while freeranging. Again, thin shells. Best to pull that weed up, even though it has those pretty yellow flowers in the spring. Avoid anything with high oxalic acid or citric acid. Best to give kale and chard!
