Quick and easy calcium deficiency cure!!

[Kitty Cat]

My hens have had pretty bad calcium deficiency problems for a while. None of them are old and they have oyster shell free choice. I had the brilliant idea of using vitamins instead of oyster shell which doesn't seem to be working. I went to Wal-Mart and bought a bottle of Calcium vitamins. I put the tablet in a cup with a small amount of water. Let it dissolve completely (about 3 hours) and then poured it into their waterer when I was putting fresh water in for the day. Filled the rest of the waterer with water (of course) and called it a day. I did this for two days, and I was only getting 2 eggs a day with 19 hens, now I'm getting 4 eggs. I'm going to drop the vitamin water down to once a week and then later to only once a month for maintenance.

I have a few sick chickens that I'm nursing, so I also got a bottle of Vitamin C and put one tablet in with the calcium as well. Everyone seems to have a little bit more energy and is more alert.


Hope this helps!!!

 

[chkn]

That's nice. A little TLC goes a long way.

 

[Alabama ee]

That is very interesting! Are the shells of the ones laying getting thicker?

 

[Kitty Cat]

The shells are getting a good bit thicker. I've only done 2 doses but I'm thinking pretty soon they'll be laying like they should be and the shells will be nice and hard.

 

[chkn]

Sometimes I'll mix the oyster shell in a bowl of crushed hard boiled eggs (with shells of course) because they don't seem to eat it nearly enough on their own.

 

[Kitty Cat]

They get eggs shells every day. Which also doesn't seem to be working. I'm not sure what happened but apparently the only thing that has a high enough dose and gets to them well is the dissolved vitamin. For a while I was even giving them their own eggs back. Just taking them out the nest, breaking them, and letting them eat it shell and all.

 

[dawg53]

I recommend that you cut back on the calcium, too much can eventually affect the liver. The calcium in their layer feed, crushed oyster shell is enough for them. What you want to do is add 1-2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (ACV) per gallon of water. ACV helps in calcium absorption and lowers gut PH to help with bacterial issues.

 

[Kitty Cat]

Quote:
I'll certainly try that and see if it works. Thanks.

 

[olemizmom]

I know this is an old thread, but my Ancona has not laid an egg for four months and judging by the color of her crown, she is calcium deficient. Also, she pecks the ends of other eggs. She doesn't touch the free oyster shell and is now not excited about eating anything other than greens. I had read but didn't offer the pulverized egg shells into my girls' diet, but I am now going to include it. I don't know what else to do.....

 

[Eggcessive]

I just feed my girls egg shells when ever i have them from breakfast eggs. If I put them in the oven at 225 degrees for 10 minutes they just crumble into tiny pieces. They act like they're getting scratch when I throw them out. Yogurt and buttermilk are also favorites with lots of calcium.