Soft Egg!

[smdcleland]

Hello all. I have 7 young RIRs. They are some 6 months old and all laying eggs. All seem happy, active and healthy.

Today all 7 laid an egg. When I went to put them to bed tonight, I found a soft egg on the poop board.

I read some other posts and it was suggested cutting down treats and giving more calcium. Mine do get a LOT of treats... I admit it. I'm bad about that. So I will definitely stop. They also get oyster shell. I will keep giving them that.

Someone mentioned crushing calcium into a powder. I have the two bottles in the picture attached. Will these work? How should I feed it to them? Mixed in their food?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[smdcleland]

One other thing... the chickens pecked the soft egg and were eating it! Is that okay?

 

[Isadora]

One other thing... the chickens pecked the soft egg and were eating it! Is that okay?

Not okay in the sense that they'll learn to start pecking eggs to eat them. That's how my egg eater got started.

 

[cherrynberry]

Soft eggs and glitches are COMMON in new layers, they aren't rare. I would always keep a container of OS (oyster shells). Do NOT mix it into their feed and make sure it cannot get wet. Its fine if they eat it, they often will eat soft shell eggs. Most of my hens don't eat eggs that are normal. I wouldn't worry too much, but definitely cut down on treats.

 

[smdcleland]

Thank you!! I will cut WAY down on the treats and put the oyster shell in a dry place daily, and see if this helps. I noticed an egg shell seemed thin the other day, but my husband told me I was worrying too much. Now I know I was right!

I see my girls as pets and love them so much. It's very important that they are healthy!

 

[cherrynberry]

Thank you!! I will cut WAY down on the treats and put the oyster shell in a dry place daily, and see if this helps. I noticed an egg shell seemed thin the other day, but my husband told me I was worrying too much. Now I know I was right!

I see my girls as pets and love them so much. It's very important that they are healthy!

Yup, chickens are good at regulating their calcium intake. Most birds will eat OS. I keep my OS in a dish inside the coop. They go eat it when they need it.

 

[EmmaRainboe]

Definitely cut down on treats. Treats should make up no more than 10% of the daily diet.

 

[Kiki]

Hello all. I have 7 young RIRs. They are some 6 months old and all laying eggs. All seem happy, active and healthy.

Today all 7 laid an egg. When I went to put them to bed tonight, I found a soft egg on the poop board.

I read some other posts and it was suggested cutting down treats and giving more calcium. Mine do get a LOT of treats... I admit it. I'm bad about that. So I will definitely stop. They also get oyster shell. I will keep giving them that.

Someone mentioned crushing calcium into a powder. I have the two bottles in the picture attached. Will these work? How should I feed it to them? Mixed in their food?

Thanks for any advice!

You aren't doing your birds any favors by giving them daily treats.
I can almost guarantee you that you will not like watching your bird suffer to death when it gets a nasty infection that is not curable because you overfeed them too many treats.

If you are feeding your birds more than one tablespoon amount of anything each day you are way overfeeding them treats.

I don't recommend cutting back I recommend stopping all treats now before your birds start to suffer.

 

[Kiki]

Definitely cut down on treats. Treats should make up no more than 10% of the daily diet.

10% equals about 1 tbsp amount per bird per day.
That is an extremely small amount.

 

[EmmaRainboe]

10% equals about 1 tbsp amount per bird per day.
That is an extremely small amount.

That’s why I don’t give them treats; other than the pellets I throw out of their feeder onto the ground for them. They go nuts.