soft-shelled eggs 5 days in a row...make it 6!

[spatcher]

Picked them up in a healthfood store. They had them in small packages and in bulk.

 

[mychickensrock]

Just make sure to get UNSALTED! We had Bandit inside last night and this morning. There was no egg in the coop or run this morning. She didn't try to lay one in the crate either. Maybe it was her day off. We are bringing her in again tonight. I looked for vitamins in PetSmart. I figured that chickens are birds and they have bird stuff. All of the vitamin things said "Not for Human Consumption". Well duh, it's for birds! Here's my question, do the chicken vitamins online or at a farm store say the same thing? By eating the eggs, I am inadvertently consuming the product.

 

[mychickensrock]

Can anyone tell me about the vitamins? Bandit laid a regular egg today. WOO HOO!!! Maybe she had just been plotting how to get a few nights in the warm and cozy house.

 

[wasatusay]

My chickens have not had this problem.
But... I have one duck who does. I tried a lot of things and only when I started feeding back boiled eggs with the shells and crushed egg shells (from the chickens) did it go away. Make sure the shells are washed if from fresh eggs,(she is over 2 year old now) She has been lame in one leg from hatch so maybe she needs the extra boost. I do the boiled eggs about once a week in the cold weather since I have read that ducks need calcium also for the laying muscles to function properly. I am not sure if it is because the shells are faster to digest than oyster shell or what but it works for her.

 

[chickenbike]

Just found this thread. I have been experiencing a similar pattern of 1 egg (either without the shell or their is a portion of a very soft shell present) as described beneath the roost bar. This happens maybe once every 2 weeks.

I will pick up some vitamins for them. I am also curious about the worm issue. I have not given them anything for worms. Should I be? And really, the raw pumpkin seed/buttermilk concept works? How long do you soak the seeds in the buttermilk? Do you strain the seeds after soaking, before feeding them to the chickens? What quantity of seeds do you feed?