Soft shelled eggs

[julie42a]

I can't speak for anyone else, but I did not ask my question because I am unaware of what may have caused this problem. I have been watching and treating my whole flock of five for awhile now, and this hen in particular has already been treated with an antibiotic. I simply asked about the liquid calcium in an effort to maybe make her more comfortable now that other issues have been dealt with. It may not help, but I thought it was worth a try. My other two layers are doing fine and I have two who aren't laying who I am keeping an eye on for other symptoms, but have yet to see any since they've been wormed and the coop has been cleaned.
I actually did quite a bit of reading on EDS, but I am in South Dakota, and everything I read indicated that it was not present in the US or Canada, so I don't think that is our issue.

 

[casportpony]

I've been giving my soft shell layer a Caltrate tablet crushed in yogurt almost every day and it has only been mildly successful. I picked up some of the 23% liquid calcium at TSC and I thought I'd give it a try. I think I've worked out the dosing according to an earlier post from Kathy (thanks!) but can I save the rest of the liquid in the fridge? The bottle says to use it all because it won't be sterile, but that's for cows being injected and I'm using it orally. Just wondering before I open it. I don't know that it will help, she may just have a glitch in her system, but she's surprised me before.
Thanks!
Julie

The first bottle I had grew mold, but I just it left in the cabinet, so my new bottle is in the fridge and looks okay so far.

-Kathy

 

[julie42a]

Thanks Kathy! you are a lifesaver

 

[casportpony]

You're welcome! For those that want to use 23% Calcium Gluconate and want to calculate a dose, it's easy, just get the weight of your bird in pounds, divide by 2.2, times the number of mg/kg (I use 100mg/kg), divide by 230 (that's the number of mg/ml). The answer is the amount of ml's to give your bird.

Here is an example for a 6 pound hen
6 ÷ 2.2 x 100 ÷ 230 = 1.18ml (I would round up to 1.25ml)

-Kathy

 

[chooks4life]

I can't speak for anyone else, but I did not ask my question because I am unaware of what may have caused this problem. I have been watching and treating my whole flock of five for awhile now, and this hen in particular has already been treated with an antibiotic. I simply asked about the liquid calcium in an effort to maybe make her more comfortable now that other issues have been dealt with. It may not help, but I thought it was worth a try. My other two layers are doing fine and I have two who aren't laying who I am keeping an eye on for other symptoms, but have yet to see any since they've been wormed and the coop has been cleaned.
I actually did quite a bit of reading on EDS, but I am in South Dakota, and everything I read indicated that it was not present in the US or Canada, so I don't think that is our issue.

My posts were directed to the OP, hence me referencing their comment in it.

Best wishes.

 

[casportpony]

Note that oral calcium should not be given with many oral antibiotics. Best to give several hours apart.

-Kathy

 

[julie42a]

Thanks for that reminder. Yet another thing that is also true for people. Weird how that works.

Sorry [@] if I sounded snippy earlier, I feel like I've done more research for these chickens than I did getting my Master's!

 

[chooks4life]

Thanks for that reminder. Yet another thing that is also true for people. Weird how that works.

Sorry if I sounded snippy earlier, I feel like I've done more research for these chickens than I did getting my Master's!

It's alright, it's always hard for anyone to know how much anyone else knows so stepping on toes with all the best of intentions is always easy. Everyone has holes in their comprehension too, even professionals, no matter how well read they are and sometimes it's worth risking offering some info just in case.

In this circumstance though, I decided to give the OP a bit more info because of their comment about not believing the chook has a virus or disease because it looks ok --- I've been on many threads in the past, on this site and others, where someone has dismissed a possibility because they expect to see severe illness before they will accept that it is indeed a possibility.

Most of those people go on to lose chooks (or whatever other animal was being discussed) unnecessarily.

Normally when someone gives that line 'I don't believe it's a virus because even though something is obviously wrong, they seem overall okay' I just give up and quit the conversation.

It's a dangerous misconception that needs correcting but people who offer that line often are doing so as an indication that they don't want to hear it, they have made up their mind in absence of actual evidence and the possibility has been dismissed and shall not be discussed. (I'm not accusing the OP of doing so at all, merely referring to most past incidents of having that sort of response.)

Best wishes to all.