Stronger egg shells?

[jimena648]

i love chickens ]\

 

[jimena648]

CHICKENS I LOVE CHICKENS BBUBUBUBUBUBUBUBBUBUBUBUBUBUBUBBUUBUBUBUBUBUBYEBYEBYEBYE

 

[Beekissed]

I don't really want to get more chickens just for their shells haha

I just wonna know how I can I give them calcium other than milk & cheese

I've noticed in your signature line you are raising ex-battery hens...if these are the hens in question, they are getting to the end of their laying life, as they burn out on laying rather quickly...hence the reason they are EX battery hens. They also lay large eggs, as opposed to an EE's smaller eggs...meaning they have to produce more shell per egg than an EE bird. Different types of birds with whole different reproductive qualities...the ex batts could very well have weakened and burned out shell glands from their excess, large egg production while in the battery.

It could be something you cannot fix through diet, but something that is just happening due to their burned out reproductive system, as mentioned. You can try mixing some alfalfa pellets into their feed or offering them free choice or just giving them free choice alfalfa hay. This is high in calcium and sufficiently high in protein as to not take away from your other feed. Feeding additional calcium and phosphorus for awhile can't hurt but it may not help either.

I always tell people if just certain birds in their flock are not thriving on what they are feeding, they don't have a flock nutritional problem, they have a bird problem...either it is unable to absorb nutrients well or it is utilizing more nutrients than it can get from regular, balanced feeds. Either way, the solution is to remove the bird instead of attempting to improve nutrition for the whole flock.