Substitute for oyster shells and grit????

[rodgis]

Can you use egg shells from store bought eggs? My Silkie just laid her first egg = soft-shelled. I thought she was gonna die yesterday and last night so gave her antibiotics. She laid the egg today. Her wings were hanging, she could hardly walk, and last night she was lying in the box I put her in with her legs out, twitching, and she was literally panting with her bill open! Poor thing. Today she was up, perhaps had laid the egg during the night, but I didn't see it until I went to get her out for another treatment this afternoon! She seems to be recovering, but her legs are weak. Labor pains?
I give them the feed recommended her in the PHilippines, they are in a dirt-floored cage of 10 sq. ft., with some grit(sand) and they get fresh water, broccoli stems, some other greens.
Any ideas about the soft shell? We'll see if she lays tomorrow and what the shell is like. I hope it's a smaller egg, for her sake!
Rod

 

[ChicKat]

Wow Rod,

congratulations on your chick's first egg. Sorry to hear that it was traumatic.

How hot is it there? You probably know more about that and chickens than I do, but holding out wings and panting are ways chickens use to cool off. Heat emergencies could replicate some of the symptoms that you described....search on overheating or heat stress here on BYC to get more insight if that is a possiblility for your chicken.

Also, I read someplace that it may take a little while for the pullet to get her egg-laying mechanism working to perfection, so soft-shelled and shelless eggs, irregular timing and other things could be part of that equation. Of course too, it said that the pullet eggs are smaller (mine are noticibly smaller than my hen's eggs) and reach the normal size for that bird at about 30 weeks of age.

BTW I just got a product for my chickens from New Tree in the Phillippines. Small world after all.

You are smart to keep a close eye on her. Hopefully there will be no future worries.

 

[rodgis]

HI, thanks for the reply!

I don't think it is heat, as it's not that hot, and that wouldn't explain her inability to walk for many hours. Who knows? I'll look for that company in the PH.

And will see if another eggs comes soon and its condition!
Rod

 

[ChicKat]

Thanks Sky for the down to earth reminder of the importance of good bacteria in healthy lives...... Post #18 above


Did I once hear that there are more bacteria on our bodies than types of animals in the zoo... And yes, it is possible to get crazy about hygene and sanitation.

Raw eggs...how afterall, would you make home-made mayonaise unless you put in that raw egg---then a cup of oil etc. etc. And you cannot use hard boiled eggs in egg nog...etc. And true ceasar salad dressing calles for a coddled egg -- most folks just use raw. All the more for me to keep any added bacteria out of the food chain. ;O)

For my part, I will let my chickens get all their bacteria (including a little yougurt from me now and then) naturally as Sky explained that they get. -- we live in a hot climate...and I'll keep zapping those egg shells. I can see how cooking in a 350 oven would heat up the kitch. use energy and take time... My microwaving is my own invention BTW never checked to see if that is what would be needed to eradicate any non-beneficial organisms... It makes me feel better about what I am feeding them daily.

Thanks too to everyone who spoke about Salmonella (spell?), and the rarety. I intend to keep it that way without adding any more cultures to the chickens feed and environs.

Thank you BYC forum members... it is so neat to learn all the different approaches people take to the care of their flocks, and their experiences and results.

 

[ChicKat]

Hi Rod,

Perhaps too, search in some other posts here about pullets and their first eggs. Hopefully it was just a once-in-a-lifetime thing for her first egg. Hopefully everything will be easier in the future!

The product I got was 'Oxy Rid'. The company is located in Manilla. I found them on line.

 

[Chickrescue]

Brilliantly helpful list, many thanks

Here are some other sources of calcium. May not be needed if the shells are good.

1. Spinach & Swiss Chard
2. Salmon & Sardines (canned with bones)
3. Mustard, Collard, Kale & Turnip greens
4. Shellfish
5. Blackstrap molasses (can cause runny stools)
6. Corn Tortillas
7. Yogurt
8. Mozzarella & Cheddar cheese
9. Milk, Buttermilk (goat's milk and cow's milk)
10. Basil, thyme, dill seed, cinnamon, and peppermint leaves
11. Romaine lettuce
12. Rhubarb
13. Almonds, Peanuts & Brazil Nuts
14. Black Beans, Dried Beans (Cooked)
15. Sesame seeds
16. Fennel
17. Cabbage, Bok Choy, & Chinese cabbage
18. Summer squash
19. Green beans
20. Garlic
21. Tofu & Soybeans
22. Brussel sprouts & Broccoli
23. Oranges (Some people do not feed citrus to chickens)
24. Asparagus & Okra
25. Crimini mushrooms
26. Foods Fortified with Calcium: Some Orange Juice, Breads, & Cereals

 

[NYREDS]

Quote:
I more than suspect you're right. Keeping chickens is not nearly as complex an undertaking as many here would have you believe.
I have fed uncooked egg shells back to my birds for the last 49 years w/o a problem.
I don't ever have problems with disease & my poultry first aid kit contains only louse powder, a Coccidiostat & an ax to be used in the event I did have a sick bird. Haven't used the ax in years.
I've raised litwerally thousands of chickens over the years & have never seen a case of bumblefoot.
Somehow I've managed this w/o going to the extreme measures many here would have you believe are necessary. I don't disinfect the coops. I do cooasionally wash waterers but don't steralize them. I rarely buy new birds anymore but have never quarantined new birds & have never had a disease outbreak as a result. When I return from shows the birds that went to the show go right back in the coop they came from, they're not isolated from the rest of the flock.
I clean my big pens annually & smaller pens more frequently but I don't sweep them out & disinfect them. I certainly don't vacume or mop them as some here report.
As I said I've kept birds for 49 years now largely w/o any problems. Either I'm inordinately lucky or many of these measures just aren't necessary.

 

[greyhorsewoman]

Sky Chicken Man and NYREDS, I agree with you. One of my earliest memories is my mother tossing the kitchen scraps over the porch rail to our free ranging chickens. That included everything and anything vaguely edible that we weren't going to consume. The chickens scratched and munched through it .. there wasn't much they left behind.

When I finally got my own chickens, I did refresh my 'information base' with a good basic chicken book. Since then, I've tried to use common sense and practical living to be my guide. Raising your own chickens for eggs isn't exactly CHEAP, but I love fresh eggs ... and being a frugal individual, it seems wasted 'energy' (whether electrical, propane, oil, or MINE) to process egg shells~! If it was NECESSARY, I'd probably just throw them in the compost instead. Like you, I've had little or no problems with disease, worms, lice, etc. And, while I certainly don't fault anybody for doing it, I've never quarantined birds, either. Whether I bought them at an auction or other source. (Once I came home and found an additional group of Barred Rock hens in my barnyard ... a local neighbor couldn't keep his anymore, and dropped them off ! He did come back later to let us know ... and we realized 'sort of' knew him.)

Sometimes I think there is a certain enjoyment in the rituals folks create. While that is fine, it shouldn't become something people start recommending as NECESSARY.

 

[NYREDS]

Sometimes I think there is a certain enjoyment in the rituals folks create. While that is fine, it shouldn't become something people start recommending as NECESSARY

.



I'm humbled in the presence of a true Philosopher [& I am absolutely not being sarcastic-rare for me]. This is so insightful I wish I'd said it. In fact I probably will say it at some point. Thanks for adding this to the discussion.​

 

[triplepurpose]

Quote:
I more than suspect you're right. Keeping chickens is not nearly as complex an undertaking as many here would have you believe.
I have fed uncooked egg shells back to my birds for the last 49 years w/o a problem.
I don't ever have problems with disease & my poultry first aid kit contains only louse powder, a Coccidiostat & an ax to be used in the event I did have a sick bird. Haven't used the ax in years.
I've raised litwerally thousands of chickens over the years & have never seen a case of bumblefoot.
Somehow I've managed this w/o going to the extreme measures many here would have you believe are necessary. I don't disinfect the coops. I do cooasionally wash waterers but don't steralize them. I rarely buy new birds anymore but have never quarantined new birds & have never had a disease outbreak as a result. When I return from shows the birds that went to the show go right back in the coop they came from, they're not isolated from the rest of the flock.
I clean my big pens annually & smaller pens more frequently but I don't sweep them out & disinfect them. I certainly don't vacume or mop them as some here report.
As I said I've kept birds for 49 years now largely w/o any problems. Either I'm inordinately lucky or many of these measures just aren't necessary.

I don't think you ARE inordinately lucky NYREDS. I think that's the reality for most "home flock" chicken raisers, I really do. My opinion is that a lot of these "measures" and the literature about poultry diseases have their origin more in the world of the commercial sector than as a daily reality for small flocks. I'm always at a loss to help people who ask about chicken diseases, because while I can list names of illnesses, and parrot information I've picked up, I have almost no experience dealing with any of them.

A friend with chickens asked me about fowl pox a while back--I knew almost nothing about it, because I'd never seen it before or known anyone who had it. But I also think there's something to be said about not dwelling on the possibility of disease, but rather focusing on promoting health. I try apply the same philosophy to pest and disease control in growing vegetables--I don't focus on how to destroy aphids and kill fungus, instead I focus on creating a healthy environment and healthy soil, of which healthy plants are the natural result. Occasionally, bad stuff just happens, because nothing's perfect--but so far it's worked pretty well...