suggestions to feed calcium to a laying pullet living with 11 week chicks

[aldarita]

I have a 5 month pullet that is already laying. She lives with 3 eleven weeks chicks. They are all on grower feed. I have a dish with oyster shells and crushed egg shells by the feed 24/7. I never see the pullet eating from the dish. I am concerned about the pullet not having enough calcium for the eggs. I have tried giving her dried grubs dusted in oyster shell powder but she won't eat them. Any suggestions to give her some calcium?

 

[NatJ]

Is she laying softshell eggs?
If the shells of her eggs are fine, then don't worry about it. She's probably getting enough.

Too little calcium is bad for her, but so is too much calcium. So if she is laying eggs with good shells, don't try to make her eat more calcium. Just let her keep doing whatever she has been doing.

 

[GC-Raptor]

I have a 5 month pullet that is already laying.

I have a dish with oyster shells and crushed egg shells by the feed 24/7. I never see the pullet eating from the dish.

A laying pullet/hen needs 4 grams of calcium daily to produce a hard shelled egg.
She gets about 1 gram from the grower feed, so she needs another 3 grams of calcium, about 7.5 grams of Oyster Shells.
Oyster Shells are Calcium Carbonate which is about 40% elemental Calcium.
Weigh out 7.5 grams Oyster Shells on a digital kitchen scale and you'll see that a chicken doesn't need to eat much to get her daily requirement.
As NatJ said if her eggs are hard shelled, she's getting enough Calcium. GC

 

[aldarita]

Is she laying softshell eggs?
If the shells of her eggs are fine, then don't worry about it. She's probably getting enough.

Too little calcium is bad for her, but so is too much calcium. So if she is laying eggs with good shells, don't try to make her eat more calcium. Just let her keep doing whatever she has been doing.

Thank you for your response. She's been laying pullet eggs (one every day) only one has been a soft shell egg. I am concerned because once upon the time my vet told me that if they don't have enough calcium in their system, they will pull the calcium from their bones. This vet is an avian vet, I figured she knows what she's talking about. It will be the beginning of September when I can start giving them layer's feed so I hope my pullet is eating some of the OS or crushed egg shells.
It is good to know that they only need a little bit of the OS to make up for the calcium needed for the egg shell, it might very well be that she's been eating while I am not there to watch.

 

[rosemarythyme]

IF she does turn out to need help with calcium intake (as some birds will refuse to eat oyster shell), you can try this:

Isolate her for a private breakfast. 2-3x a week serve a small bowl (like 1 Tbsp is fine) of wet or fermented feed with oyster shell mixed in. If she does not like chunks of oyster shell, crush it up or use the powdery remnants from bottom of the bag. Should only take her minutes to eat and after that she's free to go.

Assuming her issue is simply insufficient calcium intake, you should see results in a week or two, and you can try reducing it to 1-2x a week and should hopefully continue getting good results.

 

[aldarita]

IF she does turn out to need help with calcium intake (as some birds will refuse to eat oyster shell), you can try this:

Isolate her for a private breakfast. 2-3x a week serve a small bowl (like 1 Tbsp is fine) of wet or fermented feed with oyster shell mixed in. If she does not like chunks of oyster shell, crush it up or use the powdery remnants from bottom of the bag. Should only take her minutes to eat and after that she's free to go.

Assuming her issue is simply insufficient calcium intake, you should see results in a week or two, and you can try reducing it to 1-2x a week and should hopefully continue getting good results.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will give it a try. This particular pullet is super picky when it comes to eating new things. She won't eat anything by herself unless the chicks want to get at it first, I believe is the 'flock" issue, if the chicks eat it then it is fine to eat. It is a challenge but I have to do my best to give this girl her calcium.

 

[NatJ]

Thanks for the suggestion. I will give it a try. This particular pullet is super picky when it comes to eating new things. She won't eat anything by herself unless the chicks want to get at it first, I believe is the 'flock" issue, if the chicks eat it then it is fine to eat. It is a challenge but I have to do my best to give this girl her calcium.

You could make a wet mash with their normal feed (feed + water) and serve it to her and the chicks. If you do this several times, she will learn that it tastes good and is safe to eat.

Then if you need to give her extra calcium, you can follow rosemarythyme's suggestion, and the pullet will have already learned that this mash stuff is good

 

[Brooks_]

Weigh out 7.5 grams Oyster Shells on a digital kitchen scale and you'll see that a chicken doesn't need to eat much to get her daily requirement.

I did it. About 1 teaspoon. I don't think mine eat that much, but I'd have to see how many teaspoons it takes to top of the container (too much effort). I do have a lot of limerock in the soil, I think they get most of their calcium there.

 

[aldarita]

You could make a wet mash with their normal feed (feed + water) and serve it to her and the chicks. If you do this several times, she will learn that it tastes good and is safe to eat.

Then if you need to give her extra calcium, you can follow rosemarythyme's suggestion, and the pullet will have already learned that this mash stuff is good

Thank you!!!

 

[SusieY]

I did it. About 1 teaspoon. I don't think mine eat that much, but I'd have to see how many teaspoons it takes to top of the container (too much effort). I do have a lot of limerock in the soil, I think they get most of their calcium there.

2tsp in 1 dessert spoon, 2 dessertspoons in 1 tablespoon. So find how many tablespoons in 1/4 cup then see how many cups in your container