The golden comets a little more than two years old, starting to lay thin shelled eggs

[bayareapilot]

So I've read through the postings regarding thin eggs calcium importance of vitamin D3 etc. Even still I'm not quite sure what sort of situation I'm looking at right now.

So I'm only seeing this in my golden comets they're laying thin shelled eggs not super thin but not as hard as they usually are and it's been a gradual sort of thing. The golden comet's just turned 2 years old last month.

So normally if I saw thin shelled eggs I increase calcium content or access to calcium. The thing with this though is not always but probably half of the time I do see calcium deposits on the golden comets eggs. Based on what I've been reading so far that would seem to indicate that they're getting more than enough calcium, right?

I want to stress they're not horribly thin shelled that as you can pick them up and it's okay but it's definitely thinner. Occasionally I'll get a broken egg because someone steps on one not hard just steps on it and it breaks.

They have access to oyster shells their feed contains calcium and vitamin D3 the treat I give them are at the black soldier fly larva which are supposed to be high in calcium. So I guess what I'm uncertain about is I'm not sure whether or not at 2 years am I starting to see egg-laying issues in my golden comets in the form of thinner shelled eggs? Or is it some balance of a nutrient etc that they're not getting. I did order and it should arrive today the manna pro egg supplement which basically seems to contain calcium and vitamin D3 along with some tasty ingredients no doubt.

Manna Pro Chicken Feed Supplement | Omega Egg Maker Chicken Supplies | Chicken Food Supplement for Laying Hens | 5 Pounds https://a.co/d/7F3SACa

Apparently you mix this in with their food and it can supposedly help with improving shell thickness.

By the way they always have access to oyster shell calcium and I also recently tried providing them sort of a topping of calcium carbonate from limestone for chickens and animals not the kind of industrial stuff that you wouldn't want to feed.

Sorry to make this long. The conundrum I'm in is while I see the thinner shell eggs I do more often than not see calcium deposits on the eggs, so I'm not even sure if giving them supplemental calcium is the solution? Part of me wonders since these high egg producing sex links supposedly start to have trouble fairly early I wasn't sure whether or not at a little more than two years old I'm starting to see some of that now?

The other thought I had was maybe they're not getting enough vitamin D3 which my understanding is that helps their bodies metabolize or use the calcium?

So I'm trying some things but I don't even know if they're the right things to do so I thought I'd check with you guys out there to see if any of you had experience with golden comets and can tell me what I might likely be looking at calcium deficiency are sort of an aging of their very productive egg laying 'plumbing'. Thankfully the shells are still reasonably thick enough so that they don't break inside but I was hoping to try to nip this in the bud before it ever got to that point.

Ideas?

 

[sourland]

Did they lay through the winter? Given their age it is possible that they may be about to take a break in their laying cycle.

 

[bayareapilot]

Did they lay through the winter? Given their age it is possible that they may be about to take a break in their laying cycle.

Yes they do! They have almost never taken a break since they started laying.

In fact the first season with them I was thinking to myself 'for crying out loud girls take a break ' but they just kept going through the winter and they lay every day. Like I was telling my girlfriend I have these little critters largely as pets and the eggs are just kind of a nice incidental nicety.

My Easter eggers may lay every other day or so but always stop laying in the winter. But these golden comets they never stopped. That alone kind of scared me. I hope they do take a break cuz I don't know how any critter can go through this pace. It's the most amazing/disconcerting thing and for me as sort of a pet owner of these creatures a great source of concern

As I said they lay every day just about without fail 7 days a week. They needed to slow down long ago.

So do you think this might be a sign they might actually be slowing down a bit? If that is the reason then I certainly view it as a positive.

 

[rosemarythyme]

What type of feed are you using? A layer feed or an all flock?

I have no experience with the supplement you linked but the nutritional analysis shows it's about the same calcium % as plain old layer feed, so I have no idea how much it'll really help.

Calcium deposits don't necessarily mean a bird is getting too much calcium, they can also mean there's issues with the shelling process, or the bird just shells eggs unevenly.

My guess is that this is more of an age issue, eggs start to decline in quality as the layers get older. Since you've mentioned that these particular birds have been laying non stop, that really must take a lot out of them.

 

[bayareapilot]

What type of feed are you using? A layer feed or an all flock?

I have no experience with the supplement you linked but the nutritional analysis shows it's about the same calcium % as plain old layer feed, so I have no idea how much it'll really help.

Calcium deposits don't necessarily mean a bird is getting too much calcium, they can also mean there's issues with the shelling process, or the bird just shells eggs unevenly.

My guess is that this is more of an age issue, eggs start to decline in quality as the layers get older. Since you've mentioned that these particular birds have been laying non stop, that really must take a lot out of them.

Just using Nutrena FF principally for the higher protein content. It's analysis is close to Purina Layena.

Although they're just a little over 2 years old, yes, they have been laying Non-Stop. Worth mentioning they aren't subjected to anything other than natural lighting when the sun goes up and the sun goes down that's the only lighting they're subjected to. These golden comets just lay like I've never seen - from the start when they started laying, all I could think is slow down girls. First time I've had this variety, I generally always have EE's. I got the sex link comets after having an experience of getting some vent sexed EEs and having half of them turn out to be roosters which was disheartening. I was able to keep one of the roos but had to rehome the other. So the only reason I got the sex link it's it seemed the closest to 100% as possible since I was trying to avoid repeating the previous episode I just wanted hens.

I may just discontinue using the supplement that I started yesterday on the feed, since I really don't think lack of nutrition is causal, either. Like you, especially with their laying frequency, I assume I'm just starting to see a 'hiccup'up so to speak in their laying apparatus. Just wish they could sort of give themselves a break or just slow down a bit on the laying.

Anyway thank you very much for your feedback as well as the feedback from others. And if there are any others out there who have experience with golden comets I'm all ears. I had heard they were exceptional egg producers but I'm not kidding about the seven days a week and not stopping in the winter, is that even normal for Golden comets? I don't know because it's the first time I've ever had them. Wish they could take it easy a bit.

I have grown very fond of them because their personalities are kind of like little feathered dogs. After I finish cleaning the run I sit on a bench I have in the Run and the golden comets jump-fly up on the bench sit on my arms or on my legs and visit with me and snooze. Contrast that with my EEs up to now and even in the distant past, they aren't as social as these golden comets have been - although they do kind of visit with me but not in the same manner as the golden comets..

 

[bayareapilot]

Update:

Here's an update on my golden comets:

So I had mentioned in this post tell one of them was laying a thin shelled egg. Her name is millie, anyway about 3 weeks ago she must have had something happen internally perhaps an egg fractured internally. Anyway she was kind of out of it for a few days but since then her behavior is pretty much turned back to normal she's eating and drinking etc. By the way worth mentioning all the hens over 2 years old are going through their molt even the rooster. One of my Easter eggers seem to molt a little harder than the others but she's springing back with more feathers. With Millie I'm not sure if it's a combination of the regular molt and the stress she went through that she seems to be having a little more profound molt?

By the way I'd read once golden comets get above 2 years old they start having egg laying issues two of my four golden comets are having just that. The other two are laying normally so far. So I mentioned Millie already she hasn't laid to my knowledge which actually is fine with me maybe it'll give her system a rest. There is another golden comet though that is laying eggs without any shell or membrane. This has been going on a couple of weeks and I've been trying to figure out which one it is it doesn't again appear to be Millie since I do have a camera in the nesting box but since it's usually on infrared it's kind of hard to differentiate anyone other than Millie from one another. For the most part it looks like Millie isn't even going in the nesting box. I swear it's amazing it's almost like a obsolescence timer goes off in these golden comets and then things start going to pot in terms of their eggling apparatus.

So again one of the golden comets is laying eggs without a shell or membrane. Just the yolk and the albumin (which I think is the correct word for the clear part of the egg). As a result I'm changing nesting pads daily. To add to the issue one of my Easter eggers has taken to being interested in eating some of the contents of the shelless egg. Not a lot of it but some of it as it seeps through the nesting pad. Thankfully she doesn't seem to be bothering the regular eggs but that is a concern.

So I guess I'm talking out loud here to hear myself think and to hopefully get some reassurances from some of you out there that have had these golden comments that they do move through this process of their hiccups in their egg laying system. I'm assuming without knowing for certain that perhaps, as others have mentioned, that this issue it's simply a sign that they're about to maybe shut down on laying for a bit. Although I must admit I'm surprised that the one that has started laying the totally shell less eggs, isn't manifesting some sort of external behavior issues. I'm assuming this will stop and then that hen that is doing this will stop laying for a while? I do hope it happens soon both for the sake of the particular hen this seems to be happening to and the one Easter egger that has taken to checking out the contents of the shellless egg. I would hate to discover that once the phenomenon ended for the golden comet that's having the issue that my Easter egger might take to going after eggs that are intact, so far hasn't happened.

Anyway any reassurances insights are all welcome. Again I must say it's uncanny how just after 2 years it was like a timer went off in their egg laying apparatus and they seem to be having trouble at least two of them, pretty much around the same time. The other two are fine for now anyway. Sorry didn't make it make it this long but there I've been a lot of details have been trying to sort out with this

 

[PopoMyers]

I had two GC , who has just turned two y.o. this July. One began to sneeze, progressively harder, and became more lethargic. After maybe a week, found her dead. Her belly felt distended. One of our members told me that high production birds like ours, also ISA Browns, have a higher tendency to get reproductive issues around our girl's ages. He said that she probably had a reproductive problem, which caused her to get swollen, which affected her breathing and digestion. Another friend who has ISAs told me they just kind of die between two - three years old. They just wear out. Hope your girls fare ok. My last GC is still with me, and one ISA, who is not laying, and is molting.

 

[PopoMyers]

A wonderful breed I have is a Welsummer, and they are easily sexed at hatch by head coloring. Sapphire gems generally are as well, just be careful not to get any with light spots on the back of the head. Those are cockerels. I ended up with one.

 

[bayareapilot]

I had two GC , who has just turned two y.o. this July. One began to sneeze, progressively harder, and became more lethargic. After maybe a week, found her dead. Her belly felt distended. One of our members told me that high production birds like ours, also ISA Browns, have a higher tendency to get reproductive issues around our girl's ages. He said that she probably had a reproductive problem, which caused her to get swollen, which affected her breathing and digestion. Another friend who has ISAs told me they just kind of die between two - three years old. They just wear out. Hope your girls fare ok. My last GC is still with me, and one ISA, who is not laying, and is molting.

Thanks for sharing your experience. So far the GC is doing well, although she is going through a moult. The four are all the same age and two (including the hen I mentioned) is having some 'hiccups' in their egg laying system. My GCs also turned two not that long ago (back in June I believe).

For me the egg laying aspects of the hens is a 'nice side benefit' but the primary reason I have my chickens is they are basically very well-cared for outdoor pets. I'd like to have them continue with me as long as they reasonably can.

 

[PopoMyers]

You are giving them the best life possible, as a conscientious chicken keeper. I have more than 8 breeds, and of 9 laying ones, it can be distressing to find just the remnants of an egg in the box, not knowing which girl is having the issues. Could be my GC, or one of the pullets. I may never find out, as they all favor 1 of 5 nesting boxes, and complain if it's occupied by another when the urge hits. They will readily eat any soft shelled egg right away, but not the others. I guess it's good recycling and not going to waste.