⠀ Thoughts on how to get cacium in my girls.

[ljgirl]

One of my girls is having shell problems. I am giving them oyster shell, but she won't eat it. Any ideas on how else to get calcium in her system.

 

[RichnSteph]

What feed are you giving the flock?

 

[ljgirl]

I am feeding them Dumor layer crumbles.

 

[RichnSteph]

That feed has calcium in it. They'll only eat oyster shell if they are deficient in the nutrient. When you say that one of your girls is having shell problems do you mean that her egg shells are too thin? Oddly shaped?

 

[ljgirl]

She has thin shells and yesterday she laid an egg with no shell.

 

[RichnSteph]

Hmmm. How old is the hen? I ask because we had a couple that were laying very thin eggs when they first started laying. Even had one that laid one with no shell on it. After a couple of days they were laying normal.

Is the hen young?

 

[ljgirl]

Actually she's 2. She's always laid really large eggs though. Some too big for the carton.

 

[Blooie]

RichnSteph asks a very good question and the first one that popped into my head as well. Sometimes early into the laying game - or even on occasion with more reliable hens - there'll be hitch in the works. Doesn't mean there's an earth shaking problem unless it's all you ever get from that hen. Then I would suspect some reproductive issues or deficient diet. But when they first start laying the entire assembly line isn't always in sync. As they age and lay more regularly, that just goes away.

Mine love hard boiled eggs, chopped up coarse with shell and all. I usually use the eggs that are old enough not to want to sell them to my customers, but still fresh enough to use.

Edited to add - I have to learn to pay more attention to that little post notifier on the bottom of the page.... you can try adding stuff to the diet like yogurt, some feed Fermented Food, and the eggs, as I mentioned. But laying very large eggs consistently is tough on their little systems.

 

[ljgirl]

Thanks Bluie. Was out doing animal chores. Sorry it took so long to respond. Will try maybe a little yogurt. May try the hard boiled egg too. Thanks for the help.

 

[Blooie]

Never apologize for getting stuff done! That's way more important than answering a post.

Good luck!