Vitamin D deficient?

[SarahInAlaska]

I live in Alaska and I'm just starting out with chickens. My birds were all doing fine until recently when the weather turned sour. They've been holing themselves up in the coop. I started getting a lot of soft eggs (1-2 a day from 11 birds.). I moved their free choice oyster shell into the food in case they weren't consuming enough. They are eating a lot but I'm still getting soft shelled and shells so thin they crack upon laying. I do have a supplemental light on in the coop. Vitamin D deficiency in humans is common here and I know it can affect Calcium absorption. Can I supplement with Vit D and if so how much? I currently have 13 laying hens.

 

[Den in Penn]

Yes you can give Vitamin D to them. I don't know at what dosage would start to be effective for your flock. You could try crushing a pill and mixing it in the feed for a couple days.

 

[SarahInAlaska]

Yes you can give Vitamin D to them.  I don't know at what dosage would start to be effective for your flock.  You could try crushing a pill and mixing it in the feed for a couple days.

Thanks. My daughter dumped the dogs food bowl into the water dish so I took the soggy food and squeezed some salmon oil capsules onto it (poked holes and squeezed them out. It's what I had.) Then I crushed two 2000iu capsules into their water (they have a large waterer.). Hopefully this helps.

 

[SarahInAlaska]

No rubber eggs yet this morning! I'd be surprised if 24 hours was all it took to fix the problem but I'm hoping! I'm going out every 30 minutes (I'm a stay at home mom) to check just to make sure if one is laid I might catch who it is or at least catch it before its eaten so I have an accurate count.

 

[fatcatx]

Curious if what you did worked for you or what else you tried? How quickly did the eggs improve?

 

[SarahInAlaska]

It did work after two days. Since then we've been sitting above 70 degrees most days so they are getting plenty of sun.