The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: andy harris on August 01, 2010, 08:30:35 am
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We have 12 freefange hens in the garden .Firstley we have a hen going through a bad molt and shes laying eggs with hardley any shell on it shes been like that for 2 months now...Now we had another one doing the same thing but i dont know which one it is as they all look fine to me.Plus for 2 days now i have found an egg with a soft shell BUT they have a big box full of grit in the run for them and i have not changed a thing and we have gone from having 11/12 eggs a day to 8/9 a day what can i do ?? ???
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I would give them a bit of poultry spice to help them through the moult and maybe think about baking some egg shells in the oven then crunch them up and feed them to he chickens. Basically they are lacking in calcium because of moulting
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Hi,
Have a look at : https://www.suppliesforsmallholders.co.uk/poultry-health-c-100.html (https://www.suppliesforsmallholders.co.uk/poultry-health-c-100.html)
Thanks
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Hi, I regularly log onto this site but have only just registered!
We have 12 chickens too ! And for the last 3-4 months one of them has looked like she's starting to moult but not quite got there, she's also been laying soft eggs - often with just the albumen and no shell at all.
We separated her for a short while and she even laid 2 soft eggs in 1 day!
They always have access to grit, and are free range when we are at home, we mixed poultry spice with their food soon after she started laying soft eggs but it didnt really help.
About 4 weeks ago we were advised to try limestone flour, if it's working it takes longer than I thought it would - but she has just started laying eggs with shells which are really thin but definately a shell.
Good luck !
Carol
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I have the same problem with some of the eggs. I am going to try Oyster Sheel Grit Will let u know how I get on. :chook:
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Hi, I regularly log onto this site but have only just registered!
We have 12 chickens too ! And for the last 3-4 months one of them has looked like she's starting to moult but not quite got there, she's also been laying soft eggs - often with just the albumen and no shell at all.
We separated her for a short while and she even laid 2 soft eggs in 1 day!
They always have access to grit, and are free range when we are at home, we mixed poultry spice with their food soon after she started laying soft eggs but it didnt really help.
About 4 weeks ago we were advised to try limestone flour, if it's working it takes longer than I thought it would - but she has just started laying eggs with shells which are really thin but definately a shell.
Good luck !
Carol
Welcome to the forum, Carol!
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Hi guys
I tried giving her the egg shells back and oyster shell and no change ....As she is over 2 years old i think she has come to the end of her lay so its time to get rid of her i think...
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Hi guys
I tried giving her the egg shells back and oyster shell and no change ....As she is over 2 years old i think she has come to the end of her lay so its time to get rid of her i think...
I have a couple of hens that are over years old and they still lay, not every day but still produce "Normal" eggs.
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We have this problem with one of ours. They get grit, we supply it and they get it from foraging themselves.
We tried Poultry Spice to no noticeable effect.
We tried Limestone Flour and that seemed to improve things slightly - although, interestingly, we got this from an Equestrian shop and he was concerned we wanted it for horses and was trying to warn us that it can be detrimental in the long run ? But he hadn't heard of it being used on poultry.
We tried cheese with mixed feelings. Good source of calcium but we read somewhere that chickens are lactose intolerant? No visible results either way.
We have wondered if she may have had a touch of bronchitis although we never noticed the symptoms in her and the others don't seem to have been affected.
It's a mystery. Sometimes she lays good eggs, sometimes soft shell, sometimes just very delicate shells.
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Hi, I regularly log onto this site but have only just registered!
We have 12 chickens too ! And for the last 3-4 months one of them has looked like she's starting to moult but not quite got there, she's also been laying soft eggs - often with just the albumen and no shell at all.
We separated her for a short while and she even laid 2 soft eggs in 1 day!
They always have access to grit, and are free range when we are at home, we mixed poultry spice with their food soon after she started laying soft eggs but it didnt really help.
About 4 weeks ago we were advised to try limestone flour, if it's working it takes longer than I thought it would - but she has just started laying eggs with shells which are really thin but definately a shell.
Good luck !
Carol
Welcome to the forum, Carol!
thankyou ! -It took me a while to work out how to reply !
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Have had any success with your eggs yet. I got no eggs today. :chook: :chook: :chook:
Helen
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We got our first 6 chooks two weeks ago this Sunday.
They are pol (see below). We have had 3 to 4 eggs each day since but the last two days have produced one soft shell egg in the coop in the morning before I open up.
I suspect that it is the diet change that has done it but I don't know which bird it is. The other two eggs are fine. Any ideas as to what is causing the problem and when the others may start laying?
They are on layers pellets, oyster shell grit, corn and vegetables each day. I intend to start mixing my own food shortly to include egg shells and oil etc.
Ian
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I think they ar Isa Warrens????
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I think they ar Isa Warrens????
Yes, they are. Should have said that doh! :)
Ian
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So what are Isa Browns then - a parent breed of Isa Warrens? And is the Warren the other half?
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Eggs are still no good so i pulled her neck....I found out why our eggs have gone down its cos of the weather here its crap always cloudy so i think my hens think winters coming.
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End of story then. :chook: :chook: :chook: :( :( :(
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I have 12 exbatts left from one rescue. They got out the cages March 2009, laid through the winter, an egg a day till march this year. Then they all almost stopped laying. Perhaps only 1 egg every other day if I was lucky. I was so close to wringing their necks! But I sailed through it, figured I would run a retirement home for them.. Whats 12 non laying birds when I have another 60 who do lay. Anyway.. now those 12 exbatts have started to come back into lay. Ok so it's not an egg a day but it's getting better.
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Well Chook. I have had no eggs again so far today. I enjoy seeing them going around. Mines may lay again, hopefully. The geese arent laying either. But all are happy. :chook: :chook: :chook: :&> :&> :&> :wave:
Cheers Helen
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We've had our first day in four without a soft shelled egg. Wooo Hooo! :)
Ian
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Lucky you. What are you feeding your hens on and I shall try that too. At the stage , I shall try anything.
Cheers Helen
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Lucky you. What are you feeding your hens on and I shall try that too. At the stage , I shall try anything.
Cheers Helen
They have layers pellets and grit mixed together fed ad lib. I add vegetables (cabbage, lettuce) but I add a clump of grass including soil too. They also get mixed corn in the evenings with cooked eggshell.
I asked the chap that I got them from on Saturday what breed they were. I thought that they were ISA Warrens. He said that they were Warrens and that ISA was near enough...........intrigued, I asked what he meant and he said that they were like Warrens but had been bred specifically to lay all year round and be great for the first time keeper. I said that I thought that that described the ISA Warren. He just said "yeess" and left it there.
I don't know whether I've now got some freaky type bird or what?
Very strange :) BUt totally engrossing 8)
Ian
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I have a hen or two that lay eggs with no shells. I was sure that if we had heavy rain, then the following day I get 1 or 2. Rather weird when you try to pick them up. Suggestion on the calcium deficiency, If you feed mash then scrape a cuttle fish bone, with a knife into the mash mix. I feed pellets and just scrape it in to the feeder along with them. I use a serrated knife and its allmost like chalk dust. I have plenty of it as my Canaries and Australian finches have it available 24/7. You can get it from any pet shop and its not expensive at all, I'm no expert, but it is pure calcium, got to be worth a try. I know that in its whole state nailed in the feeding area, they don't look at it.
Craig
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I've got four Isa Warrens and they used to lay every day. Now I'm lucky to get two a day from them unfortunately I don't know who is laying and who is not so I am reluctant to cull them Also my other hens, who are a mixture of alsorts, do lay but not as consistently as the Isa Warrens who are bred for the job.
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I've got four Isa Warrens and they used to lay every day. Now I'm lucky to get two a day from them unfortunately I don't know who is laying and who is not so I am reluctant to cull them Also my other hens, who are a mixture of alsorts, do lay but not as consistently as the Isa Warrens who are bred for the job.
What age are they? Every hen will lay for a season, roughly 10 months, then go offlay & start moulting then growing new feathers. After a rest of about 3 months they will start laying again for the next season. If reared naturally, this will coincide with the seasons, but the first moult will depend on when they were hatched, so could be any time. Over a few years, they will gradually synchronise with the seasons, tending to go offlay in winter then restarting in spring.
This is the stage at which ex-bat hens would be culled, since it would mean feeding them for no immediate output, but they will start again after a few months. All you need is a bit of patience.
As they get older, they will lay larger eggs which are less frequent.
John
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ive had this problem with canary's and finche's
i use this type of product from ebay if your using layer pellets put 2 cups in a bowel some warm water and a tea spoon of calcium in for 4 or 5 days then once a week it should cure the problem
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CALCIUM-CARBONATE-100g-GROUND-LIMESTONE-FLOUR-/300449718395?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Reptiles_Spiders_Insects&hash=item45f432e07b