[bateschooks]

Hi i am a new chook owner and acquired my ex bat girls on the 16th Jan. Everything was all going well when i went down this afternoon one of my girls had laid a soft egg which the rest of the girls eat. Has anybody got any advise on how to cure this. They are fed on mixed crumbs and layers pellets at the moment with also oystershell grit and water.   

[lucylou]

Hi! how lovely that you rescued your girls   i havent got experience with ex bats but one of my girls laid a soft one but it was a one off - i think it can happen from time to time and the others will eat it but that doesnt mean that they will get the taste for a normal shell egg. i hope someone with more experience will be along soon to offer their advice. good luck with your girls and have fun watching their antics  lucyloux

[Big Jen]

When you say they are fed on crumbs and pellets- what do you mean by crumbs? They should only be fed layers pellets to get the correct nutrients to produce good egg shells. You could add a calcium supplement like Calcivet for a while, this does work quickly in correcting this problem. Also add cod liver oil to the feed on a regular basis as ex bats can be short on vitamin D through lack of sunshine and this helps with the uptake of calcium.
Fresh grass/greens should always be available and very small amounts of mixed corn as a treat.
Hope this helps
Jenny

[spider]

Hi
      I have 12 ex bat warrens, one I think is 5 years old, lays a soft shelled egg every so often It gets broken and the other chicks eat it).
I have come to expect this, as they dont eat or even attempt to eat any other egg.
I dont worry

Spider

[beulah59]

One of my exbatts lays eggs with thin shells, yet all the others' eggs are fine ... it's just her I guess ...

[Jeanette]

My ex bats used to lay the ocasional soft shell egg, at other times their shells were thin and i have never been able to stop it.

[smiler43]

You could try adding some limestone four to the feed, it's available from horsey shops, look for a local horsey place.  We had a lot of problems with soft shells in the first year of having hens, not ex bats though.  Have you got poulttry grit or oyster shell available for them, they need that too.

[gcb]

I have only got 3 hens - one of which only seems to lay soft eggs most of the time - she has access to the same food/grit etc as the others. It got her down at first but now she just seems to accept it. She happens to be my favorite and when she does eventually lay a 'proper' egg she always recieves lots of praise and encouragement. I think it's just the way some of them are - she would probably not made the second week in the battery farm.
geoff

[bateschooks]

Thanks for all your advise.  Big Jen i was advised to wean my ex bats onto layers crumbs then to layers pellets because they have only been used to layers mash in them horrible factory sheds. i can say that i have only had one soft egg so far and was only panicking a little. Do they moult ?? this time of year or is it because they are ex bats and are getting there new feathers, only i have found a few in the coop. They are not pecking each other or i think you would tell and i have checked them every day and night.  Speak to you all soon Big Thanks again

[Flowerpower136]

I have ex batts, and have the some problem with soft shells.  Not all the time, but more than I'd like.

Also have Wilma who occasionally breaks them before she lays them, and that's not nice, but something I've learned to cope with.

It's just something you have to accept with ex-batts, some of them do come with problems.


I too started them off on crumb, because that's what they were used to, but they soon got the hang of pellets, and its a much less messy way to feed them.  also give them a corn & mash treat in the afternoon, but not too much.

Would recommend the more pricey ex-batt pellets.  They definately make a difference, and the girls are worth it.

I add a scoop of fine oyster shell to the afternoon mash, and when Wilma has her problem, I give her a crushed calcium tablet on a couple of grapes, also add cod liver oil about once a week.

If they are moulting or regrowing lost feathers, give them some Poultry Spice.

Good luck with them.

[joshbuchan]

i got 6 ex bats warrans for a £1.50 each, i olso had the problem of soft eggs/no shells.
so i borght some x-poulty vitermins in pellet, which got them strait back on the lay! and i normaly get 5 eggs a day from 5 (i lost one cuz she was to freinly got out and woundered of and never found her way home again)....
also oyster shell and grit is a must and will pervide them with exra calcium and will help them digest there food.

[bateschooks]

Hi Once again thanks for all your valuable information about moulting i shall go and get some
poultry spice and cod liver oil. I must say i have only had my ex bats 2 weeks and i worry about them all. One is a bit of a bully and guards the run and food. I have put in two lots of food so the rest get some , I must say they do come with a few problems but i will get there in the end. I have 6 altogether and there are two who have become the lowest of low and they seem to get all the aggression, it has only been two weeks and i suppose patience is a virtue. Or i spend far to long watching them.The housework has come to a stand still and the kids haven`t got any school uniform ironed only joking!!. Must get organised Ha Ha !!!!. The only thing working to a timetable is feeding and cleaning the chooks .  speak to you all soon.

[joshbuchan]

yes ex-bats are truble at 1st i have to say but so worth it!! bless em, being traped in a cramp cage there hole life... least theres people out there like u who are more than happy to do that little bit extra to help a animal in need whos been miss treated by humans.

i also had one who was at the bottem, they are all happy little hens now tho. ok this is what i did, i had them in there own run, then once they started to perk up n lay again, one started to bully them, then before i new it it was all bullying 1! so i put them in my maran hutch at night, in the morning they did not know who was who, then by the next day the big maran boss was back to her old self bullying the lowist maran and now the warrans. by the end of the week the lowest of the peking order was 2 warrans. then i added my rabbit which scered them all to death, all he wanted to do was sniff there bums. the once on the top of the peckin order were to bisy looking out and running from the rabbit to have much time to bully the others, then the others finly smarted up to the rabbit only wants to sniff there bum and stopped running from him to wich gave them more time to eat drink and be a chicken lol. now like what 8 months down the line i have just taken the rabbit out as he had a fight with one of my chickens and left her neck ripped open, shes fine now but was a big hole out her neck and alot of skin was tore of with the feathers... but they are all happy as hell, dust bathing together eating together, roosting to gether at night in the house. it worked, but i left the rabbit in there 2 long i think, now hes in the middle pen, he keeps the chickens from wanting to get out the gate when i open it lol well anyhouse, hope everything works out for the best.