Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: pink-chicken on October 06, 2009, 12:22
-
The girls all get mixed grit which contains shell too. I bake their own eggshells, grind them and give this also. They eat a branded layers mash and pellets when they aren't gobbling their fave mash. Most days they get worms or mealworms, occasional corn mix as a treat. Every day I give them uncooked chopped up baby Spinach as they love this. They have been getting 'chicken spice' too after a recent attack of red mites. Am I missing anything please as one of the girls layed a soft shelled egg today. It was all mixed colours, harder at one end than the other which looked 'deformed' and soft?
All other 3 girls are laying fine (touch wood) eggs with shells so hard they don't even crack when boiled.
Any advice gratefully received please.
Jan.
-
Hi
Can't really offer any practical advise, just wanted to say that I also had a couple of soft shells this week, they just seem to have come out of the blue as chickens were/are fit and healthy and nothing has changed in their diet or circumstances.
But since then I've had the usual lovely eggs, so guessing its not something to worry about too much as long as it happens only occasionally.
xx
-
Thank you coco, that sounds promising then as I do worry about the girls. Strange thing is they used to all lay different shades of brown eggs, one really dark, and now all are virtually the same shade. I expect it's just one of the things we'll come across now and again. There's always something to learn when new to keeping hens :)
Have just thought, one of the girls has been broody, I wonder if her hormones are playing up?
Jan.x
-
Soft shells happen now and then and providing its just the odd one or two its nothing to worry about.
-
Thank you Kate :) All eggs were good today so 'fingers crossed' that's just what has happened, an occasional blip.
Jan.x
-
I glanced in our hen house the other day (I have 4 hens) just before I took the kids to school. There was a soft shelled egg in there. When I got back half an hour later and went to remove it, it had all gone, the whole thing! Not a trace was left! I can only assumed they had eaten it.
Is that normal?
-
Yes it's normal and the only problem can be that if they get the taste for them they can work out that they can eat the normal ones too and then you will have an uphill battle re-educating them not to eat all your lovely eggs. Best to get the soft ones out so they don't pick up bad habits.
-
Yes it's normal but collect eggs regularly. They can get a taste for it and start pecking hard eggs..... :ohmy:
By the way...I've eaten soft eggs if they're unbroken but the white is really watery.
-
We've had a couple of softies this week from Lily. I wonder if it's the change in the weather or daylight hours or something else maybe????
-
i have had a similar story with one of my hens - i have tried adding a little cod liver oil to chopped veg and shells are improving as well as giving them all the regulars i.e. baked shells, oyster and grit - i hope yours improve it's a shame for them to lay you an egg only to get squashed or eaten
-
Mine do that now and again, they get baked shells, oyster shell and all they need. They have eaten the odd soft shelled one before I've got to it :(
My first girls eggs are mostly the same colour now, but used to vary, they are 1 year and 5 months. I think they get paler as they get older. Its a shame as its nice knowing whose is whose from the colour :(
-
We are having terrible problems with soft shells. As with eveyone else they get layers mash, oystershell and are free range. Some mornings we are OK, but often (for example this morning) the hen had squashed the egg, luckily I think I got there before she started to eat it as she will eat broken eggs quite happily. I have tried the veg and cod liver oil, but haven't done it for a while so will try again. I think it is her age sadly, not that she is that old but she is an ISA Warren of about 2 years old and I believe this does happen with these hybrids.
-
It seems as if this is quite a common problem. Ours are Warrens too so I wonder if that has something to do with it? My main worry was that something was wrong with one of the girlies but if it's just a blip it's not such a worry. I will be trying the cod liver oil on their much loved chopped Spinach too. :) The egg colours are also getting back to 'normal' so it might have been a 'change in the weather' thing.
Jan.x
-
We've had two softies today, one first thing this morning and one in the coop tonight when we put them to bed. Limestone flour at the weekend me thinks.
-
Anything that helps has to be good jackieb, so I'll be trying limestone flour too. Maybe the change in the weather is to blame after all as we had no problems over the Summer. Possibly more of the girls' calcium and protein is re-directed into keeping them warm or sleeping longer because of earlier nights = less food intake?
Jan.x
-
Remember you can create different problems by giving too much calcium. Leave it a couple of days before you put lime in their pellets......it might sort itself. Soft eggs can be caused by other things such as emotional upset ::) or just getting out of laying synch with the darker nights. :)
-
Will 'hold fire' on the suppliments as it does seem a lot of girls are affected by the changing weather, darker nights etc. Ours do get through loads of baked eggshells so are probably getting enough natural calcium at the moment. I would have been more concerned if they were all laying softies but the other eggs have titanium casings! :) These 'home growns' have been the first eggs I've ever boiled that haven't 'cracked' in the water when first placed in. Clever girlies :)
Jan.x