[treecol]

I've started a new thread for this as I think my updates are going on & on!
So my soft shell layer laid one egg yesterday that had a slightly bett shell after adding ground up egg shell to their layers pellets - it still got eaten as she laid it in the run & it broke. Got up really early to find out which hen is the culprit,  but she'd alrady laid it under her perch - soft again. So if I'm going to try limestone flour, can I do this added to some porrige which they love, or it it better in their pellets, or will I be giving the other hens too much as they are all laying good eggs regularly?
Then how much? 7 warrens, I've read after a search on this site about kidney damage by too much calcium.

[Sassy]

I don't know the answer to this. Maybe you could try some flour on a grape just for your soft egg laying girl?

[danfinn1]

I have a soft shell layer. I tried porridge, and poultry spice too,  their shells are getting better. I will have to see what I get in the morning as Sandy lays after they have gone to bed

[compostqueen]

I grew mine plenty of green veg, kales, cabbage, cauli, brocs, etc and the highest calcium veg of all the apparently the CIMA DI RAPA. Seeds cheap as chips and they grow likes weeds and the chooks love them. We can eat them too. Win win.  If they can free range for parts of every day that might help too as it increases their opportunity to vary their diet. They love weeds for example and will eat worms and grubs, insects etc, even mice! 

I didn't find the limestone flour did any good but you can but try. I used to get mine the OSTREA grit which is good stuff

Don't give them porridge all the time, it should only be an occasional treat in winter when they can have it warm.  If they get good quality layers, grit and can free range regularly, you can't do much more. I got mine some medication but it didn't work. Poultry spice is good for giving them a boost but again it's not used routinely but at times of stress it might help, such as when they're going through a moult.

It might be that you can't stop the soft eggs but if you've done your best for the girl and she's happy then you've done what you can 

[ghost61]

I have one that always lays a soft shelled egg.  I tried everything, limestone flour, calcium additive to water,  calcium rich greens, everything.  Nothing helped her.  She has all the oyster shell she wants too.  I just accept that she has finished laying - she is a pure breed light sussex and laid well for a year, but then was quite ill and the problem arose from then on.  She is otherwise well and a beautiful lady to boot!

[treecol]

7 good eggs today! So something worked or she's just got the hang of it - I think they are 21 weeks now. No more calcium supplment or "buns" just greens, a bit of fruit - strawbs & melon & as much free ranging as I can give them. Doing wonders for the garden as I don't have to weed any more!
Thank you all for giving good advice.

[danfinn1]

Be careful of the free ranging in the garden, or you will have very little left like us. I let my three on a lttle plot of garden that had been fenced off from them. The few weeds growing were scoffed in a couple of minutes

Then they started eyeing up our runner beans

Kicked them off at that point, greedy devils

[treecol]

Fortunately we have nothing in our garden that can't be eaten! We're on black sand here & very little grows. Even my strawberrys won't grow well so I let the girls have them. Weeds however will grow in abundance so it's good to have 7 little weeders!