Soft shelled eggs - food for thought

I've been browsing a lot of chicken websites in my attempts to learn as much as possible about keeping my girls healthy and happy. 

An interesting pattern I've noticed is that on Australian and New Zealand websites the issue of soft-shelled eggs is rarely mentioned, yet it often comes up on this forum.

The most obvious difference is the strength of the sunlight.  In both Australia and NZ there is a lot of UV light, and humans (and other animals) can get badly burned after only a few minutes in the sun.

Exposure to UV light allows your body to produce Vitamin D.  Vit D is essential for absorbing calcium.  The same applies to chickens - they need Vit D to absorb calcium.

So I would like to remind people that supplementing calcium is not the only solution for soft-shelled eggs.  Supplementing Vitamin D can also be a big help, and it can be given to the whole flock, not just the bird laying the soft eggs.

Also, ensure your flock has as much opportunity as possible to be exposed to natural daylight.  Let them out early in the morning and encourage them to spend time dust bathing in a warm, sunny corner of their run.

Hmmm... that's true Joyfull.  Although in some southern parts of NZ they have cold, snowy winters so the chickens wouldn't get their green veg all year round. 

On the other hand with fewer predators, more chickens here would be allowed to free range full time so maybe they do find plenty of leafy greens for themselves.

Time to take my theory to the lab for some testing.