Grow Your Own Magazine

Hi everybody

My 6 ex-battery hens are well settled now, and have free range of the garden from 6.30(ish)a.m. to dusk every day. I'm getting 1, 2 or 3 eggs each day which is lovely - but - at least 1 of the chooks, possibly 2 of them lay eggs with either a very thin shell, so thin that the slightest touch breaks them, or no shells at all, just yolk in the coop or in the poo.

I'm feeding them on Smallholder Natural Free Range Layers Pellets, with some added poultry spice most days, they have a cabbage hanging up for them to peck at, and every afternoon about 3pm I go out with a handful of mixed corn, oyster shell and layers pellets so that I can feed them by hand, have a stroke of them, chat and cluck at them, and they're now climbing on my knee to feed. I've just tried them with a little sweetcorn and they're still a bit unsure about that, though they do love cucumber! I've thoroughly cleaned out the coop and dusted with red mite powder (just in case) and I've wormed them with Verm-X. They're all still replacing the feathers they didn't have when they came out of the battery place and are looking beautiful now . It's still too early to moult though isn't it?

Any suggestions would be really helpful

Thanks very much

Maureen

Hi mine have the grit and oyster shell in a big bowl available all the time.
I imagine that their shells will prob get thicker soon.
I think they moult winter time.
I imagine they are just getting used to their new improved surroundings and settling down will take time.
Mine love tomatoes, and grapes best, in fact they run after them and will grab them off each oher. Also a bit of bread crust is fine, not too much or they will get the runs. Alo they love carrot tops the gren bits. I go up the market and they give me bagfulls of greens free.

Enjoy them, you are doing all the right things and they will soon look and act like proper chickens!

janeyo

All that is caused by the shock of moving the birds to such a nice new home from a cage with no room to move.

Give it a month to sort things out and make sure they are getting a good selection of food and vitamins. Layers mash is what i use with fresh veg and what knot as and when.

Corn is good as a treat every few days. And it is always good to get tame with your chooks as when it comes to handling them (lets say if they had injured themselves) it makes the whole sorting out eaiser!

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Hi Maureen
How long have you had them?
You could try adding oyster shell to their feed and you can also get calcium supplements to pop in the feed.
Would it be wise to stop the treats and make sure they are eating exatcly what they're supposed to? Or what I do is to give them their treats much later and nearer to dusk?
I've got ex batts too and they're lovely!

I've had them 6 weeks tomorrow, they really are looking totally different to when I first got them. I've named them all after flowers/plants. Hyacinth lives up to her name - very particular about how the shredded paper is placed in the nest box, and always wants to know what I'm doing in "her" coop . Hazel is the inquisitive one, "helps" when I'm digging. Ivy was so scrawny when I first got her, she had absolutely no feathers on her neck, back or wings, but she's so grateful for whatever attention she gets and I can almost see the feathers re-growing day by day. Myrtle is now the glamour-puss, nearly all her feathers are back and she struts around as if saying "look at me, aren't I gorgeous!" Poppy is still a bit scrawny necked but has most of her feathers back on her back, she's loving too. Rose is shy, a bit of a loner but is one of the first out of the coop in the mornings and one of the first in at night.

I've got a bird bath top in the garden with grit etc in it so they can help themselves, but I do mix in a bit extra when I give them their little treat (I'm stingy with it so they don't fill up with corn and always when the pellet feeder is nearly empty)

I had some really funny shaped and thin shelled eggs when I first got my girls back in October. After worming and moulting they quit laying for about 2 months over winter and had a really good rest, the eggs I get now are perfect. (taking 2 1/2 dozen to work for my colleagues tomorrow!) Could just be them settling in like Matt says.
It'll come right with a bit of time.

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updated 14 May 2008

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I got my ex-batts in October too and one of them is still laying soft shelled or shell-less eggs. They seem healthy enough otherwise and have been getting layers' pellets, poultry spice, crushed eggshell and oyster grit. They get treats late afternoon (cabbage, mealworms or corn). I think I need to watch the nest box for a whole day to figure out which bird it is then single her out for extra special calcium-rich treats.

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Don't think it is worth watching they normally regulate their own diet if oyster shell etc is required. Maybe consider worming them.

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Paul

Hi,
Layers Pellets are supposed to contain everything chooks need, but we have oyster grit available all the time and I see our girls going at it hammer and tongs sometimes, so obviously the pellets aren't enough in some cases. It will be lack of calcium that is causing the soft shells: the eggs will be perfect, just not so well packaged. If we get soft shelled eggs we do give all the girls a once over: check the vent, under the wings to check their temperature. You might notice the one laying the soft shells acting very strangely when out and about: we've seen Flo walking very slowly, stopping and closing her eyes almost as if she were in a trance. She then made it back into the run just in time because the soft shells seem to be laid at extreme speed! You can also recycle the good egg shells by baking them in a low oven to kill any germs, crushing them and mixing them into the feed.

It may be that your hen is adjusting to a far more varied diet that she's ever had, and it will take her some tme go get the balance right: catching her own grubs must be far more alluring than ensuring she eats her balanced pellets. It would be like asking me if I wanted chocolate or lettuce!

Best wishes...

One of my hens often produces soft shells usually if there has been a storm or some overnight disturbance - if life is quite she lays a normal egg in the nestbox so this is not always about calcium levels.

I think that as others have said, that this is an adjustment issue and eventually she will settle down and the soft shells will become rarer. Just be sure to always have mixed grit available and keep the treast down so they are sure to eat their proper ration of pellets.

Have fun

Terry

Just an update on my chooks progress regarding the thin/no shells on some eggs.

I found an no-shell this morning, in the same place the other no-shells have been laid, but this one had a really thick membrane round it, so it looks as if there might be a liitle progress here. I just need to have a peep in the coop when it's dark and they've all gone to bed to find out which one it is that sleeps there! I'll try and get her to have some extra grit, shells etc, see if that works.

I've also been giving them "porridge" in the mornings, make it by mixing some layers pellets (haven't got any mash) to a mush with hot water and adding some finely ground sterilized egg shells. They love it And they still like it when it's gone cold too

I'll let you know how things progress

When my sussex was just coming into lay I found something that just looked like a yolk with a thick skin on it, I wondered if it was her as she is the youngest hen and hadn't previously laid. A couple of days later she lea a small bur perfectly formed egg. Lauren b was thrilled as the sussex is her little pet and she is the only person who eats her eggs!

__________________
I'd rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion.

http://hollandsroadparadise.blogspot.com
updated 14 May 2008

www.bradleyroundtwo.blogspot.com

You could try looking for lice too - small little crawlies that live on the hens, especially around the vent area. They can cause a hen to lose condition and the soft eggs might be a symptom.

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Dwell simply ~ love richly

I can't see any nasties on them, they've been wormed last weekend and the coop has been liberally dusted with red mite powder (says on the container that it gets rid of all sorts!)

Hi Maureen,
You'd need to dust the birds themselves with something to get rid of lice I'm afraid - the lice live on the birds, red mtes live in the coop and feed on the birds at night when they're roosting. Have you had a really good look between the bases of the feathers around the vent? They are really good at hiding!

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Dwell simply ~ love richly

I'll try and have a look. What do I dust them with?

I use this louse powder but there are several alternatives. Make you you powder them up really well, those little critters will take advantage!

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Dwell simply ~ love richly

Hi, we had this problem with Thyme, and Barbara at Omlet was a great help.
We used verm-x for any internal parasites and dicotemous earth for any external parasites- though none were visible.
The hens had organic layers pellets and they had a small handful of mixed corn in the afternoon. They had grit with oyster shell freely available, and the run of the garden where they enjoyed the broccoli by bouncing on the netting to get to it!
Rosemary had the same diet etc. and her eggshells were fine.
It was January and not very sunny so we gave them a small dish of yogourt with a vitamin D capsule emptied into it and mixed in, twice a week, and with this the eggshells improved.

Hi Jane,

Sounds like good advice, sometimes all the hens need is a good tonic to help them reocver condition. BTW you'll need to change your username if you want to avoid the spammers! If you send a private message to Admin I'm sure the nice Mr. Ben will sort you out.

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Dwell simply ~ love richly