sheik Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 We've been finding soft shelled eggs in our Eglu for the past few days, so our immediate thought was that they needed calcium supplements. However, they are still laying pretty normally. For example, today we got two normal eggs and two soft shelled ones - but we only have three chickens. Our chickens are quite young still, they've only been laying for a few months. We baked and ground up a dozen egg shells today, but I've been reading up about calcium and it is naturally found in greens, which they get plenty of - as well as being able to free range and eating layers pellets. So, are "extra" eggs anything to worry about, and is it likely that they will be soft shelled? Thanks, /\dam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 Maybe it is vitamin D that she is short of. It is needed to metabolise the calcium. You could try Giving them Zolcal D in their drinking water, or a few drops of cod liver oil added to their pellets might do the trick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esta Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 My chickens have been through that, they might be having a bad day, but normally, i think, they arew just getting use to laying, as you said they are only young the eggs probably take a while to process as they are just starting to lay! hope I helped! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheshire Chooks Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 Daisy our head bird layed well and regularly for several months and then has started a regular pattern of 2-3 days of soft shells in the bars, then 2-3 days of fragile elongated, shelled eggs. All the rest are fine so a deficiency is extremely unlikely. Anyone got any bright ideas??? This is a good account http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/1003/factors-influencing-shell-quality Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheik Posted June 5, 2008 Author Share Posted June 5, 2008 Thanks for the replies. Don't we all get vitamin D from sunlight? I know we've had bad weather recently, but still . We've just given them some rinsed tinned red salmon, which they were dubious of but did eat some. As far as I know, salmon is a source of vitamin D. Interestingly, they were still picking out powdered egg shell in their treats bowl, so they must quite like that! Apart from the soft eggs, all three seem happy and in fine health. They've had a great day today, with a good four hours of free-ranging. /\dam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 This is a good account http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/1003/factors-influencing-shell-quality That is a fascinating and informative article. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 Excellent article! Interesting fact about higher temperatures being able to affect shell quality! I've saved it to read in depth when I'm less tired Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
