Mrs

[flowerangelk8x]

hi ,

Gretchen, my gingernut ranger, is having trouble....

 

Saturday she was fine all day until about 6, then she just sat down and went very quiet? i was so worried about her that we brought her in over night and sat her on a hot water bottle in our dogs crate. In the morning she had produced a soft shell, accompanied by loads of clear, watery liquid, but she was back to her normal nutty self?

Monday, she was ok all day , but no egg

Tuesday and Wednesday, a lovely egg, but i noticed quite alot of liquid on the Auboise as well

Today, the Auboise in the nest box was very , very wet and also in patch under the roosting bars. i could only find a tiny soft empty shell?

 

She has just been out FR and she seemed fine?

 

I have started worming today with Flubenvet, have added chicken spice and gritt to her porridge ( just made with pellets and a little corn and water)

 

should i be worried, is there anything else i can do ? i'm still quiet new to keeping chickens

Any advice greatfully received ... thanks

[Suzy]

Hi,

 

I'm no expert but have had this with one of my exbats and another one is currently going through exactly the same situation. Lots of softies and lots of water and wet nests.

 

The only thing I have done is make sure she doesn't get dehydrated. She still isn't eating but I think it's important that she replace the large amounts of liquid she is losing so she is being offered a cup of water under her beak which she does drink.

 

Hope she gets back to her normal nutty self soon.

 

Suzy

[wiganchooks]

Hi. I just got ex-bats about 3 weeks ago and one was having trouble with soft eggs and feeling ill initially. People on here suggested giving her limestone flour / powder for extra calcium.

 

I didn't know where to get that from quickly so I've been dissolving human calcium & vit D tablets into their water container. All their shells seem to have improved and the soft-egg one has started laying normally. I'm going to stop giving them the extra calcium this weekend and see if they're ok going forward just with the grit/oyster shell.

[sjp]

put some cod liver oil in the feed a couple of times a week the Vit D will help with the calcium

also lifeguard in the water will give them a boost ther's a link in another post either here or the egg section

[Egluntyne]

You can get Limestone flour from equestrian shops, or via ebay, as sold for reptiles.

 

Cod liver oil added to the pellets makes the Limestone Flour stick to them, and improves the absorption and metabolism of the calcium too.

[flowerangelk8x]

Thanks so much for all your advice.

 

I'm going to try some limestone flour and cod liver oil.

 

She does seem much better in herself over the last few days but the egg situation is still a bit hit and miss. So fingers crossed this will help.

[sandyhas3chucks]

the water & wet poohs & softees go together, so don;t be worrying about that aspect.

It might take a while to settle down