Eglu Cube Coop For Sale

[the-real-tinkerbell]

ive posted before about getting lots of softies i thought it was sorted as ive had 2 days of getting 4 real eggs i have 4 hens, however today i got 3 eggs and 2 softies again i know the culprit my copper black

 

i bit the bullet today and took her to the vet as she had what looked like egg white on her bum fluff ,i had to phone about 10 vets to find one that would treat her but thats another story lol the one i chose was fantastic shes not a chicken vet but has 6 ex bats of her own

anyway

she looked her over and checked her heart and chest temp and what not ,and concluded she was a healthy looking hen

then bang on cue she laid another softie ,thats 3 in one day

the vet said that she will phone round some friends and get back to me ,

 

she phoned me back about a hour ago and said that they thought it was a genetic problem ,as hybrids are bred for lots of eggs some times this can happen ,she is laying so many eggs that they are passing through to fasts to get proper shells

 

 

so my question is should i phone the breader tomorro and let him know what the vet has said ?

 

tink

[chickyhazel]

If you want to phone the breeder you can although personally I don't think it will help

[sjp]

put some lifegaurd tonic in the drinking water for about 6 days

cod liver oil in the feed a couple of times a week helps to as do meal worms both help the body abzorde calcium

Big red my Columbian Black tail laid more softies than keepers this time last year when she first started to lay I took her nearly 2 months to get in to laying eggs with shells but she never layed really thick shelled eggs but she is my best layer

also I had to modify the grit feeder I was useing as the holes were to small for her to sort the git out she has to find the right bits else she wont eat it

I was useing one of the plastic jam jar type grit feeders now use cage cups low down so she can see in

this link might help to

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/1003/factors-influencing-shell-quality

[Redwing]

Grit alone does not supply calcium, you need oyster shell or grit with shell bits in

 

Cod liver oil would be my recommendation first off

 

I dont see what contacting the breeder would do, I suppose they might agree to replace her but I dont expect they will feel empowered to do anything

[the-real-tinkerbell]

the breeder is very small family run place i didnt know if it would be good idea to let her know what was going on ,as she may be unaware my mum also got a copper black from her and is having the same problems where as all the other girls are fine and we have 8 between us

[Egluntyne]

I would try her with some limestone flour and codliver oil in her pellets.

 

I would also try putting her to 'bed' early, say around 6pm in a very dark coop or box , saf e from predators, to stop the longer daylight hours from stimulating her to lay eggs. Try this for a week and see if it helps.

[The Dogmother]

I would try her with some limestone flour and codliver oil in her pellets.

 

I would also try putting her to 'bed' early, say around 6pm in a very dark coop or box , saf e from predators, to stop the longer daylight hours from stimulating her to lay eggs. Try this for a week and see if it helps.

 

Ditto to the above.

 

A hen laying softies will usually sort itself out, especially if it is new to laying. It can also be a defective shell gland though, so if the addtion of limestone flour and cod liver oil doesn't work, then I'd look at replacing her as she may never lay a shelled egg.