Chicken bald back

[Dolly]

Apart from giving calcium supplements in the water, can anyone recommend suitable foods that are particularly rich in calcium? I have one girl who is laying soft eggs much of the time at the moment and don't want to constantly put Calcivet in the water as I understand too much is as bad as not enough

Thanks!

[Egluntyne]

Green veg will help, but go easy with the spinach as it contains oxalate which hinders calcium absorption.

[The Dogmother]

If she doesn't respond, then she may just have a malfunctioning shell gland

[Dolly]

Claret, is this something that can be treated or is it a permanent condition?

[The Dogmother]

I dodgy shell gland is usually permanent, if indeed that's what the problem is.

 

I'd treat her by drizzling a wee bit of cod liver oil onto the pellets, then mixing in a dab of limestone flour. Give her 2 weeks on that and see if there's any improvement. If not, then it's her shell gland; this usually only happens in older hens or ex-batts, but can occur in a younger bird if they have had infectious bronchitis or Myco.

[Dolly]

Thanks Claret. She's only 2 (it's her birthday this weekend!) and hasn't had either of the problems you mentioned so hopefully it can be fixed through diet, I'll try the CLO, limestone flour etc.

[Redwing]

Yup cod liver oil is good as it helps the absorbsion of calcium

 

No good giving them extra calcium if they cant absorb it