Mrs

[michele]

Hello,

Vera my columbine has been laying soft shelled eggs since early December . I have tried all the ususal treatments oyster shell grit, crushed egg shells, mixing cod liver oil with their feed. The hens are fed good quality layers pellets and I have not been suplementing this with any treats since this problem began. My other 2 hens are laying good quality eggs.

Help !!!

[loumabel]

you could try some Zolcal D calcium supplement. My vet prescribed me some for one of my ex batts that had been laying softies. I gave her 2ml per day syringed directly into her crop but you can add it to their drinking water or food too. I got my second bottle on ebay and it was a lot cheaper than from the vet.

[lillybettybabs]

I had one of my first hens do this, I tried everything and could she her getting down with it and eating her

own feathers.

i decided it was best for her to have her pts after 4mnths as she just couldn't absorb enough calcium and i knew her bones would start to weaken.

Fingers crossed you find a solution for your little girl.

[michele]

She is still laying soft shelled eggs. I have tried all sorts of dietary supplements

eg. oyster shell, poltry grit, zolcal d, calcium supplement powder, cream, milk. She is still laying regularly but the eggs are being eaten because the shells are so soft. I have restricted the diet to only good quality layers pellets. Could it be due to her age - she is 3 and a half years old. Any ideas - please help !!!

[good_egg]

Have you tried some cod liver oil? There is something in that to help them absorb calcium. Perhaps she is struggling with that?

[michele]

Thanks for this, but I have tried Cod liver oil as well - no improvement I'm afraid.

[goodinparts]

No helpful replies - but I'm in exactly the same state here. 1 girl laying softies, the others barely laying at all...All aged 3 or thereabouts & laying well til red mite (now zapped) a few weeks ago. Not sure where to go from here - so if you find any wonderful solutions, I'd love to know

[libby22]

Hi

 

I have two gingernut rangers who are 2 years old and started to lay softies simultaneously. I too have tried everything and they have good days and bad, but I have read that it can simply be due to age and this varies from bird to bird. I have one little ex-battery hen who is nearly 3 and has only just started to lay the odd softie.

 

Just how they took a while to settle down when they first started to lay - their systems may hiccup along the way as they slow down. I get around two or three good eggs per week from each of them and the rest are soft or without shells. They have oystershell, tonic in their water, spinach for the calcium with a small amount of cod liver oil every week to allow their bodies to unlock the calcium via the vitamin D, Omlet pellets (which they love and eat loads of) and have been wormed regularly, but nothing has changed.

 

Now that I have realised this is pretty much how it will be and as long as they look well and strong it is just a case of going with it I suppose.