sadietoo Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 I have got a girl laying thin shelled/no shelled eggs and my local poultry food supplier has suggested that I shouldn't just add limestone flour to their food but should identify the girl and take her out of lay by feeding her only corn for a week or so, to bring on a moult I think she said? I have no problem with sacrificing the eggs for a few weeks...these are ex commercial unit girls and they really should put their feet up for a while (and watch the olympics perhaps if they want. ) My question is has anyone actually done this....and did it work?..I've just got them all integrated into one run..so to take out a couple or all three of the hybrids to give them a rest will set us back a bit but I do have another run set up at the moment so that it would be easy to do.....Any advice? thanks for reading Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackian Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 I have never heard of this but I am no expert.When one of my girls was laying softies etc., I just added limestone to the pellets and cod liver oil as well and it sorted itself within a week as I understood it was a lack of calcium. ....Plus my girls won't eat corn ,they turn their beaks up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 A forced moult can be very harsh on a bird, and rather an old fashioned 'treatment'. I'd worm her and give her a calcium and vit D supplement instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadietoo Posted July 29, 2012 Author Share Posted July 29, 2012 A forced moult can be very harsh on a bird, and rather an old fashioned 'treatment'. I'd worm her and give her a calcium and vit D supplement instead. That was my concern Egluntyne.....I've upped their protein by feeding fishmeal which smells but which they love, and I'll start worming from tomorrow. It's been on my to do list for a few weeks now and then I have had to wait for Attie to get back to full strength after her antibiotic course following her run in with the fox a couple of weeks ago.. (She now seems fully restored I am pleased to say, (I think) subdued and easy to handle when poorly she is now assertive, loud and generally back to the uncooperative stroppy madam she always used to be!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shemybelle Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 How strange - I logged in tonight to ask the same question as I was given the same advice today by my supplier (you're not in Scotland, are you?!). My Bluebell has been laying soft-shelled eggs for weeks. I've tried shell max and limestone flour. My supplier mentioned taking her off lay, but I don't like the sound of it. Lx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkysmum Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Hi all, I've posted before about Cheeky, my light sussex who ONLY lays shell less eggs. She is just over a year and has never laid a normal egg. I've mentioned that all my other laying hens shells are perfect, but despite this I have - changed their feed to Omlet with added limestone, invested in Shell Max and cut back on their f/r time. None of this has made any difference. If this wasn't bad enough she has become an egg eater and other hens are eating hers too Like others I'm not sure what to do next. In commercial outlets and in days gone by hens such as Cheeky would be/ would have been despatched but to us this is pretty well unthinkable. I think my next step will be to have a word with my vet about having her spayed. Ridiculous I know but it might just be the only thing left to do. Would love to hear if you have other ideas. Alli x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadietoo Posted July 30, 2012 Author Share Posted July 30, 2012 How strange - I logged in tonight to ask the same question as I was given the same advice today by my supplier (you're not in Scotland, are you?!). My Bluebell has been laying soft-shelled eggs for weeks. I've tried shell max and limestone flour. My supplier mentioned taking her off lay, but I don't like the sound of it. Lx No Shemybelle, I am on the coast in West Sussex! Hi all, I've posted before about Cheeky, my light sussex who ONLY lays shell less eggs. She is just over a year and has never laid a normal egg. I've mentioned that all my other laying hens shells are perfect, but despite this I have - changed their feed to Omlet with added limestone, invested in Shell Max and cut back on their f/r time. None of this has made any difference. If this wasn't bad enough she has become an egg eater and other hens are eating hers too Like others I'm not sure what to do next. In commercial outlets and in days gone by hens such as Cheeky would be/ would have been despatched but to us this is pretty well unthinkable. I think my next step will be to have a word with my vet about having her spayed. Ridiculous I know but it might just be the only thing left to do. Would love to hear if you have other ideas. Alli x How about giving taking her out of lay a go? ...it's got to be less drastic than having her spayed.....The difficult thing is to separate her from the others...but perhaps she could go in a partitioned bit of your run for the day or a broody cage?... apparently you just feed them mixed corn and not layers anything and the lack of protein stops egg production....and will result in a moult...(at least moulting at this time of year is better than in the middle of winter when my other hens have always decided to do it ) I think the idea is that when they come back into lay, when they are returned to normal feed (perhaps with extra protein to help them feather up again) their troubles will be behind them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 A forced moult can be very harsh on a bird, and rather an old fashioned 'treatment'. I'd worm her and give her a calcium and vit D supplement instead. I agree! I have a hen who persistently lays eggs with delicate or incomplete shells, I have had some success from adding crushed eggshell, cod liver oil and a wee bit of Biotin (by NAF) to their feed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimnpaula Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 I know Wikipaedia isn't the most reliable source of information, but there's probably some truth behind this article that is worth considering. P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Preventing her from laying would be the best idea; that way it would rest her shell gland and there's a chance that the egg quality 'might' improve when she comes back into lay as it does with my pure breeds when they start a new season. This is always assuming that the egg quality is just down to shell gland exhaustion as opposed to a problem with the shell gland, old age or egg quality problems caused by disease such as Myco or IB. The easiest way is to encourage her to go broody; remove food and water for 12 hours, then give water only for a further 12 hours. After that introduce a non layers feed such as wheat or growers. During this time restrict her to a darkened next with a dummy egg or two and cross yer fingers. TBH I wouldn't be bothered with the faff and would just let her get on with it with the help of the extra supplements mentioned in previous posts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkysmum Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 No I'm def not up for "taking her out of lay" No chance of forcing her to moult. She is in absolutely tip top condition & huge. Bursting with health. However I am wondering if may be, just maybe, I'm turning a corner. No shell less eggs for two days but don't know if she's laid herself as I've never seen a light sussex egg They've now had about a week of calcium in their water and Omlet feed ( which they love) for 4 days. Fingers crossed. Will report back soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadietoo Posted August 1, 2012 Author Share Posted August 1, 2012 My feed supplier nearly had a fit when I said I was cooking up the thin shelled eggs and feeding them back to the girls shell and all and told me not to do it. Also she didn't recommend oyster shell grit. something to do with upsetting the calcium/phosphorous balance and damaging their bones? Anyway, for me at least offering them some extra protein seems to have temporarily at least solved the problem so fingers crossed. Edited to say the supplier was very agin feeding the egg shell, not the egg itself which she thought was a good thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
