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A worried Sara wrote “Hi, Got
our first soft shelled egg this morning (found it in the
dropping tray). The last couple of eggs have had thin
shells as well. I've looked in several pet shops and
can't find any grit, does crushed oyster shell do the
same thing as grit? I have being sprinkling crushed up
baked egg shells in the run for a while, but obviously
it hasn't worked.”
Replies from the forum include:-
"Yes the oyster shell does the same thing as mixed
grit in providing extra calcium for the egg shells. You
might like to add some to the food peanut or put it in a
little dish - I'm quite surprised at the frequency with
which I see my girls dipping into their grit container.
Grit also supplies hard less soluble bits which all
birds need for their gizzards to grind up food properly.
Free range birds would be able to pick up bits of grit
from the ground to do this." –
Motherhen
"Even though ours are part time free-rangers, we tend
to buy bags of mixed grit with oyster shell and sprinkle
it in the run - we're amazed at how quickly it goes!
(not as quick as grapes or corn of course" – Mel
and Paul Marvin
"I was going to suggest you ask your local pet shop
to see if they could get hold of some for you. It is
hard to come by - we've had trouble finding some in
Leicester. Luckily we found a big bag of the stuff in
Melton which has kept us going for 3 months and there's
still loads left. Good luck with the soft-shelled eggs.
If the girls new to laying I would put it down to them
being immature and they will definitely get better at it
as they start to get older now, and especially with the
extra grit you've got." - Gina
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"I asked someone I knew who used to keep
chickens about soft-shelled eggs, and she said she had
only seen one or two in her life. I suspect that these
soft-shelled eggs are more noticeable to Eglu-owners
because they show up so well in the droppings tray,
where the hens can't get at them and eat them. The first
soft-shelled egg that I saw was dropped on the grass by
my hen, and the pair of them hoovered it up and in ten
seconds there was no sign of it. If I had not been
fussing over my hens like a new mother, I would not have
known anything about it. I get eggs in the approximate
ratio of five hard-shelled to two soft-shelled, and am
not worried about it. I have never found a soft-shelled
hen in the nest: my hen is sensible and treats them like
droppings. I am giving my hens baked crushed eggshell
and I am confident that things will sort themselves out
as my hens get older". – Gallina
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Don't forget
Barbara
Remember that Barbara is always on
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