Wondering How to Overcome a Calcium Challenge?

 

by Jennifer Burcke

We're halfway through the Purina 60 Day See the Difference Challenge here at 1840 Farm. I am already seeing a difference in our flock of heritage hens and I've managed to overcome a chicken keeping challenge in the process.

Up until four weeks ago, I was at a loss for how to fix the aforementioned challenge. My hens were all healthy and happy. They were laying eggs and we were enjoying eating every last one of them. There was only one problem in our little poultry utopia. Our chickens were laying eggs with thin shells.

The shells on the eggs in our coop were fully formed, but definitely on the thin side. In fact, we were finding at least one egg a week cracked from the mere weight of the hen sitting on it. To some, losing one egg a week might not seem like much of a tragedy. Here at 1840 Farm, it is cause for a moment of silence. We live on a farm with six farmers who wait, rather impatiently, for each egg to be laid. A ratio of six farmers to seven laying hens makes each egg an incredibly precious commodity.

I was at a loss for a viable solution to my problem. If I had posed my chicken keeping conundrum to the readers here at Community Chickens, I am fairly certain that I could have predicted the most popular solution. I'm willing to bet that many caring readers would have wholeheartedly suggested supplementing our flock's rations with oyster shell.

How can I be so certain? Perhaps it has something to do with my experience asking the owners of my local feed stores as well as several chicken keepers what they would recommend. They all answered without hesitation that I should add a pan of oyster shell to our coop and simply wait for the shells to become stronger.

I couldn't possibly take their advice. Don't get the wrong idea. It's not because I mistrust the honest advice of other farmers. Actually, I'm willing and happy to learn from the experience of other chicken keepers. It's really much simpler than that.

My son has a severe allergy to shellfish. If he touches something that has shellfish residue on it, welts and hives are sure to follow. After the reaction comes the treatment by way of Benadryl and the hope of not needing to use his Epi-pen. If the Epi-pen is called into action, we're on our way to the emergency room in an ambulance for a day-long treatment event. It's an experience that we try to avoid at all costs. I had no intention of inviting the catalyst to come and live in our chicken coop.

Oysters are shellfish. Having their shells in the coop would mean banning my son from spending time there. He would no longer be able to happily feed the hens a morning treat and talk to them about the sunny weather. He wouldn't be able to reach down and lovingly pet his favorite Black Australorp, Hedwig, without wondering if he would have an allergic reaction.

Our chicken coop would, in his eyes, be transformed from a place filled with wonder and fresh eggs to an off-limits area with danger lurking right behind the door. The welcome sign hanging outside the coop would be forever changed from a symbol of our hospitality to a cruel reminder of my son's inability to spend time there. I would have to find another way to boost the flock's calcium levels.

I felt that I had only one choice. I would have to do all I could to supplement our chicken's intake of calcium through their daily food. Over the winter, I had fed our hens a morning treat of oatmeal with yogurt, kefir and flax seeds. At the time, they were not yet mature enough to lay eggs, so I had no idea if the addition of these foods to their diet would provide them with enough calcium. I also had no clue how I could convince them to eat hot oatmeal while the temperature outside was nearly 90 degrees.

The complete poultry feed that I had been using had a guaranteed calcium content range of 0.80% to 1.2%. The formula was intended to be fed to laying hens and it had served its purpose in keeping our hens healthy and progressing along the timeline of their life. I had never before considered switching formulas, but I couldn't ignore the weekly loss of fresh eggs.

I started researching other complete feeds for laying chickens and found a few of interest. One was Purina Layena Sunfresh Recipe Pellets. I checked the product information for calcium content and was encouraged to find the guaranteed minimum to be 3.25%, roughly triple the maximum in my current feed. I continued reading to discover that the maximum level for calcium was listed at 4.25%.

I was more than a little encouraged by this information. I kept reading and found that my current formula and Purina Layena Sunfresh were similar in most of the key nutrients. The big difference was the calcium content. In fact, the product information on the Purina Web site stated that Purina Layena Sunfresh Recipe's increased level of calcium along with manganese would "strengthen shells to increase the number of eggs that reach the kitchen."

Now they were speaking my language. More eggs reaching my farmhouse kitchen was exactly what I had in mind. I went to my local feed store and eagerly asked for a bag of this new tool in my chicken keeping arsenal. It was then that I discovered that my local feed store didn't carry the Layena brand. This was a roadblock that I wasn't expecting.

Back to the Internet and a search for a retail outlet that did carry the product that I was looking for. To add insult to injury, in the following days I discovered two more cracked eggs in our nest boxes. Unfortunately, the closest store carrying the Sunfresh recipe was more than 40 minutes away. A road trip was in order. A 40-minute drive may seem a little extreme to some of you. To me, it seemed far less extreme than having to buy eggs at the grocery store.

Then, in a stroke of good fortune, I made a phone call to a store located only 10 miles from our farm. I had visited the store and been disappointed to find that they did not have any Layena Sunfresh formula in stock. They were happy to tell me that they were awaiting delivery of the Purina Layena Sunfresh Pellets on their delivery truck that afternoon. Eureka! Then good fortune made a return visit the very next morning. I received an invitation to join the Purina 60 Day See the Difference Challenge and share my experience with the Community Chickens readers.

Fast forward a few days and our flock was being served a mix of their current feed with the newly acquired Layena Sunfresh Pellets. Over the course of the first few weeks, we gradually decreased the proportion of their original feed and increased the proportion of the new pellets until they were only eating the Sunfresh pellets. Now all I could do was sit back and wait to find eggs with stronger shells. I kept my fingers crossed that this was going to be the difference I had been hoping for.

Our hens are now halfway through the 60 day challenge period. They seem to prefer the taste of their new feed as I find myself filling their feeder more often than I used to. I also don't find as much loose feed languishing under the feeder. In fact, if one hen spills some feed onto the floor, another one is more than happy to eat the pellets off of the clean straw on the coop floor.

I am happy that my hens enjoy the taste of their new Layena Sunfresh formula and that their feathers and body condition are both the picture of health. I am even happier to report that we have not encountered one cracked egg since the switch to their new feed was complete. In fact, I will admit to accidentally dropping an egg from the nest box to the coop floor last week.

It was a moment fraught with peril as I watched it drop and waited for it to crack open and lay there, mocking my clumsiness. Instead, it fell to the coop floor and sat motionless as I reached to pick it up. I turned it carefully in my hand, inspecting it for cracks only to find that it was unharmed. The shell had done the job that nature had intended. It had protected the fragile egg within. It had enabled me to bring another treasured fresh egg into our farmhouse kitchen. It really was the difference I had hoped for.

I can't wait to see how our flock fares in the second half of the Purina 60 Day See the Difference Challenge. I expect to see continued good health accompanied by well-formed, strong eggshells. I'll feel victorious that we managed to give our flock the supplementation they needed without having to make the coop off-limits to my son.

As I do my farm chores over the next 30 days, I will hear my son's 5-year-old voice during his morning visits to the coop. I'll picture our seven hens gathered at his boot-covered feet. I will smile, knowing that they are enjoying his company, looking up at him inquisitively as they listen to the sound of his voice. Hedwig will predictably wait in line with the other hens for her loving pat on the head.

As my son exits the coop, I'll know that he is enjoying being part of the wonder that is chicken keeping. The knowledge that farming is still a family affair here at 1840 Farm will be just what I need to nurture my own sense of wonder. Welcome to the chicken coop at 1840 Farm, where wonder is alive and well.

You're always welcome at 1840 Farm. Visit our blog at www.1840farm.wordpress.com. For daily updates about the happenings at 1840 Farm and our participation in the Purina 60 Day See the Difference Challenge, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.