Hello to all you chook lovers, I have a question to ask about my chickens. I have 3 lovely isa brown's and one of them is of late laying an egg that has a gritty shell. Any ideas as to why??? is there something that could be missing in her diet??? i would really appreciate any information that you have to help with this. thankyou kelsval
Re: My Chicken is laying a gritty/coarse egg!! help! never seen that before.. do they get out and about in your garden? Perhaps they would find what they need in there.? Bugs/ grasshoppers / different greens / grit ??
Re: My Chicken is laying a gritty/coarse egg!! help! Here's a useful list of egg defects which gives you the possible cause of your gritty shell. https://www.thepoultrysite.com/ourbooks/ ... -handbook/ Hope that helps.
Re: My Chicken is laying a gritty/coarse egg!! help! thankyou both for your replys... yes my girls have a large run off their house very much free range hens. thankyou hardworkinghippy for that web site that was really helpful and a great resource for any future egg prob's. it described my eggs as sandpaper like eggs and included a picture with remedies..yay
Re: My Chicken is laying a gritty/coarse egg!! help! so the prognosis is this? Cause Control Diseases, e.g. infectious bronchitis, infectious laryngotracheitis or avian encephalomyelitis Follow effective vaccination programmes. Defective shell gland Disturbances at the time a hen is due to lay can cause the egg to be held over for another day Minimise activities which create disturbances in and around the shed. Increase shed security to stop other birds and animals entering the shed. Incorrect or changes in lighting programme There should not be sudden increases in day length as pullets come into lay, or lighting changes during lay. Water shortages Make sure that the water supply is adequate, that there are no blockages in water lines and that drinkers are functioning property. far out.. what are you going to do about that?
Re: My Chicken is laying a gritty/coarse egg!! help! It seems I read about that, and in addition to a respiratory problem or inherited Newscastle's Disease, it could be stress, an excess or a deficiency of calcium (if they aren't getting enough, they use their bodily reserve, which isn't good), or a copper deficiency. Or heredity. If it's just occasional, I wouldn't worry. If you are in Oz, it seems like I read in Pat Coleby's book on Natural Land Care that copper is commonly deficient there, but it's been a couple of years since I read it. Sue
Re: My Chicken is laying a gritty/coarse egg!! help! shite... if it were an infectious virus within the bird wouldn't one bird infect the others... it seems only one hen is laying her eggs like this..the last two days though we have had 1 egg layed out of the three girls and this egg collected didn't have the gritty shell. water supply is fine no prob's there..fresh every day sometimes sparrows fly into their cage and are stuck in there for a few hours i am guessing but i'm not sure why this would disturb the hens as they have a large run that they have access too. i'm not really sure what to do here i am going to monitor the egg laying and see if things return to normal??? it has only started this last week on and off so i think another week and then i will assess. what do you guys think?
Re: My Chicken is laying a gritty/coarse egg!! help! Hi Kelsval, I always saw a gritty egg as a sign of tip-top excellent health. I certainly cant remember any problems from it. In my flock it has never been ongoing and only ever happened sporadically. I have been on home-grown free range eggs for most of the time since I was a child. Cheers,
