Egg drop syndrome?

peep · **Joined:** Thu Jun 24, 2010 8:50 pm **Posts:** 17

I have 4 Ida brown hens that I purchased as point of lay June 2009. They have layed consistently with no problems. I have wormed them twice. They have not molted as yet.
I feed them a complete layer seed mix and they free range twice a day and all over the weekends.
A month ago I bought a Grandpa feeder and have been trying to get them used to it. It has been very slow progress but they have been rather pampered chooks. For about the same period one hen (I am guessing it is the same hen) has been either dropping unformed eggs from the perch or laying them in the nesting box. They have a very thin shell like strip amongst the mess. I give them regular shell grit also. The hen at times stands alone as if unwell but this is not often.
Is the hen perhaps not getting enough protein because of being scared of the feeder? All hens seem to be in good condition - perhaps a bit fat in the past but we have cut back on treats as we try to get them conditioned to eating from the feeder.
Thanks for any comments.

Roova · **Posted:** Sun Nov 28, 2010 9:29 am

Unfortunately ISA Brown's are commercial layers. This means they have been bred specifically to lay large eggs more often than purebred hens might.

Having a hen which continues to lay through a moult and every day often without a break pays a price on the chook in the end.

They often have an eighteen month to two year lifespan and then reproductive problems begin to happen. Some hens can live quite a bit longer but some become so ill with cancers and the like that they need to be helped out of their misery.

There are some products you can buy which can be fed as a supplement to commercial layers which try to help their bodies keep up with their egg laying. I think they are calcium and protein based but I can't recall what they're name is. It could be worth checking at your stock feed place or doing a bit of googling.

You could try finding oyster shell which is an extra calcium supplement along with their shellgrit. Sometimes if a hen is really struggling you may need to force a moult just to make them to stop laying for a short while. You could try adding some tinned cat food (not the salty kind) as a protein treat but it shouldn't be more than 20% of their commercial feed so as to not upset the balance of nutrients.

Good luck with your girls.

peep · **Joined:** Thu Jun 24, 2010 8:50 pm **Posts:** 17

Thanks for such prompt help. I was not able to buy any calcium where I live and decided perhaps the problem could be addressed by reducing the time that the chooks had to free range and thus fill up on grass and other things while avoiding their feeder that they are still adapting to. So with a bit of tough love, they are now eating more grain which was not a problem before we changed feeders. Thanks to be letting out less, they seem to be approaching the feeder more often so I am hopeful that with complete feed, the calcium intake will improve. They are laying less eggs at the moment (2 instead of 3 or 4 per day) but I think that is better than unformed dropped ones. The weather is rather unusual and much cooler than last year so that may also be having an impact on laying.

wickedwings · **Posted:** Fri Dec 24, 2010 1:54 pm

Roova,
I'm curious, how would you force a hen to moult?

Raf · **Posted:** Sat Dec 25, 2010 7:16 am

You could by artificially changing the climate.

Raf

wickedwings · **Posted:** Sat Dec 25, 2010 8:45 am

To cooler and darker, winter conditions?

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