Thin shelled eggs.

I have been having a problem with soft shelled eggs. I have oyster shell available free choice but noticed that they have not been eating it. So I crushed some up and put it in some corn bred. It cured one of the hens but I still have a couple who are still laying the soft ones. I feed them layer pellets. And I do offer them crushed egg shells when available. I am stumped. Thank you in advance for any advice.

chickathon said:

I have been having a problem with soft shelled eggs. I have oyster shell available free choice but noticed that they have not been eating it. So I crushed some up and put it in some corn bred. It cured one of the hens but I still have a couple who are still laying the soft ones. I feed them layer pellets. And I do offer them crushed egg shells when available. I am stumped. Thank you in advance for any advice.

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where in thier laying cycle are they, have they been laying for a while? you might need to force rest them, force them thru a moulting so they stop laying, then hope that the problem corrects itself. are they heavy layers, eg. an egg a day, that can deplete thier calcium reserves, again a rest can fix that.

Here's some information:

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publi...ndbook/16/thinshelled-eggs-and-shellless-eggs

Here's a list of other food items that a good sources of calcium.


1. Spinach & Swiss Chard
2. Salmon & Sardines (canned with bones)
3. Mustard, Collard, Kale & Turnip greens
4. Shellfish
5. Blackstrap molasses (can cause runny stools)
6. Corn Tortillas
7. Yogurt
8. Mozzarella & Cheddar cheese
9. Milk, Buttermilk (goat's milk and cow's milk)
10. Basil, thyme, dill seed, cinnamon, and peppermint leaves
11. Romaine lettuce
12. Rhubarb
13. Almonds, Peanuts & Brazil Nuts

14. Black Beans, Dried Beans (Cooked)
15. Sesame seeds
16. Fennel
17. Cabbage, Bok Choy, & Chinese cabbage
18. Summer squash
19. Green beans
20. Garlic
21. Tofu & Soybeans
22. Brussel sprouts & Broccoli
23. Oranges (Some people do not feed citrus to chickens)
24. Asparagus & Okra
25. Crimini mushrooms
26. Foods Fortified with Calcium: Some Orange Juice, Breads, & Cereals

Imp- Good luck

I'm having the same problem - I have a hen that took a full YEAR to start laying. She finally started this January, and has been laying an egg nearly every day. For the last few weeks all have had paper-thin shells, many break in the nest box and today I know someone ate one as a result. The other six hens in my group are all doing fine - all eat the same food and there is always oyster shell free-choice. I've been trying to up the calcium intake by adding oyster shell to their veggies, along with yogurt. No luck. So I'm thinking maybe I need to make her molt, but I don't know how. Any advice or other ideas would be VERY much appreciated - this is one of my favorite hens and I don't want to cull her.

brahmapapa said:

where in their laying cycle are they, have they been laying for a while? you might need to force rest them, force them thru a moulting so they stop laying, then hope that the problem corrects itself. are they heavy layers, eg. an egg a day, that can deplete thier calcium reserves, again a rest can fix that.

Click to expand...

yeah my leghorn is about 9 months old and been cranking an egg a day for about 3 months. I have been impressed. she is the only leghorn in my flock of 4 and the smallest. her eggs have not only been getting thinner but the exterior surface has gotten really rough and bumpy. is that indicative of any thing else in particular?
How do you force a molt so they stop laying??

I know this thread is old but for anyone looking for info through a web search (like I just did) I want to put this here.

Rhubarb is poisonous to chickens. Never give your chickens rhubarb and to be on the safe side, do not give them access to rhubarb plants.

Was this list designed as calcium sources for chickens or is it a general list? There are a few items on this list should not be fed to chickens like dried beans, nuts, corn tortillas, rhubarb, and oranges. Please double and triple and quadruple check your sources. Seems to be so many articles floating about on the web with very wrong info on keeping chickens.

As an aside, one bit of good advice I have received on dealing with thin shelled eggs (especially in the case of older hens) is not giving them so many extra treats. It is sort of the counter to loading them up from lists like this. A tough love strict diet of balanced layer pellets plus their free range time or some extra chopped greens like spinach and broccoli (not too much) seems to be helping quite a lot. It's so tempting to indulge them. It's cute and funny to throw them grapes and mealworms and feed them pasta and they love it...but it's the equivalent of loading them up on junk food and will cause health problems like thin shelled eggs or worse. Best treat for chickens is to give them so foraging time to hunt bugs and eat short grass and clover. An occasional treat like grapes or cucumber on a hot day or a small amount of scratch on a very cold day is good but too many treats. Some people are feeding treats every day and this is not good for your birds.