Thin thin thin shells.

[Abriana]

Offer a small dish of calcium free-choice. The hens laying thin-shelled eggs will eat it as needed, as well as the others if they feel the need. I put mine in a little flowerpot base and that works great, or you could put it in a disposable pie tin.

 

[Folly's place]

Your hen might have a health issue, or be eating an unbalanced diet. She may not eat the oyster shell when it's available (should be full time, IMO) and she may also be eating too many goodies, rather than her main diet. Try feeding little or no extra veggies and having the oyster shell available all day. An all flock feed might be a better choice too, or at least an 18% protein feed.
Mary

 

[suderm]

Mine refuse to touch the "oyster shell" that looks like drywall crumbles.
I switched to Pacific Pearl brand and mine readily consume them.

https://www.lindmarine.com/services-products/oyster-shell-calcium-for-poultry/

It made a huge difference in my birds.

That said if there are to many treats it can disrupt laying.

Yeah I have the dumor "oyster shell" and it doesn't look anything like that.

Can too many leafy greens really make them not lay (or lay these thin eggs)? I figured in nature they are more likely to bump into some greens than pellets so I figured every day was probably better for their diet.

 

[suderm]

Your hen might have a health issue, or be eating an unbalanced diet. She may not eat the oyster shell when it's available (should be full time, IMO) and she may also be eating too many goodies, rather than her main diet. Try feeding little or no extra veggies and having the oyster shell available all day. An all flock feed might be a better choice too, or at least an 18% protein feed.
Mary

I am going to try it out. No veg for a while. I kicked it up lately especially because, well, winter in Pennsylvania. Calcium is available all day.

 

[MissChick@dee]

If you’re feeding spinach it can hinder calcium absorption from foods by your hens.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Yeah I have the dumor "oyster shell" and it doesn't look anything like that.

Can too many leafy greens really make them not lay (or lay these thin eggs)? I figured in nature they are more likely to bump into some greens than pellets so I figured every day was probably better for their diet.

Yes some veggies can interfere with calcium absorption. I know Spinach is one.

The interesting thing is when ranging they have choices about what green thing they eat. When confined they get what we give so may eat more of some things that are better im smaller quantities.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Since it's just the one hen, then likely she has something else going on. Could be a shell gland defect, maybe she is not absorbing nutrients like she should, she could be eating more goodies than the others, she's not picking up oyster shells....the list can go on.

You can try a couple of things. Give her extra calcium for a 5-7days to see if there is improvement or limit treats.
If you want to give her extra calcium give 1/2 tablet Caltrate (or store brand) daily.

 

[MissChick@dee]

It sounds so simple but it really does work for me. TUMS adds a shot of calcium to their system. Just from my experiences with my chickens when I have a hen that sits and sits and seems to be having difficulties. I’ll give some TUMS and they’ll lay (usually my young first timers). IMHO it helps.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

It sounds so simple but it really does work for me. TUMS adds a shot of calcium to their system. Just from my experiences with my chickens when I have a hen that sits and sits and seems to be having difficulties. I’ll give some TUMS and they’ll lay (usually my young first timers). IMHO it helps.

TUMS are great to have on hand for an "emergency" like that. I have used it in the same manner. I believe it's absorbed fairly quickly. The calcium helps with contractions which in turn helps push out a soft shell egg or even helps with retention when there is a prolapse.

The Caltrate also has D3 which helps with absorption of Calcium which would be important in this particular circumstance where the hen is laying very thin shells consistently. It's worth a try to see if extra Calcium makes a difference, it may not, for instance if there is a shell gland defect, likely there will be no difference.

 

[ChickNanny13]

2x about the Oyster Shells and cutting our the "treats" ... Learned my lesson how treats does take away from the nutritional value of their feed which is what they need.

Anyways, to figure out who's laying the thin shell, I've read about putting food coloring on the vent so when the egg is laid it smears onto the eggshell. Never tried it, I only have 4BOs & when they first started laying I "stalked" them. Learned in the past couple years how the eggs can differ in color, weight & shape ... Shape is how I determine whose laid, egg color tends to change, I'm too lazy to weigh