Broken Eggs Despite Plenty of Calcium

[tdbrueggen]

I know there are other threads on weak shells and the response seems to always be lack of calcium. Well in my case the feed is said to be balanced with all the calcium they need, and in addition they have free access to a feeder full of oyster shell. I also toss back all the eggs shells that I use, and they get table scraps that have bones and such.

So if it's not a shortage of access to calcium, what could it be? Is it possible they have some other deficiency that inhibits their ability to take up and process the calcium they ingest?

Typically my girls are confined to a 100 SF run but on weekends I try to let them out to free range the yard for a more variety.

Anyway, all the broken eggs is quite frustrating. I have to change nest material almost daily. Just changed it yesterday and had two broken eggs already this morning. I used to get 15 eggs per day from 17 birds. Now I'm lucky to get 8-9 extremely sticky messy eggs.

 

[Eggz]

I have had this problem two times before, for different reasons.
Firstly are you sure that your chickens aren't eating / trying to eat the eggs. This could be a big problem as once they get a taste for the egg yolk it is very difficult to stop them from eating their own eggs.
Secondly I have had this problem because all my chickens like to lay in the same place, and are just clumsy and don't care if they step on another chickens egg. This can be because a place where they usually laid before has become draughty or uncomfortable, and they all try to lay in the same place, so check your coop. Or if you have introduced some younger chickens who are still getting to grips with being careful of other chickens eggs and laying, they could be standing on them.
Thirdly make sure nothing out of the ordinary is bothering them. When we introduce new things my chickens tend to lay less often and break more of there eggs, purely because they don't like change.
Hope this might have helped