Broken eggs, thin shelled

[SusiesPeeps]

I've been having problems with soft shells. I pulverized some oyster shells in an old coffee grinder to give my pullets. For my 8 birds I combine about a cup of layer pellets with a heaping teaspoon of the pulverized oyster shells and add some water to make mash. I give it to them first thing in the morning, and they gobble it down.

I'm giving this to them once a day for a week to get their calcium levels up. After that I'll see how they do with their layer feed and oyster shells on the side, always available.

I searched for a thread about eggs without shells and rubber membrane eggs because very suddenly I have found one of each on consecutive evenings in one of the nests. I have 5 3-year-old hens (1 Barred Rock, 1 Buff Orpington, 1 Cinnamon Queen, 1 Light Brahma, and 1 Jersey Giant) who have been good layers. They give me 3-4 beautiful eggs each day. None of them appears ill - all are eating, foraging, and drinking normally. After collecting 4 eggs from them earlier in the day, suddenly, last night, while locking them in the coop, we found a torn egg with a rubbery shell in their run and, tonight, after collecting 3 eggs earlier, we found a complete egg with whole yolk but no shell, in a nestbox that also contains 2 fake eggs. Never saw anything like these before and, judging from the eggs I collected yesterday and today, I suspect the layer of these eggs is either the Jersey Giant or the Light Brahma. All hens have access to oyster shell. I also give them yogurt twice per week and apple cider vinegar in one of their waterers daily. Commercial layer feed is in their automatic feeder but each day they get a "snack" of organic layer feed with chamomile and calendula "tea" poured on it. They free range with supervision for a couple of hours each day. No obvious illnesses or trauma. No intruders in the raised coop with hardware cloth underground as well. Would appreciate any help. Not sure if adding even more calcium is the thing to do at this time.

 

[aart]

I also give them yogurt twice per week and apple cider vinegar in one of their waterers daily. Commercial layer feed is in their automatic feeder but each day they get a "snack" of organic layer feed with chamomile and calendula "tea" poured on it.

Have you always given these things?
I'd cut out the ACV as it can inhibit calcium uptake.

If you live in the northern hemisphere, the shortening days are shutting down egg production getting ready to molt, you can get some weird eggs at that time.

 

[SusiesPeeps]

Have you always given these things?
I'd cut out the ACV as it can inhibit calcium uptake.

If you live in the northern hemisphere, the shortening days are shutting down egg production getting ready to molt, you can get some weird eggs at that time.

Thanks for the response. I've been giving ACV in one waterer for the past several months since a couple of the hens were getting what appeared to be vent gleet. Took them to the vet and she suggested giving the ACV water in one waterer while the other is plain water. Since the ACV the vent gleet has stopped. She also suggested a little yogurt once or twice a week. Since I've been giving these, my Jersey Giant has been laying regularly. The vet never mentioned about ACV inhibiting calcium uptake, so that's interesting. Today, again, there were no behavioral changes in the hens. They all ate, pooped, foraged, drank normally. I'm inclined to think your statement about the oncoming molting season could be causing these strange occurrences is right on. Much appreciated.

 

[Kellow1]

Have you tried mixing some crushed eggshell into the oyster shell container? Some birds prefer eggshell instead of oyster shell.

I would feed egg shells and oyster shells separately. These are two types of calcium.

 

[Kellow1]

Thanks for the reply. Is the oyster actually in each pellet, or is just a bag of pellets and oyster shells mixed together?

The Purina chicken feed named Oyster Strong has the shells included in the pellets. This helps to make strong shells.

 

[Kellow1]

Thanks for the response. I've been giving ACV in one waterer for the past several months since a couple of the hens were getting what appeared to be vent gleet. Took them to the vet and she suggested giving the ACV water in one waterer while the other is plain water. Since the ACV the vent gleet has stopped. She also suggested a little yogurt once or twice a week. Since I've been giving these, my Jersey Giant has been laying regularly. The vet never mentioned about ACV inhibiting calcium uptake, so that's interesting. Today, again, there were no behavioral changes in the hens. They all ate, pooped, foraged, drank normally. I'm inclined to think your statement about the oncoming molting season could be causing these strange occurrences is right on. Much appreciated.

Just make sure they have lots of plain water in addition to the ACV water.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I would feed egg shells and oyster shells separately. These are two types of calcium.

Why would you feed it separately? They mostly pick out eggshell first, then the oyster is left until next refill. Both do the job to supply calcium so there's no reason to separate, unlike digestive grit vs oyster shell.

 

[Kellow1]

Why would you feed it separately? They mostly pick out eggshell first, then the oyster is left until next refill. Both do the job to supply calcium so there's no reason to separate, unlike digestive grit vs oyster shell.

My understanding is that there are two types of calcium for the chicks. You want them to have both so you control their access by separating them. It is also advisable not to add the calcium to their feed because they can get too much and get sick.

 

[rosemarythyme]

My understanding is that there are two types of calcium for the chicks. You want them to have both so you control their access by separating them. It is also advisable not to add the calcium to their feed because they can get too much and get sick.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/soft-damaged-eggs.1452762/#post-24179363

Just from googling: Chicken egg shells are 95-98% calcium carbonate.

Oyster shells are roughly 95% calcium carbonate.

The difference is oyster shells last longer in the digestive tract because the flakes tend to be thicker and larger and slower to dissolve vs the obviously much thinner eggshell. Otherwise they function the same in providing calcium carbonate.

If you have information that contradicts this, please post it.