⠀ Cracked eggs

[wyothom]

I use a grain mix that has 5% calcium and I have oyster shell always available to my flock of 85 hens, but I get about 10% cracked eggs nevertheless. is there something else in the diet that could be missing to account for the cracking? I maintain straw bedding in their nest boxes. what are other people's experiences? Thanks all!

 

[Ralphf10]

Are the shells thin or are the chickens abusive. It sounds like the feed is right. I started getting cracked or broken eggs so I put a wood egg in each of the nest and pick up the eggs more often, my problem was solved. I do keep the egg shells we consume and feed them back to the chickens in power form.

 

[wyothom]

It varies, but a common feature is a "spider web crack", crack lines radiating from the end of the egg. Sometimes there is a hole. Looks like an impact point from the egg dropping. So I make sure there is adequate bedding, but doesn't have an effect.

 

[Purina]

Great question, wyothom! You can provide egg shells to your hens as a calcium source. Just be aware that there could be some issues with this approach:

1. The calcium in egg shells is not as available to the animal as oyster shell.

2. Your birds will have to eat more egg shells to get the same amount of calcium from oyster shell.

3. You could be teaching your birds that eating egg shells are ok, which could lead them to start eating the eggs that they are laying.

If you do feed eggshells, be sure that you are drying and cleaning the egg shells prior to giving them to your birds. You could be feeding the hens bacteria that you do not want them to have and could potentially make them sick.

If you are feeding a complete layer feed with Oyster Strong

System, remember that Oyster Strong

is incorporated into the diet. In most cases, you should not need to supplement oyster shell when you are feeding a diet with the Oyster Strong

System. You can visit www.OysterStrong.com to learn more.