Eggs paper thin!!

[GoldenSparrow]

Hi,
My hen Early is 3 years old. She was never a great egg layer, but she did lay eggs maybe every other day. Now she lays eggs maybe 1 a week if that. Her eggs have always been very soft shelled. Now the eggs she lays are paper thin, and she lays them like poop! Sanding up and all. The yoke is not there, I don’t think her bodies fully forming the eggs. The paper eggs are not even together it’s more like a strip of paper. We do supply oyster shells, but she won’t eat them. She’s very picky
Is this soothing I should be worried about??
What should I do about it?

We really want her to hatch eggs this year, but they don’t have to be her eggs. I would be devastated if anything happened to her

Thank so much

 

[mandereli]

I'm sorry you are worried. That certainly sounds like a nutritional problem, especially if your hen won't eat Oyster Shell. I would try supplementing additional calcium into her diet to see if that helps, and then at least potentially rule out something else.

Is this a free-range hen? Sometimes I let my chickens free-range out in the yard, but with dogs around I just don't trust it, so when I mow the lawn I take chunks of fresh-cut grass and lay them in piles (not spread out) in the coop and they love it. This especially helps if they aren't getting to eat weeds and grass naturally. Also, you can try crushing the oyster shells a bit more and mixing them into the regular feed to trick them into eating it. Any leafy greens help and I've also read (but never tried) crushing up regular egg shells and giving that back to them as well (cleaned out).

I've also seen that the alternatives to Oyster Shell are Calcium Grit and Lime Sand, but I've tried neither.

Good Luck!
~Amanda

 

[bryan99705]

Are you giving her scratch instead of layer mix?

I did that on some birds I picked up to butcher and the eggs shells went thin in about 24 hours.

 

[ChooksChick]

You can use a capful of the liquid calcium found in the goat section of the feed store, and you can also crush up fruit flavored tums for her. I would get on it quickly, too, because she will end up with yolk peritonitis if she keeps this up, and you'll lose her.

Do you have other chickens? They shouldn't be alone. Edited to add: Nevermind, missed that part in the original post.

 

[GoldenSparrow]

Thank you All

she did lay a solid egg today,

I feed her layer pellets. I will give her greens, and egg shells.

yolk peritonitis if she keeps this up, and you'll lose her.

what is this, and how is it caused?

she is not free range, but we do let the hens out when were around.

Thank you all​