Extremely fragile eggs

[minaayindra]

I have a Black Copper Marans hen who is now 7 1/2 months old. She is a healthy gal and has always been real positive and stress-free. When she laid her first few eggs at 20 weeks, they were soft-shelled and one seemed to have no shell at all. This resolved within that first week. Now, in the last 2 weeks she has laid her routine egg every day and they have been so fragile that they are either crushed in the nest box or crack easily as soon as I touch them. The other BCM hen has none of these issues. I feed them layer feed, put out calcium for them to snack on, yet hers have stayed fragile. In other words, I’ve done everything I can think of by other recommendations but hers are still in paper-thin shells. Does anyone have any ideas about why or what can be done?

 

[DobieLover]

I have a Black Copper Marans hen who is now 7 1/2 months old. She is a healthy gal and has always been real positive and stress-free. When she laid her first few eggs at 20 weeks, they were soft-shelled and one seemed to have no shell at all. This resolved within that first week. Now, in the last 2 weeks she has laid her routine egg every day and they have been so fragile that they are either crushed in the best box or crack easily as soon as I touch them. The other BCM hen has none of these issues. I feed them layer feed, put out calcium for them to snack on, yet hers have stayed fragile. In other words, I’ve done everything I can think of by other recommendations but hers are still in paper-thin shells. Does anyone have any ideas about why or what can be done?

Sometimes it takes a while for new layers to really get into the swing of things including eating the oyster shell. What I've done to help that is mix oyster shell with Greek yogurt then offer that to all the pullets. They eat it like candy and get their calcium infusion. I'd do that every other day for about a week then just toss a handful of oyster shell out with some scratch occasionally. That usually does the trick.

 

[Kat2141]

I keep oyster shell available, but mine LOVE their own egg shells... I save them up and crush them real fine before giving them back... and no, they don't break and eat their eggs

 

[minaayindra]

Sometimes it takes a while for new layers to really get into the swing of things including eating the oyster shell. What I've done to help that is mix oyster shell with Greek yogurt then offer that to all the pullets. They eat it like candy and get their calcium infusion. I'd do that every other day for about a week then just toss a handful of oyster shell out with some scratch occasionally. That usually does the trick.

Thanks for the idea- I give them Greek yogurt on rare occasions, usually with a little fruit mixed in, but I never thought of throwing calcium chips in. I’ll try that for the next few weeks and see what happens.

 

[minaayindra]

I keep oyster shell available, but mine LOVE their own egg shells... I save them up and crush them real fine before giving them back... and no, they don't break and eat their eggs

I’m glad you said that about egg eating because that’s all I’ve been told, to never let them have eggshells or any uncooked egg if you don’t want raging cannibals. I’m so crazy to avoid it that I spend time washing off any hard-boiled eggs I peel for them to avoid getting even the tiniest fragment of shell! I’m scared to try but I could start with my loving couple and see if they have any problems. If they are okay, I can segue to the big girls coop and see how that goes. Thanks!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Even though you have oyster shell available, are you sure she's eating it? I have one bird that will not eat it straight up so I mix a bit into a small amount of fermented feed and feed her a private breakfast 3x a week while she's laying, and it fixed her fragile shell issue.

 

[aart]

put out calcium for them to snack on

How is this offered?
Best to have a small feeder with oyster shell in it always available.
Can also sprinkle just a bit on top of the feed to 'introduce' it...
..and/or sprinkle just a bit of scratch grains on top of the calcium feeder.
Have done this with pullets and it worked.

Making sure she gets some daily for a week, like @rosemarythyme does,
will determine if she's lacking calcium intake or just not processing it properly.
Some birds just have wonky digestive systems or shell glands.

 

[minaayindra]

Even though you have oyster shell available, are you sure she's eating it? I have one bird that will not eat it straight up so I mix a bit into a small amount of fermented feed and feed her a private breakfast 3x a week while she's laying, and it fixed her fragile shell issue.

No, I’m not sure she is eating it. I might have misunderstood since I thought the hens just ate it straight and with enthusiasm. I put it down, it always disappears, but I don’t know who or how many eat it. I do know I’ve sprinkled it in one spot on their sand flooring and also put it in a bowl to eat. I’m not sure how to catch them in action! What is fermented feed and can you tell this is my first year, ever, with chickens? lol

 

[minaayindra]

How is this offered?
Best to have a small feeder with oyster shell in it always available.
Can also sprinkle just a bit on top of the feed to 'introduce' it...
..and/or sprinkle just a bit of scratch grains on top of the calcium feeder.
Have done this with pullets and it worked.

Making sure she gets some daily for a week, like @rosemarythyme does,
will determine if she's lacking calcium intake or just not processing it properly.
Some birds just have wonky digestive systems or shell glands.

I try putting it in bowls so I have more of an idea how much is being eaten but these are the “big girls” who usually turn it over (and everything else not nailed down). Any recommends on a feeder that they won’t be able to tip over in their enthusiasm?

 

[aart]

also put it in a bowl to eat. I’m not sure how to catch them in action!

I just watch the level, if it goes down they are eating it
If I get soft/thin shells, someone is not then I sprinkle.