Extremely Thin Shells-can't seem to remedy

[Colberon]

Update: unfortunately not much to update…I stopped mealworms and treats entirely for the past 10 days and the extremely thin shells continue with this morning one almost like rubber. The only “treats” that they have had is frozen water with maybe a tablespoon of scratch in it one on a hot day, two small pieces of watermelon on another day and some crepe cheese once. I should mention that we recently found out that they have mites again after a battle with them last spring, it I have been diligent with cleaning and using permethrin and haven’t seen any in a week and yesterday was day four of the weekly treatments. They are missing feathers a lot of feathers on their backs from an aggressive rooster which we regimes 3 weeks ago. Oh, and have oyster shells but don’t touch them.

 

[50-45-1]

Aggresive rooster should go, ASAP.
He is adding to the hens stress
. Constantly trying to regrow feathers puts added burden on your hens systems
I am curious how much room this flock has.
These hens may soon develop deadly reproductive issues due to soft shell.
Keep the oyster shell avaliable. Cut treets so the bulk of there nutrition is not diluted. Feed high quality layer feed that is fresh but expired .
If they can get some ranging time on fresh grass,natural grit and bugs, this to will help there overall health and happiness.
Good luck with your girls!

 

[Colberon]

Aggresive rooster should go, ASAP.
He is adding to the hens stress
. Constantly trying to regrow feathers puts added burden on your hens systems
I am curious how much room this flock has.
These hens may soon develop deadly reproductive issues due to soft shell.
Keep the oyster shell avaliable. Cut treets so the bulk of there nutrition is not diluted. Feed high quality layer feed that is fresh but expired .
If they can get some ranging time on fresh grass,natural grit and bugs, this to will help there overall health and happiness.
Good luck with your girls!

The rooster was re-homed nearly a month ago! The four hens have a 5x15 foot run as wee as 16 sq. ft. under their coop where they love to dig and dust bathe. We live in Northern Maine and I’ve had several of our hands killed over the years by various animals such as raccoons, fox and last summer a bear ripped into our run so they don’t get out to free range often, but I do try to let them out during the summer at least once a week to roam around near the coop and run while I’m outside with them. They always have oyster shells available but don’t seem to be interested. I’m kind of at my wits end about this…

 

[50-45-1]

Glad your roo is gone
I offer oyster shell 24/7/365 and very seldom see anyone at it. But I know they do as I have to top up the hopper every 6 months or so
I also offer granite grit, EVEN though I free range, AND there feed is crumbled. Why? Because a chicken does not have teeth to chew, they need grit in there gizzard to grind their food. Otherwise it may just pass through and not absolve or be absorbed so the hen gets all the nutrients it contains.
Grit is cheep and lasts a long time. My last bag lasted 3 years and it's a good preventative. Your hens may not have enough grit to grind the oyster shell you are giving them.
I hope your girls recover

 

[Parront]

Your 2 oldest are 3 or 4 you say above. If they are sex-links or some other high production birds, that could be the reason their eggs are getting thin shells. Toward the end of summer all your birds are going to be molting soon, which will give their system a chance to recover from a summer of heavy laying. When I give my birds some treat like scratch, I mix 1/2 oyster shell in with, and have seen them eat it with the treat.

 

[Acre4Me]

Have you tried calcium citrate?

 

[Colberon]

Have you tried calcium citrate?

Never heard of it; info?

 

[Acre4Me]

Never heard of it; info?

Post #10 in this thread, I added info about calcium citrate. It is used for situations like this.

 

[Colberon]

Agree, lay off the treats. A new “treat” is the wet mash made from feed+water. Add some seeds or berries on top of it, if you want.

if they are still laying thin eggs after 10-14 days of only feed with access to oyster shell, you can try the remedy for soft-shells. Buy calcium citrate tablets (smaller dose is fine) crush up a tablet and add to “treat” like small amount of wet mash or scrambled egg. Only use this a few days and see if there is improvement. But, don’t think it it’s meant to be an every day thing, so if it helps, perhaps 1-2x per week will work. Discontinue when they are molting/not laying.

Where would I purchase the calcium citrate tablets?

 

[Acre4Me]

Where would I purchase the calcium citrate tablets?

Walgreens or similar in the human supplement aisle. Get a lower dose tablet (I think I got “mini” tablets), crush up, add to a small bit of wet food or scrambled egg.