Extremely Thin Shells-can't seem to remedy

[Colberon]

I have four hens and currently two, but sometimes three lays eggs with extremely thin shells and I can't seem to figure out how to remedy. We live in Norther Maine and the four currently reside in a 4x4 coop, but up until a couple of weeks ago we had five hens and a rooster with two 4x4 coops available with a shared run which is 5ft X 15ft. (The four are now together in one coop as we recently rehomed our rooster and we had one hen with water belly and had to be put down a week ago.) We are currently feeding them Dufour 16 % Egg Maxx Pellets. They get 2-3 handfuls of mealworms each day, oyster shells are available and I try to feed them cottage cheese a couple of times a week. It rare that they get any other "treats" except when it's really hot I will give them some watermelon or frozen veggies. I did just find out that we have a mite issue, but I got that right under control in a hurry with Permethrin and they always seem to have this issue. Thoughts anyone??

 

[Colberon]

I have four hens and currently two, but sometimes three lays eggs with extremely thin shells and I can't seem to figure out how to remedy. We live in Norther Maine and the four currently reside in a 4x4 coop, but up until a couple of weeks ago we had five hens and a rooster with two 4x4 coops available with a shared run which is 5ft X 15ft. (The four are now together in one coop as we recently rehomed our rooster and we had one hen with water belly and had to be put down a week ago.) We are currently feeding them Dufour 16 % Egg Maxx Pellets. They get 2-3 handfuls of mealworms each day, oyster shells are available and I try to feed them cottage cheese a couple of times a week. It rare that they get any other "treats" except when it's really hot I will give them some watermelon or frozen veggies. I did just find out that we have a mite issue, but I got that right under control in a hurry with Permethrin and they always seem to have this issue. Thoughts anyone??

 

[rosemarythyme]

How old are these hens? Do you see any sign of them eating the oyster shell?

 

[RojoMarz]

For four hens, I think 2-3 handfuls of meal worms, each day, is too much. I'd stop feeding the meal worms and start giving them mash as a treat. Even though it's regular food, the chickens act like it's a treat.

 

[JaeG]

Mealworms are very high in fat which can cause health and laying issues with hens. I'd give just a small handful as a treat maybe once a week at most. The best food they can have is the formulated layer food, and maybe give a couple of handfuls of grains if you want to give them a little treat. Sprouted grains such as wheat are also a good treat, but you might have to experiment with what stage your girls like it at - ours like it just starting to sprout but other birds like it when it has a proper little green shoot.

I would cut out all treats for a little while and see if that makes a difference to the quality of the egg shells.

 

[GC-Raptor]

Yep, stop the mealworms for a week and nothing but Egg Max feed.
The Layers feed has enough Calcium but only if they eat enough. For large foul chickens that's about 2/3 of a cup of feed for each chicken.

To give 4 chickens a treat measure a half cup of dry feed into a bowl (2 Tbsps per hen) and add about a half cup of water and let the pellets soak till you get a consistency like oatmeal and serve.
My chickens love it.

I feed Crumbles so I add water and serve immediately.
As for treats like mealworms or Scratch Grains give no more than 2 Tbsps each daily, a coffee scoop measure.

During summer temps limit mealworms or Scratch to 1 Tbsp each daily.
Wet mash made with Layers feed can be fed a couple of times daily as long as they finish it within an hour or two. GC

 

[Colberon]

How old are these hens? Do you see any sign of them eating the oyster shell?

Two are 3 or 4, I lost track and the other two are 1.

 

[Colberon]

Mealworms are very high in fat which can cause health and laying issues with hens. I'd give just a small handful as a treat maybe once a week at most. The best food they can have is the formulated layer food, and maybe give a couple of handfuls of grains if you want to give them a little treat. Sprouted grains such as wheat are also a good treat, but you might have to experiment with what stage your girls like it at - ours like it just starting to sprout but other birds like it when it has a proper little green shoot.

I would cut out all treats for a little while and see if that makes a difference to the quality of the egg shells.

Thank you, we'll cut out the mealworms and see if that makes a difference!

 

[Colberon]

Yep, stop the mealworms for a week and nothing but Egg Max feed.
The Layers feed has enough Calcium but only if they eat enough. For large foul chickens that's about 2/3 of a cup of feed for each chicken.

To give 4 chickens a treat measure a half cup of dry feed into a bowl (2 Tbsps per hen) and add about a half cup of water and let the pellets soak till you get a consistency like oatmeal and serve.
My chickens love it.View attachment 2781443
I feed Crumbles so I add water and serve immediately.
As for treats like mealworms or Scratch Grains give no more than 2 Tbsps each daily, a coffee scoop measure.View attachment 2781445
During summer temps limit mealworms or Scratch to 1 Tbsp each daily.
Wet mash made with Layers feed can be fed a couple of times daily as long as they finish it within an hour or two. GC

Thank you for your response, I had a scissor beak that I fed mash to daily and I know she sure loved it, I will give that a try!

 

[Acre4Me]

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.