I have a mixed flock of one and two year old hens and two roos, BO, RIR, EEs and Russian Orloffs. One or more of my chickens has suddenly been laying eggs without shells. I'm not sure which one. It has encouraged egg eating and so it is possible there have been more. What is causing this? I feed Layena and give oyster shell (although I've made sure the dispenser is full more consistently since finding these eggs) and give BOSS as a treat, as well as Purina Scratch grains. My chickens usually free range but lately have had nothing to forage due to snow on the ground. I have tried to give them extra kitchen scraps and leftovers to keep them happy. But what could be causing the shell less eggs? I do have one that finished molting, three that just started laying and if I had to guess, I would say it is probably one of my one and a half year old Buff Orpingtons, based on the color egg I'm NOT getting as much of lately. Any advice on what to do to prevent this would be appreciated. Or a link to a thread where someone solved this problem?
Some have stopped it with increased calcium, perhaps in your case by cutting back a lot on foods that don't provide calcium. I've also read of additional calcium in the water, I believe formulated for egg layers, but know nothing about this. Evidently some hens need more calcium intake than others to make good eggs. Subscribing, to see if someone knows more about this. Oh, here's a writeup about it: http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publi...ndbook/16/thinshelled-eggs-and-shellless-eggs
