HELP! Hens laying soft shell/no shell eggs!

[CalBickieMomma]

Hello chicken people!

So here’s my dilemma …

I currently have two hens laying soft or shell-less eggs. I feed the flock All Flock and Feather Fixer with scratch offered every other day. I have a dish I keep full with oyster shell and clean, dried egg shells for them at all times.

Just yesterday, I lost one of my hens - a third hen with laying issues. She had exhibited egg issues a few months ago (laying the soft shell eggs and then no eggs at all. I suspect she had peritonitis or something else internal that led to ascites).

I treated the flock for worms in early June (used SafeGuard and didn’t give them the full dose in case they had a worm overload that might put them into shock if the worms all died at once). I plan to worm them again in late fall.

I‘m not sure what is going on. One of the hens who just laid a shell-less egg is a RIR like the one that died (got them in the same batch at the feed store and I guess there is a slim chance they are biological sisters and maybe they have a genetic defect that is causing these issues).

I don’t feed them layer pellets because I have a bantam rooster in with them and have read too much calcium can cause organ damage. Now I’m wondering if I should mix the All Flock, Feather Fixer, and Lay Pellets together and take my chances with harming the roo. Could my hens not be absorbing calcium for some reason? The other hen is an EE I adopted from someone who was laying fine when she first arrived (she could be older than I think and maybe that is what’s going on with her?).

Most of my girls are only two years old (including the RIR who died and the current one who laid the shell-less egg), and most of them are laying eggs with normal shells on them. I also have an 8 year old Barred Rock who still lays eggs every now and then - with hard shells.

I’m not super concerned about getting more eggs, just worried about my baby girls getting sick and dying. Anyone have any advice? I have been giving the two girls two calcium pills a day (probably only 400 mg because the serving size says 4 pills and that’s 800 mg). Thanks for any feedback!

 

[rosemarythyme]

What's the calcium in the feather fixer feed you're using? Only asking because I've seen feeds labeled as such that have as much calcium as layer.

I feed half layer pellets and half grower to dilute down the calcium a little/raise protein a little in their overall diet (no roo but some of my girls have stopped laying). I would cut out layer entirely but I can't find a grower pellet they'll eat and some of the birds don't want to eat oyster shell either so this puts a little extra calcium in them.

I do still supplement oyster shell mixed into wet feed for birds that I know have thinner shells that absolutely don't want to eat the oyster shell.

 

[CalBickieMomma]

The website says there is between 3.25% and 3.75% calcium in the Nutrena brand of Feather Fixer. But I’m looking to add in more calcium in the hopes that it’s just a calcium deficiency (and not a genetic or reproductive issue that I have no way of fixing) that’s the issue.

I was searching around on the Internet for options and read somewhere that after 18 months of age, extra calcium doesn’t have much of an effect on roos. Whether that’s true or not, I’m going to go ahead and get some layer pellets or crumble and mix it in with the other two. If that’ll help my girls, it’s worth the risk to the roo .

 

[rosemarythyme]

The website says there is between 3.25% and 3.75% calcium in the Nutrena brand of Feather Fixer. But I’m looking to add in more calcium in the hopes that it’s just a calcium deficiency (and not a genetic or reproductive issue that I have no way of fixing) that’s the issue.

I was searching around on the Internet for options and read somewhere that after 18 months of age, extra calcium doesn’t have much of an effect on roos. Whether that’s true or not, I’m going to go ahead and get some layer pellets or crumble and mix it in with the other two. If that’ll help my girls, it’s worth the risk to the roo .

Probably doesn't hurt to try short term at least to see if you get any improvement (if you do, you should see it in 1-2 weeks max).

Although with the calcium in the feather fixer you might as well just feed that, rather than try to mix 3 different feeds, as 1/3rd of all flock, feather fixer and layer will equal about the same amount of calcium as just the feather fixer.

 

[CalBickieMomma]

Probably doesn't hurt to try short term at least to see if you get any improvement (if you do, you should see it in 1-2 weeks max).

Although with the calcium in the feather fixer you might as well just feed that, rather than try to mix 3 different feeds, as 1/3rd of all flock, feather fixer and layer will equal about the same amount of calcium as just the feather fixer.

Good point. I already have a good supply of the Feather Fixer mixed with All Flock (refilled my bins about a week ago) and I do have a few more roos in their own space (so I can keep feeding them the All Flock/FF mix without the added Layer Pellets). I also have two 19 week old pullets who will be laying any day now, so starting off with the three feed mix to transition them into the layer pellets might not be a bad idea. Anyway, keeping my fingers crossed this helps with the shell issue. Thanks again for all the advice!

 

[LaFleche]

Do your birds have free access to granite grit all the time? Lack of proper grit can lead to them refusing the oyster shells as they will not be able to break them down properly without grit.

Try a calcium supplement containing vitamin D3 and K1 as well, as this helps with the uptake.

 

[RobinGel]

Could my hens not be absorbing calcium for some reason?

Yes... if it's been really hot they have difficulty absorbing the calcium. During hotspells I give my girls canned salmon and/or plain sardines in water.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that if it's too hot for my girls to lay good eggs... feeding them more easily absorbable calcium doesn't actually help them to absorb the calcium... whereas cooling them down will help with calcium absorption. So I keep canned salmon & sardines in the frig for them.

 

[CalBickieMomma]

Do your birds have free access to granite grit all the time? Lack of proper grit can lead to them refusing the oyster shells as they will not be able to break them down properly without grit.

Try a calcium supplement containing vitamin D3 and K1 as well, as this helps with the uptake.

I’ve never offered grit because I live in an area that is basically sand and figured that would be enough (since the egg shell problem never been an issue in the past). Now I’m wondering if I should try adding some into their oyster shell mix …

 

[CalBickieMomma]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone! I’ll try out these different suggestions and see if it helps .

 

[JustCallMeMaple]

All good advice above. You could crush eggshells and feed those as well to give a boost. Chickens will eat eggs and eggshells for their nutrients if given to them. I found when working with some hens in the scrap bucket that was used they would throw in eggshells to be crushed so there was more options for vitamins and minerals with those tasty scraps.