Hen laying weak shells and breaking and eating eggs

[elanski]

I have 2 not unrelated problems here. One of my hens is always laying weak shelled eggs. Since some of them have broken under her she has realised the contents of the eggs are yummy. So now she has started breaking and eating them.

She gets the same Haygates layers feed she always has and has oyster shell on hand to take whenever she wants it. My other chicken's eggs seem ok but they are a lot older and don't lay very much these days anyway.

She also lives with a rooster so I don't want to start putting calcium in their water in case its too much for him. Unless I separate her from the rest of the flock for a special diet but I know she would hate that.

If anyone can help me, what are my options please?

 

[Finnie]

It is my someday wish to have rollout nest boxes so my chickens can’t reach the eggs. That’s because I don’t have any other solution to egg eaters. People say to get rid of the offender. That’s one possibility if you know who it is.

As far as calcium in the water, you don’t need to do that. If you are providing a layer feed, that should have all the calcium they need. (And more than the rooster needs.) That you also provide oyster grit on the side is a bonus.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If she is just eating an egg that is accidentally broken I do not consider her an egg eater. Many chickens will take advantage of that food source. But if she is actively breaking eggs then I'd eliminate her. Some people have trained hens to stop eating eggs but I don't bother. I'm going to eat some of them anyway so I take the easy way out.

If she is always laying thin or soft-shelled eggs and the others are laying eggs with good shells then there is something wrong with her. She is either not eating enough calcium or she is not properly processing what calcium she eats. Some people solve that by feeding her a calcium supplement tablet you can get at a drug store by putting it on her tongue every day. That doesn't always work but sometimes it does.

If you are determined to keep her I's suggest trying to force feed her more calcium and consider rollaway nests. Or put up with her and the risk she will teach the others to start eating eggs.