Hen still laying half-softies

[Judiv]

One of my 4 hens, Ameraucana @ 37 weeks old, has been laying VERY thin shelled eggs for a few months now. Posted a thread Feb 10th about a softie laid (after a snow fall freaked the hens out so they wouldn't get in the egg box to lay). They still have OS available, I give some ES almost daily, tried other suggestions like yogurt, which they do NOT like, still getting eggs from her that have extremely thin shells and almost no shell on one end. other 3 hens lay nice hard shells.
Got new feed so they're getting fresh/good nutrition, rarely give snacks so they eat the layer feed, offering scratch grains and Fly Grubs for the extra calcium. They do free range all day. NOTE: she lays daily at 11am and skips a day occasionally. Is she laying before the shell is done forming? < 25 hours for egg formation? Does she need veterinarian intervention? Hubby keeps threatening to get rid of her. :'(
Todays egg pic...

 

[rosemarythyme]

Have you tried supplementing calcium directly to her? Some people use pills/tablets and feed them directly to the chicken. I mix some oyster shell into wet or fermented feed in a little dish and put the dish and the problem bird somewhere she can eat by herself, and she can come out when done.

If directly supplementing calcium in some form doesn't improve things in a week or two then it's possible it's some glitch in her reproductive system that's causing the issue, instead of lack of calcium.

 

[Judiv]

Thanks. Good idea. I'll try it since nothing else seems to help.

 

[Judiv]

So disappointed that my Smokie girl still can't seem to lay a normal egg. Tried everything. Not very interested in OS or ES. When I added extra calcium and protein (she feels skinny and is much smaller than the others) I got 2 eggs with a full shell, though thin. But keepers! then another week of broken and flattened eggs and even another softie. Poor chickie!! maybe she's not meant to be a layer, but she's still trying! Makes a mess to clean up daily, though.

 

[WhyDoILikeChickens]

I leave out a couple egg shells on the counter to dry for a day or 2 then crush them up for calcium. A couple times a week I give 2-3 eggs worth of shell for 10 hens. They also get leftover eggs but not a lot, too much protein makes their poop runny.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I am not an expert, and in fact consider myself novice to chickens keeping, but my ladies have never ever willingly ate oyster shells when provided as free choice. They do such a good job free ranging that when spring hits their feed consumption decreases dramatically so that I mix their egg shells into their scratch feed and oyster shells directly into their feed. I only do this if I notices the shells are getting thinner.

 

[rosemarythyme]

When I added extra calcium and protein (she feels skinny and is much smaller than the others) I got 2 eggs with a full shell, though thin. But keepers! then another week of broken and flattened eggs and even another softie.

She might always need extra calcium supplemented in, at least during laying season. Kind of a hassle, but at least you'll get some usable eggs out of it, and less mess.

 

[SweetKeeks5]

Crush up egg shells or oyster shells and mix it in with their food

 

[Judiv]

I leave out a couple egg shells on the counter to dry for a day or 2 then crush them up for calcium. A couple times a week I give 2-3 eggs worth of shell for 10 hens. They also get leftover eggs but not a lot, too much protein makes their poop runny.

Good to know about the runny poops. I'll try offering a little more ES.

 

[Judiv]

She might always need extra calcium supplemented in, at least during laying season. Kind of a hassle, but at least you'll get some usable eggs out of it, and less mess.

Thanks! I'm not quite ready to give up on her since she's just 9 months old.