Hens brooding & not eating oyster shell

[Debbie10]

I have 38 hens and 9 out of those 38 are constantly staying in the nest. We have to pick them up to get the eggs from under them.We even have 2 at a time in one nest although we have 18 nest in the coop. Also, they are not eating the grit & oyster shell like they need to be. I put it in with their food and in separate dishes. I am getting soft shell eggs & yesterday I actually got an egg That had only the film around the yolk. Any suggestions?

 

[liz9910]

Welcome to BYC! The hens that stay in the nest are considered "broody" and this is a hormonal thing where they want to hatch chicks. The only way to break them of sitting is to put them in a wire cage with food and water for a few days (no bedding). They will go back to laying eggs. If you only have hens I would feed them layer feed, which has calcium in it already. Another reason for soft shelled eggs could be that they need to be wormed. Good luck to you. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/maintaining-a-healthy-flock you should check out this forum, lots of helpful information.

 

[Debbie10]

Thanks for your response. We do worm them as needed by the directions on the bottle. I give them pellets & crumbles mix together with the oyster shell & the grit. I also put it in separate dishes for them.

 

[TwoCrows]

Welcome to BYC!

Sounds like they are broody and broodies don't eat well. Are these birds free ranging? If they are, they may not be eating enough of their layer feed. If they are filling up on other things and not getting enough calcium in the layer feed, this will cause soft and shell less eggs. So make sure their feed is the main stay of their diet. Between the layer feed (and make sure you are feeding layer and not flock raiser) and oystershell on the side, they should be getting enough calcium to put the shell on.

You can also post this in our Behavior and Egg Laying Forums if you continue to have issues...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/18/chicken-behaviors-and-egglaying

I hope you can get this solved soon.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! You've gotten some good advice above. What breed do you have that you have that many going broody at the same time? Are they all staying on the nests at night? How many soft shelled eggs are you getting? The Poultry Site has a nice article on thin or shell less eggs http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publi...ndbook/16/thinshelled-eggs-and-shellless-eggs

 

[gander007]