Hens won't eat oyster shell

[Juliacone35]

I have similar issues going on. One hen that was laying on a regular basis has only laid one egg 2 weeks ago and it was soft. Tries everyday to lay, but she cannot. She is 8 months old. I had another hen lay an egg yesterday after days of trying and too was soft. I have oyster shells in their coop, I cook them eggs here and there, i have tried small amounts of yogart and nothing seems to help. They are not stressed and free range most of the day.

Hi! This is exactly what I am dealing with now. Were you able to figure anything out to help them?

 

[AloneNTheGarden]

Hi! This is exactly what I am dealing with now. Were you able to figure anything out to help them?

Gosh, I know this is a couple years old, but I’m having a similar issue and I was hoping someone would come back and update.

I have one RIR hen who consistently laid last year, but ever since coming out of winter, she has only laid malformed or soft shelled eggs. I do have to feed a mixed flock feed as I have pullets with her that haven’t come into lay yet, so I have oyster shells available at all times. She doesn’t seem to touch them, though. At first I thought it was just stress because we made a bigger coop and we moved them into it about the time spring rolled around, but she’s been in the new coop for 3 months now, so I would’ve thought she’d adjust by now. All the others have. She free ranges all day, but has access to her food and oyster shells. If it’s not related to calcium deficiency, and I’m pretty sure not health related (she’s her normal self and a comb over of her body showed no signs of issues), I have to wonder if she’s just old. We bought her last spring and we were told she was only 18-20 weeks old at the time. Perhaps not.