How do I help buff orpington lay shelled egg again?

[chicklets81]

All of my hens are laying good eggs now, except for 1 buff orpington. Her egg is rubbery with no shell. Someone suggested giving her a tums, but she wont eat it out of my hand when I try and feed it to her. What is the easiest way to help her lay shelled eggs again?

 

[junebuggena]

What are you feeding, and how long has your Orpington been laying?

 

[chicklets81]

Poulin Grain brand layer pellets, and occasional table scraps. Shes 1 1/2 years old, and has been laying maybe a week now, with a total of 5 failed laying attempts (2 rubbery eggs, and 3 yolks smushed on coop floor below her roosting area)

 

[junebuggena]

Most likely she just needs some time for her system to work out the kinks. Shell-less eggs are pretty common in hens that are just getting back into production.

 

[NatJ]

I'd put out a dish of oyster shell so all of your chickens can help themselves whenever they want. Lack of calcium is the most common cause of soft eggs like you describe. I don't know why the other birds are fine and she's not, but maybe she just needs more than the food provides. (You could also crush the shells from eggs you eat and offer them to the flock: it won't supply all the calcium they need, but it might be enough to make a difference for this hen, since the others are apparently doing fine.)

 

[Mrs. K]

Actually, I have kept chickens for years, and have had shell-less eggs too. It is like described above, it is more of a glitch in the egg making system, than a nutritional deficiency. I have at different times put out oyster shell, but really my hens will hardly touch it, and when I don’t have it out, their eggs are still fine.

It has just gone away in my flock, with or without oyster shell. I know it is a bit of a mess, but I am pretty sure it will go away pretty quickly. I know oyster shell is frequently advised, especially in mixed flocks where was is not feeding layer feed, but rather chick feed or grower feed. But I have not seen a clear correlation between good hard eggs and feeding more oyster shell, my birds will hardly touch it.

 

[junebuggena]

Oyster shell is not needed when layer feed is fed. Layer feed contains more than enough calcium for good eggs shells, which is why birds on layer feed hardly touch the oyster shell.

 

[chicklets81]

Thanks for all the info! It looks like there haven't been any "mis-haps" in a day or two, so maybe the kinks are being worked out.