How do I improve the quality of these eggs/shells?

[Missa Chickabee]

Hello all! Have been lurking again (Life has gotten so too busy and I just get so addicted to BYC if I'm not careful so I pop in and out) (Thanks for checking up on me back then Bogtown Chick)

Anyway.....yes, I do think the egg shell problems are at least partially related to the extra,extra long winter we had up here. Which makes me wonder if sunlight is just important for the birds as it is for us....for everything to work well. (My own (for myself) calcium supplement contain vitamin D......necessary for "calcification" of my bones.....so it does make me wonder about that need for Vit D in the chickens.)

I've noticed a decrease in the size of the eggs of a number of my Buff Orps.

Last fall when my girls started laying, I had a couple that laid shell-less eggs for a period of two months or so and then off and on. But all 18 of my hens are laying eggs now, albeit some smaller than I would like. Yes I have some thinner-shelled and some bumpy and some elongated...and I think those belong to girls who were slow to get the shells going. If I was an OT I would have probably culled, but it was an OT who told me I should just be patient. Glad I was.

I also wonder about all the manipulation at the hatcheries to produce the utility-layers.
( I found FEATHERS just starting to poke out on the legs of one on my new Buff Orp 7-wk rooster chicks) Not saying mutts are bad at all. Just makes me wonder. My hatchery-stock year old Orps range in size from very petite to 'thunder-thighs-Thelma. Size of the egg is unrelated to the size of the hen. But I wonder if the push to get them to be 'producers' doesn't maybe compromise the quality of the egg at times...........analogy: a woman who has a baby every 12 months....definitely depleting her own body and eventually having offspring that are born with some nutritional definciencies as well. Just a thought. Hens in the wild go broody and remain so (no one sticking their little butts in ice-water to stop the broodiness) They have a nice long rejuvenating break from their constant production of eggs. Ours don't get a balance life because we want those eggs.

I do believe the lack of animal protein is hurting our birds. I can't free-range because of the thick predator problem so this summer I hope to get a meal worm farm going in the soon-to-be-built mudroom.

 

[nova022]

I believe when chickens eat a lot of treats they do not eat the needed amount of layer feed which is a blalanced blend formulated for egg production. This eventually ends up causing problems with egg quality. Treats really aren't necessary for healthy chickens and good egg production. It is kind of a toss up. Do you want good egg production or happy pet chickens. I personally want the happy pet chickens and consider the eggs a bonus, so I free feed them their layer feed during the day while I am at work and they are confined to their coop and run. I let them free range from when I get home until they put themselves to bed. I free feed oyster shell and grit and use ACV in their water and ocassionally give them fermented mash which they love. My egg production has been good. My SLW lays a gritty feeling egg, but has from day one. The rest are good.

 

[mamabigbird]

I have a mixed flock of hens. 18 of them, various ages and breeds, so I get a real "Dogs' breakfast" of eggs, Some very creative configurations and sizes. Some chalky, some blotchy, some with big knobby bits on them(OUCH).
Some wrinkled, some pointy bullet shaped, some round with no point. Just like yours ... good layer pellets. grit, free range goodies, kitchen scraps, etc.
I never worried about it. I thought they were just individually creative. I have no problem selling my colourful funny looking eggs.
Some that seem a bit too peculiar I keep aside for personal use.
Hopefully you have no real problem just esthetics. Perfect same- same eggs would be boring, I think.

 

[JsChicksNC]

How limited does dairy need to be? My girls *love* plain yogurt and I figured the protein and calcium would be good for them.

 

[jungletoy]

Since all the supplements and foods have been discussed, have you considered something in the chickens environment that may be poisoning them? Lead based paints, asbestos (which is naturally occuring in some soils), lead, anti-freeze, oil. If you are on well water does it have high levels of iron or other heavy metals? Did you use pressure treated lumber and if so are the chickens scratching or pecking at it? Be careful of some of the proposed home remedies that may be suggested, many of the chemical compositions actually block or retard calcium uptake depending on when and how applied. We've seen this with ACV and other products that get misused or applied incorrectly under the wrong circumstances. Look at the whole picture of your homeostasis it may not be the diet you know they are eating it could be the diet you don't know about.

 

[tommysgirl]

The probiotics in yogurt are also great for their digestion. I give yogurt or buttermilk or Kefir several times a week with their bedtime layer but I have the same issues as the OP. We had a very dry winter here so I am thinking I need to up the greens a bit. They are ranging but don't seem to care for the things that are still green.

I have read that animal protein leads to larger eggs so I give them some fish or catfood several times a week too.

Good Luck OP. We have one girl who just seems to lay weird eggs and the rest are fairly normal though one does have the lumpiness you describe. Our weird egg layer lays shell less or thin shelled eggs but has lain two in a day and once she did one of those regular egg in an enormous egg things:









The smaller egg is large in in the egg world

 

[Chucklecluck]

I have read that some egg problems can be the result of some kinds of yeast infection which can be communicable especially if you have a rooster

 

[bruceha2000]

My girls are the same age as the OP's. I get the occasional weird egg, like the ones that are wrinkly like an old partially deflated balloon or thin shelled. But I've never had more than one weird egg from a girl in a several week period. Sometimes it is the second egg of the day. If they are elongated, they are larger than that particular chicken's usual egg. If they are way over sized, they are double yolk. Most of those are from one Australorp that happens to be my biggest chicken. Her record is a 104g egg - the equivalent of 2 mediums. Her usual egg runs in the mid to high 60s.

I can't say I do anything differently than the OP. They have layer "crumblets" free choice 24 hours a day, though through the winter I fed the higher protein "egg producer plus". Both are Poulin Grains products, a Vermont multi generation family business. I have no idea how their feed compares to the big names like Purina. They also have a separate container of oyster shell. They find their own grit on the ground. The 12 of them get a couple of cups of scratch before roost time. In the winter on really cold mornings they sometimes got oatmeal with BOSS. They have a 5 gallon water cooler connected to a nipple system but we filled the 1 gallon plastic waterer with hot water every winter morning and with cold water (meaning well water temperature) every morning now. Now that it is spring/summer, they eat whatever they want. They scratch up bugs and worms, eat grasses which are also going to seed. They just stand there and fill up. From there, they might go into the coop and eat some feed, then back outside. Point being, they are self regulating on an omnivorous diet.

The MultiFlock feed provides vegetarian/plant based protein. Any more experienced flock owners have thoughts on plant based versus animal based protein affecting egg quality?

Chickens are omnivorous. I think the whole "vegetarian is healthier" thing is man made. If the chickens chose to eat only the vegetarian based feed when they had access to as much natural forage food as they want, I would say there is something to it. But they PREFER a whole range of foods, much of which they self source once spring hits if they have the opportunity. They instinctively know to eat small rocks and calcium and I'm willing to believe the same is true about their diet of bugs, worms, grass and seeds.

Wish I had some help for the OP. Did the weird egg thing start relatively suddenly or has it always been the case? If the first, there must have been some environment change sort of thing. If it has always been the case, JungleToy is probably on the right track. Something in their environment is a problem. In the water, soil, vegetation, feed, the paint the pick off the walls, etc.

Bruce

 

[Keggen]

Thanks for all the great posts and discussion!

This has not always been a problem for my hens so I don't think it is anything environmental. It seems to have been a long standing problem for only 2 hens, the one who consistently lays the gnarly, sandy feeling bumpy egg that often has a soft shell and the Welsummer. Otherwise all the other eggs were GREAT for the past year (or whatever point they started laying eggs) up until very recently.

I think it could have been the long winter but even with summer finally here I haven't seen a complete turn-around, maybe just a tiny improvement. I haven't seen any more teeny tiny eggs but I'm still seeing the wavy ones that look like a deflated balloon, the super long oval ones, the really round ones and many that are overall much smaller than normal.

Still no illnesses but I've seen some abnormal bullying behavior in the past week and I think a possible case of mites.

*sigh* They really are a challenge some days as I try to figure all this out! But I still love them!

 

[Connemara]

I alternate with layers pellets and layers mash, primarily because they don't touch grit if I put it out for them and it's easier to add it to the mash with a bit of sweetcorn and crushed eggshell thrown in and then I add boiling water and leave it to steep before putting it out still slightly warm. They go mad for it and eat the lot, so I know they've had the grit as well. Have had the odd egg that has been a bit thin but these have also been gritty in texture and it's an older marans hybrid (about 3) so I don't expect prefect eggs from her anyway. Also I noticed a few softies before that, but unsure which hen was laying them but I think the same maran as I'd had no skinny shelled eggs during that time. The only thing worth noting was I'd got 4 from a farm and they had scaly leg mites, lice and god knows what else, so I ivermecc'ed them, wormed them with panacur and I know it knocked them all for six for a bit.. Could you have treated them with something that is temporarily affecting egg production?