Is it possible that commercial feed is responsible for internal egg laying / shell-less / soft shell

Have your hens ever laid soft-shelled / shell-less eggs while exclusively on a layer diet ?

  • Yes - My hens are confined to a coop and run and lay soft-shelled / shell - less eggs on occasion.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Yes - My hens are confined to a coop and run and lay soft-shelled / shell - less eggs quite often.

    Votes: 1 100.0%
  • Yes - My hens are confined to a coop and run but I am not sure how often this occurs

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Yes - My hens are confined to a coop and run and I have lost hens due to illness after laying a shel

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • No - My hens are confined to a coop and run and I have not had any problems.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • My hens free range so this does not apply to my flock.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    1

Luvmy9hens

Chirping
7 Years
Sep 26, 2012
157
22
81
Upstate NY
Many commercial feeds advise to feed as the sole ration. These feeds are supposed to be nutritionally balanced but many do not list specific ingredients. I have hens that are constantly laying soft shelled eggs even though oyster shell is also available to them.

One hen has had serious issues with shell-less eggs and has come close to death on 2 occasions. The membrane had remained inside of her and caused partial blockage/ infection. Antibiotics and calcium supplements have restored her to good health.

The vet recommended that she stay on a balanced diet of layer pellets. Since she has always eaten layer pellets, I am wondering if these feeds are causing many of the problems that I read about on the forum. When my girls were free-ranging, I never had a problem and the flock was very healthy. I have no choice now but to keep the flock in a run due to predation.

MY questions:

Why are so many mature hens on a diet of layer pellets laying soft-shelled eggs?


Why are specific ingredients omitted from the labels? Many only carry guaranteed analysis labels and are vague regarding the "grains by products" used. To me, grain by-products are the waste materials.


Are there any brands that are superior to others?


Are organic/GMO free feeds better than the standard commercial variety?
 
Last edited:
commercial feeds are only required by law to include protein fat and fiber on feed tags. As much as that stinks that's all that is deemed "important" for overall nutrition in livestock. I'm much more experienced in equine nutrition than I am poultry nutrition so I will let someone else answer about nutritional needs but just wanted to point that out. I tend to buy products that volunteer more nutritional information because I don't feel they are hiding anything. May be a false security I don't know lol.
 
commercial feeds are only required by law to include protein fat and fiber on feed tags. As much as that stinks that's all that is deemed "important" for overall nutrition in livestock. I'm much more experienced in equine nutrition than I am poultry nutrition so I will let someone else answer about nutritional needs but just wanted to point that out. I tend to buy products that volunteer more nutritional information because I don't feel they are hiding anything. May be a false security I don't know lol.

Unfortunately for the consumer, the products that we put into our hens ultimately go into our bodies whether the animals are used for eggs, meat, or both. The ingredient labeling on one bag of feed consisted of: "Grain products, Grain By-products, Plant Protein Products" and then went on to list the elemental vitamins. I whole heartedly agree that the manufacturers should be up front about the contents. I have since switched to organic GMO free feeds. At least the label lists the types of grains.

A few years back there was a scare with dog feed as it contained "animal proteins" that were derived from brain / spinal / nervous system tissue from the beef/cattle industry. Many animals died as a result as the tissue was diseased. My husband and I refuse to buy chicken, turkey, etc from a supermarket and have recently added beef and pork. Why support an industry that tortures the animals by pumping them up with growth hormones, antibiotics, and who knows what else? Fish, too! Ever read about "farmed" fish? Might as well be eating something that was bred and reared in a chemical sewer.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom