Laying eggs without shells

[Lee21]

One of my quail is laying eggs without shells? What are some of the things that could be amiss? The other female is laying normal eggs and they are about the same age. All my quail go outside in their hutch so they can get sun, grass and bugs to eat. As well as eating a laying mix. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[eggbert420]

Calcium maybe?

 

[Lee21]

That's what I would have thought but the get that from their laying mix. Do you think upping the amount of calcium will help?

 

[eggbert420]

Crushed up egg shells and or oyster shells would help if that's the problem. How old is she? How long has she been laying?

 

[Lee21]

I'm not sure how old they are as they were given to me. She has been laying for almost a year. They might be about a year maybe older.

 

[DK newbie]

You might need to increase the protein as well. Layer feed usually doesn't have as much protein as coturnix need (around 24+%). I'm not sure that alone can cause eggs with no shell, but it's still something you should make sure they get. In general game bird or turkey starter will give them what they need in terms of protein and then you can give them a different dish with crushed oyster shell so they can eat as much as they want.

 

[rjrinehart]

You can use egg shells for calcium?

 

[eggbert420]

Yes.

 

[rjrinehart]

How do you do that exactly? Just crush them up?

 

[eggbert420]

I just grind them up