Older Rescue with soft shelled eggs

[PurpleCArTires]

I know there is alot of threads about soft shelled eggs, but I wanted some personal input on what to do.

I have 4 rescue red sexlink hens. I have no idea how old they are. But i got them from a meat farm, and they were soooo thin, i imagine they laid for a long time and then were sent for a trip to freezer camp.
I have sinced fattened them up, they have molted and are looking beautiful. Two of them lay fine and are doibg well. But, my poor Suzanne and Suzette barely lay, but when they do its typically extreamly thin shell or no shell at all.

I have free choice oyster shell and feed them 18% locally milled layer mash with 4.5% calcium.

Just wondering if there is anything i can do for them specifically. I dont care if they lay another egg for the rest of their lives, but I am worried they will eventually have one break inside them.

Ps. I have had them for almost a year and they have only laid maybe 10 good eggs, and lay softies almost every other time.

 

[Cassandra Lana]

so great you rescued your birds! I would like to do that some day. Giving optional oyster shells is good. You can try toasting egg shells and then pulverizing it to put it in yogurt or a similar needs to be mixed treat.

 

[PurpleCArTires]

so great you rescued your birds! I would like to do that some day. Giving optional oyster shells is good. You can try toasting egg shells and then pulverizing it to put it in yogurt or a similar needs to be mixed treat.

Thanks. I thought about doing something similar, but didnt want to overdo the calcium they get. I dont know if they already eat the oyster shell.

Do you know if there is a way ti get them to stop laying? I'd rather them not lay at all, than over do the calcium and hurt them.

 

[Cassandra Lana]

Do you know if there is a way ti get them to stop laying? I'd rather them not lay at all, than over do the calcium and hurt them.

I don’t know of any humane way only stressing them out. But nobody wants to do that. I would check google and search on this tho there could be answers

 

[CHlCKEN]

Unfortunately these battery hens often come out with poor health after rescued. And no, there is no *affordable* way of stopping hen’s laying.

I went on a rocky road last summer with a bird of mine, who despite all the calcium I offered, only lauded soft shelled eggs. It was frustrating at first, but quickly resulted in EYP, and I had to act fast. I figure something else was going on- a defective shell gland, heat stress, or something, but whatever the cause I wanted to help her.

Sadly you can’t force a hen to stop laying, but what Joy went through stopped her cycle (perhaps temporarily, we’ll see what she does.)

Oddly, excess calcium can also cause soft shelled eggs, just the same way too little calcium does. It’s very difficult to figure out what you’ve done wrong in these situations.

Stress and a defective shell gland can be the culprit, perhaps caused by their past experiences. @aart is an expert on this stuff and has much more experience and information to give than I can.

 

[aart]

There's a reason they call them 'spent hens' and they go to other uses.
High production hybrids commonly have reproductive tract issues.

I doubt there's much you can do, diet sounds fine.
Are you feeding another foods/treats?

 

[PurpleCArTires]

There's a reason they call them 'spent hens' and they go to other uses.
High production hybrids commonly have reproductive tract issues.

I doubt there's much you can do, diet sounds fine.
Are you feeding another foods/treats?

Yeah, they get some fruit, veggies, table scraps etc. All my chicks get the same treats/feed.

I personally think they are just old lol. They are totally healthy, active, happy... Just their poor eggs are awful. Like i said i am not demanding they lay good eggs, i just dont want them to ultimately break an egg inside or somethibg like that, since it would probably do them in or cause terrible pain.

If you dont think there is much else to do, ill leave em be and let nature take its course. I do appreciate the comments tho!

 

[PurpleCArTires]

I wanted to update you guys on what I did with my old girl. I actually moved her to my grow out flock with a bunch of rangers and babies on 22% protein feed. She can still free range and has 2 other old ladies as her friends. Since she is now eatting the higher protein lower calcium ration, her eggs are few and far between. And the ones she does lay actually have a decent shell and arent all yolk and sloppy. She is still as vibrant as ever and loves being over there.
I think the change in food and environment has greatly improved her quality of life and eggs.

Btw the other 2 old ladies still lay almost every day and their eggs are hard as rocks (even tho they arent on the layer mash either).

I find this very interesting since everyone seems to think they need masses of calcium and special feed. These 3 old biddies are doing great on the higher protein!

 

[aart]

Btw the other 2 old ladies still lay almost every day and their eggs are hard as rocks (even tho they arent on the layer mash either).

They have no calcium supplements at all?
What is the calcium percentage in their feed?

 

[PurpleCArTires]

They have no calcium supplements at all?
What is the calcium percentage in their feed?

No calcium supplements. Ill have to check on the percentage in the feed, buts it a locally milled grower/finisher mash, so i doubt it has much in it.