paper thin egg shells and broken eggs

[amywander]

I have one gal whose egg shells are paper thin causing the egg to break after being laid, I've given my flock oyster shell in their food and I give them plain yogurt once a week. Is there anything else that might be causing this gal to lay broken eggs?

 

[casportpony]

I have one gal whose egg shells are paper thin causing the egg to break after being laid, I've given my flock oyster shell in their food and I give them plain yogurt once a week. Is there anything else that might be causing this gal to lay broken eggs?

You could give her some tums, human calcium or calcium gluconate orally and see if that helps. Dose I use is 100mg per 2.2 pounds.

-Kathy

 

[Double Yolked]

Has the tums idea worked? I too have a hen laying paper thin egg shells. I'm about 1 more broken egg away from consigning her to the soup. The rest of my flock lays perfectly normal eggs. They get extra oyster shell calcium, are a semi-free range so they get a ton of good scratch out of the fenced side yard. Mines a hatchery chick and I'm starting to wonder if it's not the diet but rather bad genetics.

 

[LovinThisFarmGirlLife]

Has the tums idea worked? I too have a hen laying paper thin egg shells. I'm about 1 more broken egg away from consigning her to the soup. The rest of my flock lays perfectly normal eggs. They get extra oyster shell calcium, are a semi-free range so they get a ton of good scratch out of the fenced side yard. Mines a hatchery chick and I'm starting to wonder if it's not the diet but rather bad genetics.

Did you ever find out what was going on with your chicken? I’m having the same problem with one or two of my chickens. All of them lay great eggs, but lately I’ve found a few eggs broken in the coop with paper-thin shells. Someone suggested to me that it was breed specific but I’m not so sure.

 

[Chelsa'sChicks]

The cheapest way to give your hens the calcium they need is to feed them crushed egg shells.

Can be their eggs or stores. After I make eggs I let the egg shells sit to air dry for a day or two. I put them in a bag and put gloves on and crush them. My birds love this and it makes the next shell harder and gives your girls calcium. Roosters may eat a little too fyi.

 

[LovinThisFarmGirlLife]

The cheapest way to give your hens the calcium they need is to feed them crushed egg shells.

Can be their eggs or stores. After I make eggs I let the egg shells sit to air dry for a day or two. I put them in a bag and put gloves on and crush them. My birds love this and it makes the next shell harder and gives your girls calcium. Roosters may eat a little too fyi.

I’ll try that. I have oyster shell, but I’m not sure how much of it they actually eat. Hopefully the eggshells help! Thank you for the advice

 

[Chelsa'sChicks]

I’ll try that. I have oyster shell, but I’m not sure how much of it they actually eat. Hopefully the eggshells help! Thank you for the advice

Yes .. I bought some oyster shell too and my dog eats more of it then my birds :/ which is annoying.
Hope it works! I always give it to them with breakfast

 

[Double Yolked]

I gave up. I had a friend who was willing to take her, rubber eggs and all and she's now happily laying her rubber eggs elsewhere. She was very tame and the lady in question just wanted a pet. So all's well there. I am suspecting that it's a genetic flaw of some sort as the barred rock came from the same hatchery as 2 other barred rocks who developed weird issues on me. The rest of my flock (all Wyandotte) lay very strong shelled eggs.
On using crushed egg shells, I tried that once. Shortly after I did I had a sudden problem with hens breaking and eating their own eggs. I've always feared to give any hens crushed eggshells again as I know that chickens have really good color recognition and I'm afraid they will see the color of the shells and decide that's the color of food.

 

[Chelsa'sChicks]

I gave up. I had a friend who was willing to take her, rubber eggs and all and she's now happily laying her rubber eggs elsewhere. She was very tame and the lady in question just wanted a pet. So all's well there. I am suspecting that it's a genetic flaw of some sort as the barred rock came from the same hatchery as 2 other barred rocks who developed weird issues on me. The rest of my flock (all Wyandotte) lay very strong shelled eggs.
On using crushed egg shells, I tried that once. Shortly after I did I had a sudden problem with hens breaking and eating their own eggs. I've always feared to give any hens crushed eggshells again as I know that chickens have really good color recognition and I'm afraid they will see the color of the shells and decide that's the color of food.

You can not break the eggs in front of them. They will mimic that (not that you did that), but anyone else reading! Break the shells in your house or away from them into pea size. I have been doing it for years and they never eat their own eggs.
Sorry to hear about your hen, but I'm glad she got a nice pet home!

I'm also curious DoubleYolked what did your PBR shells look/feel like? Might sound weird, but my PBR have thicker shells then my other breeds. Eggs are light creamy tint and the shells feel different from my other breeds. They feel chalky or like unglazed porcelain... my other breeds just feel like normal egg shell material.

 

[Double Yolked]

The 1 healthy PBR that I still have in the flock lays normal appearing and feeling creamy brown eggs. They have slight freckling on them, mostly at the ends of the eggs and are always extra large sized. As she's a scrawny little thing I worry about her! LOL
One of the 3 that I no longer have had the chalky eggs you're describing. It was a bit disconcerting to feel.
Oh and I never break an egg around the hens, I always saved the shells from the eggs I used in normal cooking, dried them and crushed them up with a rolling pin before giving them to the girls. I'm just paranoid now since I've had 4 different bouts of egg eating in my flock and really don't want to have to cull my hens again.