Paper-thin egg shells

[Phisch]

One of our hens lays eggs daily which is wonderful. Her eggs are very, very thin-shelled however. When I collect eggs in the afternoon, hers will always be broken. Fortunately, none of the birds have cannibalized them but it's annoying to have to clean out daily. Everyone is fed the same way and there is extra oyster shell. There have been other issues with the other hens' eggs (cracked and repaired egg shells for instance). But those are not the norm and if caused by stress during the laying process then the stress is caused by the one with paper thin shells. She likes to yell at the other girls while they're laying and picks on the hen at the bottom of the pecking order mercilessly.

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

What are you feeding your flock? Oyster shell should be provided to them. They need the calcium for strong egg shells. Limit treats.
Best wishes and be well!

 

[Phisch]

What are you feeding your flock? Oyster shell should be provided to them. They need the calcium for strong egg shells. Limit treats.
Best wishes and be well!

Hi! They get oyster shell as part of their feed and we also add in extra, hoping to help the thin shells. But it hasn’t helped at all so far (one of our hens gets too much calcium right now as a result). They get fancy seed plus pellets daily. No corn, no soy.

 

[chickens really]

Don't add the oyster shell to the feed. Use a separate bowl. You can also toss it on the ground as a way to entice them to eat some.
A few Tums crushed up in a bowl of water or treats helps too.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Even though she has oyster shell available, have you ever seen her eating any?

You can try supplementing her by isolating her and giving her a small bowl of wet or fermented feed (I use a tiny prep bowl, maybe just 1 Tbsp of feed), with oyster shell powder mixed in. Try that 2-3x a week and see if there's improvement in a couple of weeks.

 

[aart]

They get fancy seed plus pellets daily.

What exactly are these two things?
Brand name and formulation and/or link to exact products and/or protein and calcium percentages(usually on tag sewn into bottom of bag).

 

[Phisch]

What exactly are these two things?
Brand name and formulation and/or link to exact products and/or protein and calcium percentages(usually on tag sewn into bottom of bag).

Here's the tag: ingredients

 

[MurrayAP]

You could feed them some calcium enriched feed for awhile. Purina's Layena works good for us.

 

[aart]

Here's the tag: ingredients

Good protein level, higher in calcium than most layer feed...
...shouldn't be having shell issues.

They get fancy seed plus pellets daily.

Whats in the "fancy seed"?

If only one bird is laying 'bad' eggs, it's likely the bird not the diet.

 

[orfan40]

We have a hen doing the same thing. We have six hens that all get the same feed with oyster shell and grit added in but just the one is laying very thin shelled eggs that are broken before they can be gathered. Last year her eggs were just fine. She is only two years old. May try throwing the oyster shell on the ground instead of in the feed to see if that helps.