Paper thin egg shells

[Huggerlady]

Line a cookie sheet with foil and put this mornings shells on there and bake for few mins then toss them into a grinder. Sprinkle there scratch area with it. 2x cured a couple of mine who won't eat oyster. They are on layer feed but they're a few years old.

 

[jewhite6557]

I got an egg that looked very much like the one in your picture (Post #10). This has been followed by three days of paper thin egg shells that are broken in the nesting box. There have been no major changes to their environment for several weeks, they all recently came out of their first molt and were switched back from feather fixer feed to layer feed about a month ago. There has always been oyster shell available in the coop. I'll try some egg shells in the coop tomorrow as well. But if anyone has hit on an idea in the past year I'd like to hear it please.

 

[NewChickmom2016]

I'm having a problem with our Easter Egger. She will be one year old June 15. She started laying mid January and at first had very soft shells- first one was crushed on the end, second looked like she stepped on it. They got a bit thicker and now are again very thin.

She has been laying 8 or 9 days in a row before taking a day off. The shells seem to get thinner the more days in a row that she lays.

I did not add light to the coop during the winter. Oyster shells are available, right next to the water; lately I have also been scattering some on the ground.

I feed Modesto Milling Organic Layer Pellets- ingredients are:
Ingredients: Organic corn, organic soybean meal, organic peas, limestone, organic wheat, organic stabilized rice bran, organic sun-dried alfalfa, organic flaxseed, Redmond conditioner (clay), organic kelp meal, monocalcium phosphate, diatomaceous earth, Zeolite, Redmond salt, DL Methionine, poultry vitamin & mineral premix, organic garlic granules, organic horseradish powder, organic star anise oil, organic juniper berry oil
Guaranteed analysis: Crude protein min 17%, crude fat 2.7%, crude fiber max 4.5%, ash max 15.4%


Any suggestions as to what I can do to help strengthen / thicken her shells? I will be putting out some crushed egg shells from one of the other gals who lays nice thick shelled eggs.

Thanks, in advance for any advice!
-Jerie

 

[aart]

I'm having a problem with our Easter Egger. She will be one year old June 15. She started laying mid January and at first had very soft shells- first one was crushed on the end, second looked like she stepped on it. They got a bit thicker and now are again very thin.

She has been laying 8 or 9 days in a row before taking a day off. The shells seem to get thinner the more days in a row that she lays.

I did not add light to the coop during the winter. Oyster shells are available, right next to the water; lately I have also been scattering some on the ground.

I feed Modesto Milling Organic Layer Pellets- ingredients are:
Ingredients: Organic corn, organic soybean meal, organic peas, limestone, organic wheat, organic stabilized rice bran, organic sun-dried alfalfa, organic flaxseed, Redmond conditioner (clay), organic kelp meal, monocalcium phosphate, diatomaceous earth, Zeolite, Redmond salt, DL Methionine, poultry vitamin & mineral premix, organic garlic granules, organic horseradish powder, organic star anise oil, organic juniper berry oil
Guaranteed analysis: Crude protein min 17%, crude fat 2.7%, crude fiber max 4.5%, ash max 15.4%


Any suggestions as to what I can do to help strengthen / thicken her shells? I will be putting out some crushed egg shells from one of the other gals who lays nice thick shelled eggs.

Thanks, in advance for any advice!
-Jerie

If only one bird is laying low quality eggs then it's not the diet, it's the bird.

Are you feeding any other foods besides the pellets?

Interesting that there's no calcium percentage listed...
..and I wonder why zeolite is added to the feed?

 

[NewChickmom2016]

Hi Aart-
Yes, she is the only one of the 3 that is having thin shells. I hadn't noticed that calcium wasn't listed until I copied the info to post here. I will contact Modesto Milling and ask.

The girls get small amounts of BOSS, dried meal worms, scratch, oats - one of them every morning- to keep them out of my hair while I scoop the poop in the coop. I also sprout wheat for them, so they get that every 4th day or so. They are out to roam the yard every other day or so, for a short while in the evening. We have a hawk hanging around so we only let them out when we are with them. Their run is 5'x10' and seems to be adequate for the 3 of them.

I'm wondering if the issue is the number of days she is laying. 8-9 days in a row and then taking a day off. The other two - an orpington and australorp don't lay for such a stretch of time. The Easter Egger was also the last to start laying- at about 7 months old.

She was interested in some crushed egg shells that I put out this morning. I will continue to do that as often as I can.

Would giving her fresh spinach be helpful?

thanks for your help!!!
-Jerie

 

[aart]

Actually might be better to switch to a higher protein feed to balance out all those other foods for a few weeks...
.....or better yet cut out all the treats, except meal worms while you scoop poop.
Other foods may dilute amount of balanced feed and thus the the vitamins/minerals/amino acids needed to assimilate the nutrition in the feed.

That might make a difference for the thin shell layer.....or it might not.

 

[NewChickmom2016]

Easy enough to switch to only the meal worms in the morning. Will try that along with the egg shells. Today's egg looks ok- it isn't dented in.
She often has bumps on her eggs- which I thought was extra calcium - but must not be in her case.
Here are pics from yesterday's egg.

 

[aart]

I'm guessing that she isn't lacking in calcium, but shell gland is not processing the calcium properly.
Could be dietary....could be a quirky shell gland.
I have one girl lays frequent thin shells...often makes a mess of nests and other eggs.

 

[NewChickmom2016]

Aart-
hmmm- and if it is the shell gland- that is just the way it will be with her- right?
Henrietta is a very sweet girl, loves to sit on my lap and is definitely my favorite. The girls are pets first and egg providers second for us. As long as this issue is not causing her any health problems, I am fine with having to clean up an occasionally squished egg.
thank you for sharing your knowledge with me!
-Jerie

 

[aart]

Aart-
hmmm- and if it is the shell gland- that is just the way it will be with her- right?
Henrietta is a very sweet girl, loves to sit on my lap and is definitely my favorite. The girls are pets first and egg providers second for us. As long as this issue is not causing her any health problems, I am fine with having to clean up an occasionally squished egg.
thank you for sharing your knowledge with me!
-Jerie

Don't think there's anyway to 'fix' it.