Paper thin eggs

[Blue Man Dan.]

Hi folks, i have 4 ex bats living in a house with a 4m x 1 m cage, they are fed layers pellets in the morning which they do not really eat that well, they used to eat it ok but seem to have gone off it (any suggestions?) they also eat crushed maize each day (they love that) and cabbage, they have a permanent supply of grit (crushed shells etc) but one of them is laying paper thin eggs all the time, the others shell's are also not as thick as they could be!

please help !


Dan

 

[AHappychick]

they need more calcium give them free choice of Oyster shell and sprinkle some in their food for a week as well then just leave it as fee choice and they will take as needed. You would be surprised how much they will consume over time, but they will regulate their calcium intake when they have easy access to it, sometimes the layer feed just does not have enough, or they are eating too many other things (free ranging, treats etc where they are not consuming enough of the layer to make up the calcium needs. It will take a few weeks for the eggs to really thicken up but they will. It is also dangerous for eggs to be too thin as they can break in the hen and cause all sorts of problems. Any feed store should carry the oyster shell in big bags, if not any pet store will have a small box of the stuff

Good Luck

 

[Daisygirl]

my hen did the same thing a few weeks ago; like Ahappychick says, keep on with the calcium, and she'll come right.

 

[Annabella]

I have been struggling to know what to do with one of my girls that lays weak eggs too. Her eggs though are laid with all the yolk squeezed out and just this weird mushed up soft egg shell sitting in the nest. Its quite gross.

They are on laying pellets for feed. But now after reading this site, I have today bought some egg shell grit ( couldnt find oyster shell). I am also going to start them on some milk every day. Fingers crossed she will come good.

Bought some 2 new Red Star pullets today - hoping for an easy assimilation into the group and no harmful dangerous squabbling. Its a long weekend here so I will be able to keep an extra lookout on them before starting work again Tuesday.

 

[Daisygirl]

you could also get some of your eggshells, crush them, and then put them in the oven for a while instead of oyster shell if you have trouble finding it...
E.T.A mabe, because theyre ex bats, they are not used to having a more varied diet, so might be getting used to it???

 

[Blue Man Dan.]

Like i said - they have a they have a permanent supply of grit that is basically crushed shells, I will try and put some in there feed to get them to eat more!


thanks

 

[Ridgerunner]

Since you talk about crushed maize, I'll assume you are not a close neighbor. What is called maize other places is called corn in Arkansas.

Crushed shells are not grit. They are too soft to grind up hard food. Since chickens don't have molars to grind food, they use pea sized and smaller bits of gravel and sand in their gizzard to grind up hard stuff. You can probably buy grit, but I have been known to gather some small gravel off my gravel road and driveway to give them. If your road is salted for ice in winter, I would not suggest that since the salt is bad for them. If they have access to the ground, they are probably getting enough grit.

Chickens need a balanced diet. If all they eat is layer feed, they are getting that, but if you give them too much of other things, their diet may be out of whack. If they roam outside and have unlimited access to seeds, green stuff, and creepy crawlies, they are probably doing OK, but if all they eat is what you feed them, they may not be getting enough of some nutrients or vitamins if they get too many treats and are not eating enough of their layer feed. I kind of suspect an unbalanced diet as a part of your problem. Treat the crushed maize especially but even the cabbage as candy for chickens. Limit how much they get of that so they will eat a more balanced diet. Crushed maize is long on energy but short on nutrients, protein, and vitamins.

You mention they are not eating many of their pellets. How long have you had those layer pellets? Have they gone off? With only four hens, a bag can last a long time. It needs to be stored in a fairly airtight container and kept dry. Don't let it get too hot, like storing it in direct sunlight.

Let me offer a couple of links. This one talks about soft or thin shelled eggs. Lack of calcium is not the only potential problem.

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publi...ndbook/16/thinshelled-eggs-and-shellless-eggs

And I've found this one helpful on feeding chickens.

Oregon State - Feeding Chickens
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/html/pnw/pnw477/#anchor1132074

Good luck.

 

[AHappychick]

Blue Man Dan. :

Like i said - they have a they have a permanent supply of grit that is basically crushed shells, I will try and put some in there feed to get them to eat more!


thanks

grit and oyster shell are 2 very different things. They need grit (usually small pieces of granite sold in huge bags, and oyster shell which is almost pure calcium.​

 

[RocketDad]

I get my girls to eat a big load of toasted crushed eggshell by mixing it into something yummy. I've used pasta with plain yogurt for binder, I've mixed the shells into oatmeal (leftover from the kids) and I've mixed them into cooked winter squash and into mashed potatoes.

They're remarkably adept at eating around bits they don't want, but with finely crushed shells stuck to the folds of rotini pasta, they eat most of the eggshells.

 

[YumaJohnny]

I get a few thin shelled eggs from time to time but for the most part the egg shells are thick compared to store bought eggs. I usually buy a 50lb of lay crumble and then a few pounds of oyster shell and mix in the bag. This gives them a good mixture throughout and saves time when feeding in the morning.