Poor Egg Formation

[walker_chicken_man]

Hey everyone,

So I have two Isa Browns and two Barred Rocks, the Isa Browns have always been good egg layers and my Rocks seem to be very sensitive and small changes to the coop will stop them from laying for a time. Im posting because one of my Isa Browns has started to have very irregular/unsuccessful eggs. She had been laying great large brown eggs for two months and then she started laying eggs with calcium deposits on them and finally the eggs look more like deflated balloons and break immediately. Any idea as to what could cause this? Its been about a month now and I thought maybe it was a phase but I want to be sure its not something else.
Thanks

 

[pennyJo1960]

Hey there Walker do you give oyster on the side ? and what do you normaly feed % of protien mostly do they have free range ?

 

[walker_chicken_man]

I started giving them oyster on the side about a week ago, I use 16% layer feed and they do free range. My other Brown hasnt had any change in egg formation or laying frequency.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Then give them a chance to straighten themselves out .. Many of us compare, complain or brag about our eggs allot.. this is a link to that
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/how-many-eggs-you-get-today.120083/page-5071

 

[claudiabostic]

Sounds like your one hen is not getting enough calcium. Have you seen her actually eat the oyster shell? Try scattering some on the ground and see how she reacts. Does she eat anything acidic that the other hen doesn't get like berries or other fruit? Acidic foods and apple cider vinegar in the water can affect calcium absorption. Other good sources of calcium include black soldier fly larvae and powdered bone meal supplements. My hens eat both of those quite readily. The bone meal supplement is marketed for pregnant dogs and cats. I give my hens oyster shell on the ground as well as in a bin and they seem to eat more if I scatter it around. I also give them dried BSF larvae daily. If I see a weak shelled egg then the bone meal comes out. Even though your two hens are the same breed, they are not genetically identical and they can have different needs for calcium. The calcium supplements that take longer to digest, like the oyster shell, will give the most calcium over a longer period. The bone meal gives them a good quick boost but doesn't last long in their systems.

 

[walker_chicken_man]

I was supplementing their water with some
apple cider vinegar for a short while as I suspected one of the rocks possible had vent gleet. I havent done that for a couple weeks now but maybe that was the culprit. Ill keep and eye out and let you know if this go back to normal. Thanks for the input!