soft eggs from 10month old hen (or hens?)

[anniepyanoe]

Hi,
My girls will be a year old in May and have been laying pretty well since January. Their shells have been nice and thick since the beginning. Now, I'm starting to see thinner shelled eggs and this morning 2 were soft and malleable. I know this happens when hens first start laying, but I'm confused as to why it would be happening now. Thank you!

 

[Aapomp831]

What are you feeding them? Do you provide oyster shell on the side?

 

[anniepyanoe]

What are you feeding them? Do you provide oyster shell on the side?

I feed them a mix of crumble and pellet layer. I do add powdered eggs shells to it. I always have a lot of that on hand. Should I have oyster shell on the side as well?

 

[Aapomp831]

I would stop adding the crushed egg shell to their food; extra calcium should always be provided on the side. I would leave them on whatever pellets they’re on (if you have a rooster, don’t feed layer pellets - roosters can’t have the excess calcium and you would want to feed them All Flock or Flock Raiser with a bowl of free choice oyster shell on the side). See if that makes any difference; it may take a week or two to see. Also, if you’re feeding them too many treats they will fill up on those and neglect the food they really need to keep everything inside functioning properly.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I agree with others, free choice calcium on the side. I mix my egg shells with the oyster shells, but egg shells are a quick release calcium and oyster shells are a slow release, so the hen can use it more readily as needed. Every chicken uses different amounts of calcium for egg production, and hybrid breeds especially typically need more than what is available in layer feed. They can receive too little calcium for some time and you may not notice because unfortunately in times of low calcium availability, the hen's body will leach calcium from it's bones (primarily).

It took me a long time to get a get system going for my girls, but now I use either layer feed or flock raiser feed, whichever is available at the feed store (they are often out of flock raiser), and I always provide free-choice calcium. I usually feed 2-3 cups of a roughly 25% egg shell and 75% oyster shell blend to 15 laying hens a week. Clearly their body's need it!