⠀ Soft or thin shells

[cattlemen]

What is causing my hens to have thin or soft shells as they age. Some even break inside and I have to pull it out. They free range plus have commercial layer crumble and oyster shell free choice. I do also throw out some scratch daily.

 

[DrPatrickBiggs]

There are a number of factors that can lead to thin shelled eggs. Age of the bird and the amount of calcium they recieve will affect shell thickness. If the birds are on free-range, they may not be eating enough of the complete feed and oyster shell to meet the their calcium needs for strong shells. This is a common occurance. To determine if this is the cause, confine your birds to a pen and only feed them the complete layer feed. If the shell thickness improves, you will know that this is the problem. Increasing the number of feeders that contain complete layer feed and feeders that contain oyster shell in the free-range area may help improve the situation.