Soft Shell and eating eggs AAGGGHHH

[mboreham1]

Ok 2 things

1. 1 chicken only lays eggs with VERY soft shells, i have 11 laying birds, all have unlimited access to oyster shell - anything anyone can suggest to supplement diet to create hard shell? 10 birds lay normal eggs

2.) Egg eating, I lose 6 -8 eggs a week, i have tried EVERYTHING i can think of - wooden eggs in nesting box, mustard in egg shells (They love it) hot sauce in mustard in egg shells, re built nesting boxes with roll away feature but had to add straw to ensure eggs didnt crack when laid. Can anyone suggest anything else? I cant work out whether i have 1 eater or whether a couple of them go at it together

Thanks

 

[enola]

If you add a pad of some sort that the chickens cannot destroy by scratching, the eggs will not crack. Another thing, when the eggs roll out of the nest make sure they are not close enough to the back of the nest for the hens to reach them.....

 

[Nicole01]

My SS refuses to eat oyster shell on her own. I take the powdery shell from the bag and mix it in with wet feed! It works like a charm and all my eggs are nice and hard now.

 

[mboreham1]

i like that, i will mix the powder in, thanks - any ideas on stopping the eating?

 

[brahmakid11]

have you tried golf balls?

 

[Nicole01]

I don't have any egg eaters yet. I usually grab the egg as soon as it's laid. My SS announces every single time there is a flock mate of her's just about to lay an egg with a loud and clear egg song.

 

[mboreham1]

yes to golf balls, wooden eggs, glued together easter eggs!

I work Mon-Fri so going out to collect eggs isnt an option unfortunately

 

[vjbakke]

We were having a problem with this as well. We have been giving the girls a bowl of plain yogurt everyday and feeding their egg shells back to them. Nuke them for a min and then crush them up. They love it way better than oyster shell. I mix them with the oyster shell by the feeder. We haven't had a soft egg in over a week. They have very hard shells now.

 

[allpeepedout]

Quote:
I second above, but just let shells dry w/o nuking. Are the others' shells really nice and thick and hard?

I had a minor problem with a few rubbery, eaten, and cracked eggs when mine started laying. I found a reference at some university extension agency to offer alternative forms of calcium, and they recommended specifically milk. So I did this and within a couple of weeks, no more problems and shells are super hard, long after stopping the milk. I do feed back shells but otherwise just the calcium in the layer feed. I have also read that it is normal for them to "test" egg viability by pecking, and eat the ones that are so weak they crack since they wouldn't make babies anyway. Makes sense to me. Others criticize milk as undigestible by chickens but certainly yogurt, soured milk, etc. is. I saw no problems with mine drinking troughs of straight milk. Good luck!