Soft shelled egg found today, hens dont eat oyster shells.

[PoppySeedy]

I went to get my eggs i today and found a soft-shelled egg one of my girls must've laid, it had a bit of shell on it but not much. I leave oyster shells out for my girls and recently put them on pigeon grit (that I mix in with my old oyster shells) since pigeon grit is smaller. Weirdly my rooster is eating it but my hens aren't, which is the exact opposite of what I wanted. I heard kale is good for calcium so im giving them some tonight, but I wanted to ask here, what is the best way to give hens calcium and encourage them to eat the oyster shells it hour it effecting my rooster. They're on layers pellets right now so I don't want to add any more calcium to their feed since the rooster eats it too. Any tips? I've definitely gotta strengthen their shells quickly-

 

[cherrynberry]

I went to get my eggs i today and found a soft-shelled egg one of my girls must've laid, it had a bit of shell on it but not much. I leave oyster shells out for my girls and recently put them on pigeon grit (that I mix in with my old oyster shells) since pigeon grit is smaller. Weirdly my rooster is eating it but my hens aren't, which is the exact opposite of what I wanted. I heard kale is good for calcium so im giving them some tonight, but I wanted to ask here, what is the best way to give hens calcium and encourage them to eat the oyster shells it hour it effecting my rooster. They're on layers pellets right now so I don't want to add any more calcium to their feed since the rooster eats it too. Any tips? I've definitely gotta strengthen their shells quickly-

How old are the girls? I don't recommend mixing grit with oyster shells, they are two separate things. Some chickens prefer eggshells. Roosters need calcium and grit too, they just don't need as much calcium.

 

[WIchickMama]

How old are the girls? I don't recommend mixing grit with oyster shells, they are two separate things. Some chickens prefer eggshells. Roosters need calcium and grit too, they just don't need as much calcium.

agree with the no mixing. I know my hens do not care for the pebble style oyster shell but they like the flakes

 

[Henny Penney]

Grit is needed by roosters and hens for their crop. Oyster shells are needed for calcium, and usually they will only eat what they need, roosters won’t necessarily eat it if made available. An occasional soft shell may happen, it may be an egg “laid before it’s time”, meaning it got laid before the shell built up and hardened. But I’d encourage you to make oyster shells available now and them, the hens know what they need.