soft shells and not laying at all !

[amyward]

My mixed flock of 18 month old layers has had a terrible summer. Out of 9 girls ( black stars and RIRs ) I have been getting about 2 eggs a day and about 3 soft shell eggs that get broken in the nest box. My older hens , I have 4 over 3 yrs old are doing ok. I cannot for the life of me figure out what is going on ! Feed, oyster shells only black oil sunflowers seeds for treats. The younger girls do have some feather loss on their necks and butts due to letting the others pluck them ! they just stand and let them pick ! No Mites or lice. Is it just from the feathers trying to grow back !? I gave them higher protein food this summer also ! 21% I have had chickens for over 10 years and have never had an issue like this. Any thoughts?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I have had sex links just stop producing after a year or two. I would stop or limit the sunflower seeds as they will cause internal fat. Have you felt your birds keel to see if they feel fat or thin?

Are your birds free range? Is it possible they are hiding their eggs?

Eggs without shells can be from stress. How big of an area do your birds have? Are they getting along? Sounds like there is plucking and picking which means they are probably a bit crowded?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

18 month old birds going into September may mostly be starting to molt and therefor not laying eggs.
That doesn't explain the soft shells though. Are the shells thin or are there no shells at all and just membrane?
Need more information on feed. You mentioned " Feed, oyster shells only black oil sunflowers seeds for treats." ...
What is their primary feed now and has been for a couple months?
21% protein is a tad high for layers but may be OK now that they are building new winter coats.

 

[sawilliams]

Soft shells can be caused by heat stress as well as decreased laying. Though I find at least in my flock ee are most effected not red or other mixed breeds.

21% protein might be to high and in general the higher protein feeds don't have the added calcium. I know you said you have oyster shell on the side but maybe the ones that need it aren't eating it. I would switch back to a layer ration for now stop the sunflower seeds until things improve. Hopefully someone can give advice on supplementing calcium I have seen tums mentioned.

Yes they are likely to be starting their molt soon but you need to correct the soft shell issue first. And if it's been an issue most of the summer either they arent getting enough or arent using what they get. Soft shells cuase an increased risk of internal laying, internal rupture, and infection, all which could become fatal.

 

[amyward]

I was feeding egg maker 21 % protein most of the summer. For the last couple weeks have gone back to 16 % just to try something different. The eggs have normal looking shells just not strong. They have a huge enclosed pen over 1000 square ft. The plucking was happening as 1 would be dust bathing others would walk up and just start pulling feathers ! They are not fat. I give the group of 15 about 3/4 cup of sunflower seeds a day. it seems so strange because my easter eggers are about 4yrs old and lay every other day with great shells ! Several others are laying regularly with good shells too. It seems to be mostly the RIR's with the problems. I bought them Feb 2017, from mcMurray hatchery.

 

[amyward]

Thank you all for your thoughts !

 

[sawilliams]

I would like to point out the is a big difference between a soft shelled egg and a thin shelled egg, but no bother there. What is the calcium rating on the 2 feeds? I know when on layer some chickens just have weak shells. Some require much high levels of calcium, where others can simply have a difficult time using it. Personally I heard a barred rock that had shell issues. It started around 12-18 months and away first they just seemed to get thinner and thinner until every other egg was soft or shell-less. I died everything short of direct dosing calcium. I even mixed oyster shell in the feed to try to give her a boost, it would help for an egg or 2 but never beyond a thin shell and never mantianed despite my constant efforts. I finally just gave up and let her live out the next year of her life knowing it things could turn bad. Eventually she did succumb to a laying infection.

One thing I found for some of my other thin laying hens is that when I mixed a large dog bowl with grit and oyster shell they all seemed much more interested. I imagine maybe the color variation helped with this being one is white and the other grayish. But I noticed after a few times of mixing the oyster and grit that I could then fill the bowl with just oyster shell and they would still eat it. Where as before they seemed to mostly ignore the oyster shell.

I hope you can find something to help.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

A bird that lays 6-7 eggs a week is going to need much more calcium than one laying 1-2 eggs a week. Both birds needs can't be satisfied with one feed. Hence the need to be supplemented with oyster shell in a separate container for free choice feeding.
The problem isn't always calcium or even a nutritional imbalance. But it is important to understand that an appropriate ratio of calcium to phosphorus and sufficient vitamin D3 is necessary if the answer is nutrient balance. Understanding that, we see that excessive calcium in relation to phosphorus can cause calcification problems as well.