Soft Shells - Treat Whole Flock?

[1muttsfan]

It would be nice if you could separate a few of your hens at a time and see if you could identify the culprit (s)

 

[Dreammaker]

UPDATE:

I continue to see thin-shelled eggs every other day or so. They initially were on the leathery side, but I'm seeing now that they're just very brittle. Sometimes to the point of breaking in the nesting box. I've been administering Calcium Citrate/D3 tablets going on 4 days now. Minimal treats (every couple of days, a handful of Grubblies for the flock). Switched to a new feed recently, so will give a bit more time to see if that helps (went from Blue Seal Extra Egg Layer to Nutrena Hearty Hen). Starting offering crushed egg shells free-choice in addition to free-choice oyster shells. Noticed the beginning of a prolapse, presumably from straining to pass these soft-ish eggs. Hoping the calcium helps with that.

After a few more days of Calcium Citrate/D3, I think I'm going to go the deworming route.

Question: Do I need to do a fecal float test or is there a broad-spectrum dewormer that should cover the most common types? Local vets here charge a ridiculous amount for me to take her in ($100 exam + $45 for the test). Express shipping to UNH (closest lab near me) would be costly as well. I'm willing to do it if absolutely necessary, but would love if I could just administer a "general-purpose" de-wormer. I'm not even sure it's worms at this point. No one else in the flock is having issues. I'm also considering she might have a defective shell gland (in hindsight, her shells have always been the thinnest of the flock).

 

[Dreammaker]

Update: I wound up giving calcium citrate/d3 for a few more days after my last post (maybe 8 days total?) - Nellie is doing much better! No thin eggs. The shells aren't the hardest of the bunch by any means, and I don't want to jinx it, but I'm seeing a big improvement. I did see a couple slab sided eggs that seemed a tad thinner than her "normal-shaped" ones. But still, in my opinion, halfway-decent.

Not entirely unrelated, I should also add that by now, they have been on a new brand of feed for a couple weeks at least (we had been blending it with the old stuff to transition it). Their new food, Nutrena Hearty Hen, has been awesome so far! I see rosier combs, better formed poop, less stink in the coop, and my deep bedding/litter method is working out much better now (everything dries out and breaks down so much faster!) Seemingly better nutrition might be helping with the egg shells too.

The girls have also discovered the joy of crushed egg shells. I dont know why it took me so long to do this (it's easy enough!). They gobble them up and it's a lot of fun for my 3 year old to crush them up in a mortar and pestle after breakfast. They prefer them waaaay more than oyster shell. Again, it might be helping her shell quality.

I have held off on worming, based on the good response to the calcium/d3 and other measures so far.

Thank you, everyone!

 

[Dreammaker]

Update: I wound up giving calcium citrate/d3 for a few more days after my last post (maybe 8 days total?) - Nellie is doing much better! No thin eggs. The shells aren't the hardest of the bunch by any means, and I don't want to jinx it, but I'm seeing a big improvement. I did see a couple slab sided eggs that seemed a tad thinner than her "normal-shaped" ones. But still, in my opinion, halfway-decent.

Not entirely unrelated, I should also add that by now, they have been on a new brand of feed for a couple weeks at least (we had been blending it with the old stuff to transition it). Their new food, Nutrena Hearty Hen, has been awesome so far! I see rosier combs, better formed poop, less stink in the coop, and my deep bedding/litter method is working out much better now (everything dries out and breaks down so much faster!) Seemingly better nutrition might be helping with the egg shells too.

The girls have also discovered the joy of crushed egg shells. I dont know why it took me so long to do this (it's easy enough!). They gobble them up and it's a lot of fun for my 3 year old to crush them up in a mortar and pestle after breakfast. They prefer them waaaay more than oyster shell. Again, it might be helping her shell quality.

I have held off on worming, based on the good response to the calcium/d3 and other measures so far.

Thank you, everyone!

Oh, and that slight prolapse is gone! She's probably having a much easier time passing her eggs lately.