Stronger egg shells?

[Danooj]

I was just wondering if anyone here knew how to make my hens eggs stronger?
We give the oyster shell grit and layers pellets that supposedly gives strong eggs shells but nothing workS, we also give them mash, corn and dried mealworms, would that have anything todo with it?

 

[booker81]

Is it oyster shell or grit? They are two different things - grit is usually crushed granite or stones, oyster shell is, well, oyster shell

Do you free choice the shell and have it in a separate container for them to eat out of? I noticed an improvement when I filled a small feeder of the shell and let them free choice it. I have some girls coming off a molt right now and I get a poor shell every now and then, but for the most part they are all very strong.

 

[Danooj]

No sorry I just meant oyster shell and its always out there for them to have but they only take it from my hand, I've also noticed that they don't drink that much water, could that be the reason? have any other suggestions ?

 

[lsv313]

My hens have fortress-like shells, and I'm not sure why, as we don't supplement them with any sort of calcium/oyster shell, etc. Although their favorite treat is cheese, so maybe that has something to do with it

 

[Danooj]

right, so do you think it's more calcium they need?

 

[dsqard]

Are you feeding them any layer food? There is additional calcium in layer food for shell development. If they are not eating the oyster shell you might be able to get more calcium in them that way.

 

[Danooj]

Yeah I do, i feed them layer pellets

 

[wingsofglory]

I've decided to keep just Easter Eggers for eggs for this reason. In my mixed flock, with the same grit, oyster shell, and layer feed and free range, the Easter Eggers had the best shell quality. I'm so tired of having half the brown eggs from the other hens cracked. What good to have Rhode Islands and Comets (redsexlinks) if I have to throw
out half the eggs? They lay so many eggs a week I don't think their bodies can keep up with the calcium requirements. The Brahma girls stood up when releasing the egg and the fall cracked the egg on the tip - long fall. In three different mixed flocks, I could depend on the Easter Eggers quality shell.

I read on here years ago that the blue egg gene also gives the blue or green egg a layer of fibrin in the shell making it tougher.

 

[Danooj]

I don't really want to get more chickens just for their shells haha

I just wonna know how I can I give them calcium other than milk & cheese

 

[Kim_NC]

We feed the shells back to ours. I toss them on a pie plate, toast them in the oven to kill bacteria, then crush them and toss them in the chicken yards. We always have nice thick shells.

We also have a farmers market customer who gets about 3 dz a week and brings her empty shells back to me for the girls! She's a vet....likes to feel that she's contributing for the hens.

The only other calcium ours get is in their laying pellets. Occassionally we have something dairy to give them as a treat, but rarely.