Thin egg shell

[ChickenMommy]

I have 1 EE that is laying a very very tin shell. Sometimes it is broken and crushed by te time I get it and when I do get to it before its broken it usually breaks apaprt as I pick it up. All the chickens get free choice oyster shell and no other chicken is having similair issues. All other chickens lay nice thick shell. Also I am not exactly sure which of the 4 EE is the one laying the thin shell.
What should I do???? What could be causing this?

 

[dlhunicorn]

Extension articles advise giving a supplement (general) to birds during the winter as they eat less and all of their resources go to keeping warm and such... calcium absorption is dependent not just on getting enough calcium but also on the ratio of Ca to phosphorous and also D3 plays a big role. Adding a bit of appcider vinegar to the waterer will help in calcium absorption and vit De is also often indicated with thin shells (you can give polyvisol into beak >three drops once a day for a week then tpaer off the next) if you do not have a specific bird supplement with D3 (polyvisol is a liquid chicldrens A-B-D vitamin)

 

[Beekissed]

I've heard that when they are just starting to lay or are ending their laying cycle or even while molting a, hen will lay a soft egg like that. I have a hen who just started laying again and she had a softie first. They are very hard on the hen to get out. She stayed hunched over all day afterwards. It doesn't necessarily indicate a deficiency, especially if you are not getting the same from others in your flock. Sometimes it just happens.

 

[ChickenMommy]

Quote:
Can I give the vitamin supplement in te beak to all my EE chickens...I am not 100% sure which one it is? I am gone in the morning when they usually lay. I already add Apple cider vinegar the water.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

Did you use the raw apple cider vinager with the mother in it? Not the one on the self with the reg vinager. I wouldn't think giving them all vitamins would hurt. Mine get vitamins added in their water, as well as the acv and probios.

 

[cath]

I have had one egg like this. Since then, when I use the eggs I keep the egg shells and roast them in the oven - I just leave them in the bottom when i'm cooking. When they are hard I crush them up and add it to their grit, as the egg shell is a good form of calcium for them. I have also used crushed oyster shell in the past. Since I have been doing this I havn't had a problem.

 

[dlhunicorn]

Quote:
Can I give the vitamin supplement in te beak to all my EE chickens...I am not 100% sure which one it is? I am gone in the morning when they usually lay. I already add Apple cider vinegar the water.

yes you can. You can also add the applecider vinegar to their waterer... it will aid somwhat in calcium absorption ("plain applecider venegar is also ok)...remember tho the polyvisol is for the D3 (ACV cannot replace that)

 

[julietma]

I have a D3 question: Can I open up a D3 capsule and mix it into the warm kitchen scraps I give them? I don't want them to OD, but if D3 is the issue, I am equipped with supplements for humans.

Anybody?

 

[mypicklebird]

How old are these birds?

What do you feed (besides the free choice oyster shells)- ie do you feed a balanced layer ration as their primary food? Not all hens like the oyster shell.
Can you separate them one by one to identify the bird?
Do you know how to tell who is laying (ie are they all in lay right now)?

 

[julietma]

My three hens are all about seven months old, give or take a few weeks. They just started laying at the beginning of December. The Banty started laying white eggs on 12/2, and Faith, one of the Barred Rocks, started laying brown eggs a week later. Of the two BRs, only Faith was doing the hen crouch at that time, so our working assumption is that she is laying. I don't think Silver, the other BR is laying yet, though she has started doing the hen crouch, so could be any day.

This means that because the soft shells are brown, they are most likely Faith's.

They eat Layena and have oyster crumbles available at all time. They also eat a lot of kitchen scraps and prefer whatever has a lot of protein. I've been giving them sprouted seeds, grains and legumes pretty much every day.

Oh, and I did start again with the vitamin/electrolytes in their water today. I had left off doing that about a week ago when I changed their water.