Thin egg shells

[Annasg]

Recently when collecting my eggs, I have found that one of my hens is laying very thin shelled eggs. They are part time coop chickens and part time free run. I feed them a Mash that I get at my local Farmer's CoOp. I have given them oyster shell and crushed egg shells. Can someone tell me what else I need to do to make sure I am getting strong eggs?

 

[BlueShadow]

I know of two causes for thin shelled eggs. One is that you have one hen that does not eat enough calcium supplements.
Are the eggs also pale? Another cause is that one hen has a damaged shell gland, so she can't make thick egg shells, she only makes pale, thin shells. Usually this cannot be fixed. It may be something she was born with, or various viral infections can damage the shell gland as well.

 

[Annasg]

Yes, he eggs have become almost white. As far as viral infection goes, how would she get one and could the rooster be part of the problem with an infection. I have 2 hens that he rode until they lost their feathers on their backs and upper parts of their wings. I got rid of him about a month ago but the feathers don't seem to be coming back and my girls are much happier now. The one tried her best to stay as far away from him as possible and I think she got traumatized. I think she is the one laying these thin eggs.

 

[BlueShadow]

There are several different viruses that may cause trouble. Most of them are respiratory viruses. Some of the viruses can be carried by wild birds, some are specific to poultry. There may be other contagious diseases that can damage the reproductive tract also (like bacteria), I just don't know about them. I doubt that the rooster was the cause.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

With spring and the reproductive system kicking into high gear maybe the eggs are traveling through to fast.

Usually when I have soft shells it is the system starting or shutting down for the season. Definitely not nutrient deficiency as I know that is key.

Sometimes there is just the occasional hiccup.

Give the girls time to recover from being too few hens with an overly amorous cockerel or rooster. Their feather will not grow back until molt unless they were completely pulled out. My girls are generally happier without a boy. But the ratio usually has a lot to do with that.

Some of my shells are unusually light recently. Never considered it to be an infection and still really don't thing it's a possibility... but definitely will pay attention and research it! My flock is healthy with zero sign of illness or disease. But I'm not ignorant enough to think "it can't happen to me" though.

You call them hens, how old are they? Age does have an effect on many things including egg strength.

I wouldn't jump to any conclusions... just make sure you aren't feed too many treats like scratch as that will diminish egg quality if over nutrition is not balanced. Otherwise, you are providing the oyster shell and that's really all you can do IMHO. OS, BTW doesn't go directly to the egg... it goes through a process which includes being absorbed into the keel bone and redistributed from there. So a girl will sacrifice calcium from her own body until detriment. I don't know the exact process. But it is complicated enough that I realize lots of things can have an overall effect.

 

[DrPatrickBiggs]

Recently when collecting my eggs, I have found that one of my hens is laying very thin shelled eggs. They are part time coop chickens and part time free run. I feed them a Mash that I get at my local Farmer's CoOp. I have given them oyster shell and crushed egg shells. Can someone tell me what else I need to do to make sure I am getting strong eggs?

Great question, Annasg. Everyone hates when you gather a carton of eggs and excitedly carry them back to the house for breakfast only to find a few have broken along the journey. Strong eggshells are important!

Calcium and vitamin D3 are two of the more important nutrients needed to build strong eggshells. Calcium is the most important nutrient for eggshell development, and vitamin D3 is vital to getting the calcium where it needs to go. Each eggshell typically contains about 2 grams of calcium, which makes up 40 percent of the shell. Hens need to consume 4 grams of calcium in order to put the amount required for building a strong shell into an egg (not all of that calcium goes to shell production!).

The key to becoming an effective general contractor for helping your hens build strong shells is using a feed that includes slow-release calcium. If you have an organic flock, look for a layer feed that contains 3.25% calcium. If you have a traditional flock, you can bring calcium to the next level with feeds like Purina® Layena®, which includes the Oyster Strong™ System.

Available exclusively in traditional Purina® Premium poultry feeds, the Oyster Strong™ System helps your hens build strong shells. This feed is specially formulated to provide a slow-release calcium source that breaks down at night, when eggshells are being formed.

The oyster shell included in the Oyster Strong™ System is a good way to provide calcium because of its large particle size. Smaller calcium particles break down quickly, but the oyster shell particles contained within the feed have a slower transit time. This means the calcium source stays in the hen longer and plays an important role in eggshell formation at night when hens need calcium most.

 

[Rozzychick]

Great question, Annasg. Everyone hates when you gather a carton of eggs and excitedly carry them back to the house for breakfast only to find a few have broken along the journey. Strong eggshells are important!

Calcium and vitamin D3 are two of the more important nutrients needed to build strong eggshells. Calcium is the most important nutrient for eggshell development, and vitamin D3 is vital to getting the calcium where it needs to go. Each eggshell typically contains about 2 grams of calcium, which makes up 40 percent of the shell. Hens need to consume 4 grams of calcium in order to put the amount required for building a strong shell into an egg (not all of that calcium goes to shell production!).

The key to becoming an effective general contractor for helping your hens build strong shells is using a feed that includes slow-release calcium. If you have an organic flock, look for a layer feed that contains 3.25% calcium. If you have a traditional flock, you can bring calcium to the next level with feeds like Purina® Layena®, which includes the Oyster Strong™ System.

Available exclusively in traditional Purina® Premium poultry feeds, the Oyster Strong™ System helps your hens build strong shells. This feed is specially formulated to provide a slow-release calcium source that breaks down at night, when eggshells are being formed.

The oyster shell included in the Oyster Strong™ System is a good way to provide calcium because of its large particle size. Smaller calcium particles break down quickly, but the oyster shell particles contained within the feed have a slower transit time. This means the calcium source stays in the hen longer and plays an important role in eggshell formation at night when hens need calcium most.

I've a had a this shell/ thin spot problem with my 1 y.o. Black austrolorp almost from the beginning. I do all the recommendations for calcium. Including bringing her in once a week for bone powder mixed in a spoon full of yogurt.
Sometimes 1 egg comes out sort of normal. They all have a flat side/ funny asymmetrical shape.
Anything else to try? Is it just a defect? Could it endanger her?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I've a had a this shell/ thin spot problem with my 1 y.o. Black austrolorp almost from the beginning. I do all the recommendations for calcium. Including bringing her in once a week for bone powder mixed in a spoon full of yogurt.
Sometimes 1 egg comes out sort of normal. They all have a flat side/ funny asymmetrical shape.
Anything else to try? Is it just a defect? Could it endanger her?

So what the Purina guy basically said (that's who he works for) is make sure your hens have standard oyster shell WHICH IS a slow release (at night ) as he says... If it's too fine it just goes through too rapidly.

The way that you describe it sounds like it may be genetic. I have never had to do all you describe to try and get a solid egg shell.

IF you are providing a balanced, formulated diet with free choice oyster shell... and still getting thin shells, I WOULD be concerned about the "extra" stuff your adding putting extra toll on the kidneys and liver long term. If your trying to make the eggs hard but that isn't where the calcium is going, then it IS going somewhere. Too much calcium long term can cause gout and kidney failure. I don't know if that will be an issue for you or not. But I would say a possibility.

I *might* just deal with the soft eggs. Hard decision since you don't truly know what's going on. Because soft eggs might not be easy to pass and become a whole other problem..

Wish I actually gave you more help instead of creating more questions.

Seriously though.. take all the information you have and make the best decision you can. If you learn something new, you can't change the past but you can change it up.

 

[AB Gamebird Farmer]

Yes, he eggs have become almost white. As far as viral infection goes, how would she get one and could the rooster be part of the problem with an infection. I have 2 hens that he rode until they lost their feathers on their backs and upper parts of their wings. I got rid of him about a month ago but the feathers don't seem to be coming back and my girls are much happier now. The one tried her best to stay as far away from him as possible and I think she got traumatized. I think she is the one laying these thin eggs.

This one time one of my hens had a run in with a dog but did not sustain any superficial flesh injuries, she did however appear to have suffered some neurological damage. Hoping she would recover, I put her back in the coop with the other 14 hens and 2 roosters. My two barred rock roosters took turns humping her until she was dead.

-The End

 

[EggSighted4Life]

This one time one of my hens had a run in with a dog but did not sustain any superficial flesh injuries, she did however appear to have suffered some neurological damage. Hoping she would recover, I put her back in the coop with the other 14 hens and 2 roosters. My two barred rock roosters took turns humping her until she was dead.

-The End

Hi, welcome to BYC!

That's a terrible story, sorry for your loss.

Have to say, I'm not a fan of anyone being victimized while they are down. I would have been eating me two barred rock bastards that day... if I wasn't to ticked to just toss them out to that dog that was part of the run in with the poor hen.