Thin Egg Shells

[3na]

My Hubbard hen has started laying eggs a month ago and I noticed that the egg shells are thin. At first I didn't mind since the eggs weren't fertilized so we just used the eggs for food. But now my Hubbard rooster has already mated with her and that she has started laying fertilized eggs and I noticed that the shells are still thin and I'm worried that those eggs might not hatch.

To resolve the thin shelled issue I searched that it is a calcium deficiency, do I need to feed her layer feed to supplement her calcium needs? Because I have also noticed that my older hen, who has hatched lots of clutches, some of her eggs are also a bit thin shelled (last time she went broody it did not hatch, noticed some thin shelled eggs then).

Any suggestion...FYI in my location it's hard to find oyster shells and lime stone powder .... So should I try feeding the girls layer feed?

 

[thechickenman6996]

You need to be giving your hens more protein and grit, egg shells work in a pinch but it might get them in the habit of eating their own eggs. Just increase the amount of grit you give them daily

 

[Alagirl]

You need to be giving your hens more protein and grit, egg shells work in a pinch but it might get them in the habit of eating their own eggs. Just increase the amount of grit you give them daily

oyster shell?
I thought grit were little rocks to help digest.

 

[3na]

oyster shell?
I thought grit were little rocks to help digest.

Oyster shells are hard to find in my location...

 

[3na]

You need to be giving your hens more protein and grit, egg shells work in a pinch but it might get them in the habit of eating their own eggs. Just increase the amount of grit you give them daily

Unfortunately I was using crushed egg shells but this led to my hens having an affinity for the egg shells that they are cracking some of the eggs in their nest...had to retrain them not to do that anymore so I'm avoiding using egg shells...will probably try the layer feed route and if it does not work I will try vitamin supplements (tablets)...Thank you so much for the suggestion.

 

[thechickenman6996]

oyster shell?
I thought grit were little rocks to help digest.

The rocks have all the calcium you need in them to harden the egg shells of your hens, oyster shell is fancy but chickens have ate rocks for years aint no reason to change it

 

[rosemarythyme]

If you specifically want to make sure the eggshells thicken up enough to hatch, but are worried about the effects of extra calcium on the roo, you might want to try layer feed if that's the most available option, and then ramp down off of it once you're not trying to gather eggs for hatching. Or you could possibly dilute down the calcium a little by feeding a combination of layer and whatever you're currently using, though that still may not improve shell quality enough.

Other option would be to use calcium tablet intended for humans, but that's going to take some micromanagement too as you'd need to manually feed it to the hens on a scheduled basis.

The rocks have all the calcium you need in them to harden the egg shells of your hens, oyster shell is fancy but chickens have ate rocks for years aint no reason to change it

Can you specify what type of rock you're using? If it's limestone, yes that provides calcium. Granite, which is often sold as nonsoluable grit, does not.

 

[Alagirl]

Oyster shells are hard to find in my location...

Really? Here even Walmart carries it.
As I understand it is not necessarily oyster shell. Risemarythyme has more experience though while I wonder how folks feed whole calcium tablets (from the people vitamin aisle) to the hens. It's not like you could grab a chicken by the scruff of the neck.

 

[rosemarythyme]

As I understand it is not necessarily oyster shell. Risemarythyme has more experience though while I wonder how folks feed whole calcium tablets (from the people vitamin aisle) to the hens. It's not like you could grab a chicken by the scruff of the neck.

Haven't had to do it yet but it's pretty much catch chicken, open beak, gently push in pill. They can easily swallow items the size of a calcium tablet.

My preferred method of supplementing calcium is to isolate the bird(s) I'm treating in a separate part of the run, and lacing wet or fermented feed with powdered calcium (oyster shell). But that's not necessarily faster/easier, it's just me taking advantage of the leftover powdered oyster shell that I seem to end up with.

 

[aart]

Unfortunately I was using crushed egg shells but this led to my hens having an affinity for the egg shells that they are cracking some of the eggs in their nest...had to retrain them not to do that anymore so I'm avoiding using egg shells...will probably try the layer feed route and if it does not work I will try vitamin supplements (tablets)...Thank you so much for the suggestion.

Feeding egg shells(especially if crushed up smaller than1/8") does not create egg eaters, it's the thin shells that get occasionally broken in the nest that creates egg eaters.

Oyster shells are hard to find in my location...

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