Thin shell and calcium deposits?

[KWVT]

I have one who lays larger eggs that tend to have a thinner shell and calcium deposits on one end. They tend to feel a little gritty on the outside.



Additionally, a few have had a small hole in the end when I collect them. I’ve had some broken eggs recently, so I’m assuming someone pecked at it and due to the thinner shell made a hole (then it got shuffled to the bottom of the pile).




They are on 17% layer pellets with 3.5-4.5% calcium and they have free access to oyster shells. Treats include cracked corn, sunflower seeds, food scraps, veggies, etc.

Everyone else seems to have shells without any issues.

They are almost a year old. This seems to be fairly consistent for this bird (though I don’t know who is laying this egg). Any ideas of ways to help get a stonger shell?

 

[Ridgerunner]

When I have a problem I try to decide if it is an individual chicken problem or a flock problem. That way I know whether to treat the entire flock or not. This sure sound like an individual hen problem.

It sure sounds like you are doing everything right. Every now and them you get a hen that just does not lay a good egg. The process is pretty complicated. If a hen has an occasional glitch well we are all entitled to a hick-up every now and then. But this sounds consistent.

It sound like the hen's shell gland is not making enough shell material to cover the egg with a thick enough shell. With the egg being fairly large it may take a little more material or the shell can be a tad thinner, but even then it should not be that thin. Maybe her body does not process the calcium she eats well enough to gather enough calcium for shells. Or maybe she does not have the instinct to eat extra calcium. These things can be genetic, there is just something wrong with the hen.

Hens walk all over the eggs when they get on and off the nest. I suspect the reason they are having those holes is not from pecking but from claws when they are walking on the eggs with a thin shell.

I don't know how much of those treats they are eating. Those don't generally have much calcium in them. If you cut back on treats she and the rest may eat more of their Layer feed which does contain calcium. At the rate of calcium in the feed that will not hurt your other hens. That might thicken her shells up enough but I would not bet on it. I think you have a defective hen.

 

[KWVT]

They aren’t eating huge amounts of treats; they primarily are eating the pellets. I would say all 12 share a cup of corn or sunflower seeds on average each day. If I have food scraps they get those, but that’s not every day. Maybe once a week or so I give them some cabbage or lettuce.

That’s too bad that it sounds like there may be nothing I can do. I will at least try to figure out who it is. I can rule out my two EEs, but otherwise I have no clue who it is.

 

[Esshea]

This is a very old thread but I am having the same problem with one of my color pack hens. When she was a pullet she had a bad case of coccidosis and I am wondering if this is the cause. She also lays gigantic, jumbo eggs. Were you ever able to identify the hen that laid your “defective eggs?” What came of her if you did?