Thin/soft Shell in 20 month old RIR hen - but not all eggs

[JJandtheBoys]

My 20 month old RIR has recently started laying again after the following:
1. Fowl pox in September (no eggs for a month)
2. Molt during the fall (stopped laying around December)
3. Winter without supplemental light (she was the first of my hens to return to laying after the winter - she possibly laid one egg per week -sometimes less)

She is now laying 4 to 5 eggs per week, and she has been for three or four weeks. The problem: 1/2 of her eggs have very thin shells, and she smashes them while sitting on them. They are so soft that on the one occasion when I retrieved a whole egg, the shell couldn't withstand gentle handling without crumbling.

Because I have 13 juveniles who are not quite at laying age yet, the WHOLE flock is on a mix of 70-75% Flock Raiser and 25-30% Layena. The chickens have access to a big container of Oyster shell.

Last year, her shells were very hard. This year - 50% of her shells are paper thin. Also -when her shells are thin, they are always speckled; whereas, her eggs that are hard tend to not be. Is this normal?

Any ideas?
Thank you,
Julie

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I would give her Caltrate for 3-5 days to see if that helps.
Check her well for lice/mites and consider getting a fecal float to see if worms may be an issue.

Is the integration of the juveniles causing some stress within the flock? Stress affects production.
Not sure why the thin ones are speckled - do you mean like with brown specks (colored). This may be a shell gland disorder - or she's being interrupted during the dyeing process.
Try the calcium and check her overall health - see if that makes a difference.

 

[JJandtheBoys]

Thank

I would give her Caltrate for 3-5 days to see if that helps.
Check her well for lice/mites and consider getting a fecal float to see if worms may be an issue.

Is the integration of the juveniles causing some stress within the flock? Stress affects production.
Not sure why the thin ones are speckled - do you mean like with brown specks (colored). This may be a shell gland disorder - or she's being interrupted during the dyeing process.
Try the calcium and check her overall health - see if that makes a difference.

Thank you so much for your response. I will check for lice/mites today. Question: Caltrate? For humans? How do you administer and how much? I don't think the integration really caused any stress, so I think I'll tackle your other suggestions first. We integrated via the playpen method for 6 weeks, and they've been fully integrated for more than 2 months since we removed the barriers between the old and new flock with no apparent issues at all.

 

[aart]

The chickens have access to a big container of Oyster shell.

Are they eating it?

 

[JJandtheBoys]

Are they eating it?

Yes - the flock goes through a lot of Oyster shell - several pounds a week. Until this year, Malibu (the RIR) never had an issue with thin shells. Since she has ramped back up to laying, some eggs are VERY hard and just as they used to be, and others are totally flimsy.

 

[aart]

the flock goes through a lot of Oyster shell - several pounds a week. Until this year

That seems like a lot, how many birds?

Since she has ramped back up to laying, some eggs are VERY hard and just as they used to be, and others are totally flimsy.

Calcium uptake and application is about more than just calcium,
Could be she is deficient in other vitamins/minerals.

I'd follow @Wyorp Rock 's advice above.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I would give her Caltrate for 3-5 days to see if that helps.

Question: Caltrate? For humans? How do you administer and how much?

Yes, Caltrate with D3 for humans. I would give 1 tablet orally once a day for 3-5 days. No more than 5 days.
Get hen. Stand her on a table, drape one arm over her, pull her to your body, with the hand of the arm draped over her grab her wattles, pull down, she'll open her beak, with the other hand pop the tablet into her beak, immediately release the wattles. She *should* swallow it unless you have a pill shooting hen on your hands - I've got one of those type of hens. Then you may have to get crafty and crush up the pill, mix it with some coconut oil, put it in the fridge, harden it up, break it up into chunks and see if she will eat it on her own. Fortunately my hens love coconut oil. It's Easy Peasy

 

[JJandtheBoys]

That seems like a lot, how many birds?


Calcium uptake and application is about more than just calcium,
Could be she is deficient in other vitamins/minerals.

I'd follow @Wyorp Rock 's advice above.

It's 20 gals, and they fling it everywhere, too, so I'm not sure how much actually ends up inside the chickens. I physically witnessed Malibu nibbling the oyster shell this afternoon, and I checked her thoroughly for lice/mites. Clean as a whistle. Tomorrow, I plan to isolate her to get a sample to take to my vet. If that comes back fine, I don't know what I'll do.

One other thought - last year before there were juveniles, my girls (and one rooster) were on layer feed. They've been on Flock Raiser for a couple of months (extra protein for molt and so that the juvies could all eat the same feed). Do you think that switching them to layer feed that has the extra 4% of built-in calcium could fix this? I was hoping to stay on mostly flock raiser with some Layena mixed in so that my roo wouldn't get as much calcium, but...

 

[rosemarythyme]

One other thought - last year before there were juveniles, my girls (and one rooster) were on layer feed. They've been on Flock Raiser for a couple of months (extra protein for molt and so that the juvies could all eat the same feed). Do you think that switching them to layer feed that has the extra 4% of built-in calcium could fix this? I was hoping to stay on mostly flock raiser with some Layena mixed in so that my roo wouldn't get as much calcium, but...

You can feed both feeds if you want, to "customize" the nutrition profile. I feed approx 60% fermented grower and 40% dry layer pellets, to lower calcium and boost protein a bit. Either mix them at the ratio you want, serve one or both wet or fermented, or serve each one in different feeders (if they're billing out to get to one feed over the other).

 

[aart]

It's 20 gals, and they fling it everywhere, too, so I'm not sure how much actually ends up inside the chickens.

Oh, well then.

I use these for shell feeders.
See notes here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/oyster-plastic-jar.7897731/