Two questions about my eggs

[bcarthen]

I have 2 eggs in question. One of my golden comets are laying nice large dark brown eggs but they have a white splash on the egg. Everything is smooth, no lumps or anything. Why is this? Im assuming its normal. I have incubated several of her eggs and had 100% hatch rate from them.

2nd question...

One of my Barred Rocks are laying paper thin eggs. You can tap them with your finger nail and crack them. They all eat the same laying mash with extra calcium in it. Any tips?

 

[Flock Master64]

I'm not sure about the first question but for the thin egg shells you should give them layer feed which is full of calcium. You can also save their egg shells and crush them up and put them in their feed for additional calcium.

 

[sawilliams]

Some hens lay spotted eggs, it's totally normal.

As for the soft shell, oddly is one of my barred rocks that also lay soft shells. She didn't always but it got worse for a while. Do you have oyster shell available for them? Some hens just need more calcium then others

 

[azygous]

I call eggs such as the one you show with the white specks "designer eggs". Each layer has her own little quirks as her egg proceeds down the "assembly line". It almost always occurs with eggs such as that one that begin as pure white eggs. It rarely happens with blue egg layers. After the shell is added in the shell gland, color is deposited made up of discarded red blood cells. Sometimes the color is deposited unevenly resulting in freckles, stripes, and smears. All perfectly normal.

On the other hand, your layer with the thin shells has a problem absorbing the calcium in her layer feed, and she can use a little help. If you don't already provide it, oyster shell should be offered free choice in addition to layer feed. Hens have varying degrees of calcium needs and they will satisfy extra demand by eating the oyster shell.

Occasionally, a hen will still produce a thin-shelled egg in spite of layer feed and oyster shell. Usually this occurs as a hen ages. In this case, it's helpful to give her calcium citrate (people calcium supplement), one-half to one tablet per day until the eggs have a sturdy shell again. I crush the pill and mix it in a dab of peanut butter or you can crush it even finer and sprinkle it over grated carrot.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

Do the white flecks scrape off pretty easy? Or are they "printed" on? Sometimes they can splatter some urates on the egg shell on the way out.
Either way it's normal.

 

[bcarthen]

The specks do not scrape off and i am assuming that they are normal. As for the feed. I am feeding layer feed with oyster shells added into it. I do not have a seperate oyster shell open to them freely.

 

[sawilliams]

Outs not recommended to mix the osyter shell, as some don't need the extra. Even a dog blow filled with oyster shell is enough, not that all the hens will take it.

How old is your hen?

 

[AlleysChicks]

My Olive egger was laying eggs with thin egg shells for about a month. I added some chicken vitamins that had vitamin D to her water and they started thickening up. Now they are like the others eggs. I’ve always offered oyster shell on the side.

 

[bcarthen]

7 months old

 

[azygous]

I agree with the others who've pointed out it's best not to mix oyster shell with the feed. Hens will help themselves to the oyster shell as they need it. Some hens need less, some need more, so adding it to the feed takes away the ability of each hen to regulate her intake.

For a young layer to have thin shells is unusual. When a new layer exhibits this problem, it can sometimes be explained by too many treats and not enough nutrition from eating their balanced feed. Yes, some chickens are like little kids, eating too much dessert and not enough vegetables. If you feed treats, try to keep them to a bare minimum so the individuals will still have enough appetite for their regular feed.