weak eggs?

[AdrieeC]

Not every day but a lot recently I have come back to the house with cracked eggs or eggs that have little designs on them...they don't look very deep. I have provided them with oyster shells but I dont think they are eating them... any suggestions?

 

[ChickenToes]

If they don't like the oyster shell you can try giving them egg shells. Save all your egg shells, rinse them out, and let them dry. When you get a lot of them, bake them in the oven (sorry, I don't know exact temperature or anything, you'd have to look it up. You're basically just drying them out.) until dry, then crush them and mix in with their feed.

 

[HEChicken]

What I do with my egg shells, is place them on a cookie sheet in the oven after I've used them (I don't rinse them). When I turn on the oven to pre-heat it, I pull the cookie sheet out. I then bake whatever it is I was going to cook, and turn the oven off. I place the cookie sheet back in the oven so that the residual heat as it cools down dries them out. Perfect every time and I don't have to waste energy running the oven JUST to dry out the egg shells. I then crush them (you can use a food processor but since the egg shells will make a mess of a plastic bowl, I just put them in a glass jar and use a utensil to crush them until each piece is about 1/4"). I keep them in a jar on the kitchen counter until the outside dispenser needs refilling.

Oh - while I had mixed ages, I was feeding flock raiser with the supplemental shells and they were going through a lot of them. Now that they're all laying, I've switched to a layer formula and noticed they are not eating nearly as much of the egg shell. The layer food contains extra calcium so this makes complete sense but really goes to show that they know what they need and will only eat as much of it as they need.

 

[chickenlady08]

I dont use oyster shell either. I used to get some calcium chips but discovered that I could use the eggs that I they lay and that seem to be sufficient. I usually have so many eggs from my girls I can cook them about 6 dozen a week. I wash the eggs and let them dry and then I put them in the oven for about 15 minutes at 275 degrees. I have seen different settings and times. I just decided to increase the time and setting and it seems to work just fine. I use my food processor and grind them up as small as possible and I add the calcium right back into their scrambled. They gobble them up and nothing is left over. I still sometimes get the calcuim chips and mixe with their food if I haven't had a lot of extra eggs leftover after trading with my pet store owner and my family. I just figured that some of the calcuim is wasted and so it makes sense to mix the crushed eggs with some sort of treat.

 

[chicmom]

Are you feeding your hens a 16% layer feed? Do they get to free range at all?

 

[Sooner]

Quote:
Are they getting too many treats??

 

[AdrieeC]

Quote:
Are they getting too many treats??

I don't feed them treats... unless treats are fruits and vegetables and occasionally plain yogurt and long grain rice. None of which they get very often....once or twice a week max. They do freerange most days all day. I do have 16% layer feed mixed with chick starter... because the person at the feed store I don't like and where I vow to never go again unless the good one closes and I have no other choice gave me the wrong food and it was too late before I realized it. So I have the two mixed, it should be gone soon. Thanks for the tips about the egg shells. I will ask customers to turn in the shells with their cartons so I will get more of them and can gather up a better stash.

I tried spilling the oyster shell out of the feeder and they ate some... picky chickens!?