Weird egg

[1ADAM12]

Ok al off my chickens appear healthy. But when I went out to gather eggs today one of them literally crumbled in my hand. The shell was so brittle. What would cause this?

A little information. I have 4 hens that are a year old and 4 others that were born in the spring. Egg laying dropped off three weeks ago because they are molting and this past week we started getting eggs again. Had 4 today but had one bad one. Also I put oyster shells in their feed to help with calcium.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Adam

 

[JoshFig]

Sometimes you just get bad eggs - especially if they're molting. I have an occasional brittle egg, even shell-less every once in awhile. If it keeps up for an extended period of time you may want to figure out who is laying the bad ones and cull it - but more than likely its no big deal.

 

[1ADAM12]

That's good news! Here's to hoping you are right

 

[minihorse927]

I agree Bad Eggs happen sometimes I wouldn't fret over it until it is common occurrence

 

[aart]

Sometimes you just get bad eggs - especially if they're molting. I have an occasional brittle egg, even shell-less every once in awhile. If it keeps up for an extended period of time you may want to figure out who is laying the bad ones and cull it - but more than likely its no big deal.

Ditto Dat^^^^...and new layers too.


Quote:
Oyster shell should not be mixed into the feed, but offered in a separate container for when they need it.
What kind of feed are you using?

 

[1ADAM12]

DuMOR 16% layer crumble. I get it from TSC.

 

[aart]

DuMOR 16% layer crumble. I get it from TSC.

That should have plenty of calcium...tho having some available 'on the side' is not a bad idea.
If your birds are molting, a higher protein feed will help them grow new feathers faster.

I like to feed a flock raiser/grower/finisher 20% protein crumble full time to all ages and genders, as non-layers(chicks, males and molting birds) do not need the extra calcium that is in layer feed and chicks and molters can use the extra protein. Makes life much simpler to store and distribute one type of chow that everyone can eat. I do grind up the crumbles (in the blender) for the chicks for the first week or so.

The higher protein crumble also offsets the 8% protein scratch grains and other kitchen/garden scraps I like to offer. I adjust the amounts of other feeds to get the protein levels desired with varying situations.

Calcium should be available at all times for the layers, I use oyster shell mixed with rinsed, dried, crushed chicken egg shells in a separate container.

Animal protein (mealworms, a little cheese - beware the salt content, meat scraps) is provided during molting and if I see any feather eating.

 

[1ADAM12]

Thanks for the info. Much appreciated