What would you do?

[Secretlyspotted]

I have four hens in my backyard currently. Three of them are fabulous layers- an egg everyday and their egg shells are hard as rocks. I have them on flock raiser (because one of them on recently started laying and I didn't want to overwhelm her system with calcium) with a side of oyster shells. They have a HUGE area to free range- complete with pasture, wooded areas, and plenty of places they haven't even explored yet.
Anyway- one of these hens- an Easter Egger- is a terrible layer. She lays every other day at best and more than half the time her shells are broken. She sometimes "lays" her eggs from the roost and they always fall and break. Even her eggs that make it have thinner shells as compared to my others. I did have them on layer feed when I first got them and it wasn't any better. She is right at a year old. She stopped laying altogether after a hard molt last fall and when she started up again her shells were better, for a time. But now we are back to the same old paper thin shell.
Now- to the problem. Right now my girls ignore the broken eggs. No eating- God only knows why! But I have 15 six week old babies that I'm about to introduce to the original flock. And I don't want them to become egg eaters! I am considering culling her- but she is one of my first chickens- she has a name any everything! (Nugget.)
What do I do? What would you do? Risk my babies getting a taste of delicious egg? Chicken soup? Put her on Craigslist and let somebody else make soup out of her? Or advertise her as a pet? Sigh. She isn't exactly friendly or pretty. And my husband is so excited about the prospect of processing a chicken. (Seriously- the man is sharpening his knives as I type! LOL).
Help!

 

[keesmom]

I would cull her, though that doesn't always mean killing. If you can be okay with having her as soup then go for it. That's what I would do - you know she's had a good life, and that the end will be quick. If you're going to have a hard time with that then advertise her on craigslist.

 

[Secretlyspotted]

Thanks. We could eat her, the thought of throwing away a totally useful source of food isn't appealing to me. The thought of doing all the work to process her isn't appealing either, but my hubby would be in charge of that.
And she has had a good life with me. Sigh again. I wish there was some way I could either make her eggs shells more firm or stop her from laying altogether!

 

[SavageDestiny]

Could she maybe just be bad about eating the oyster shell like she should?

Maybe try making her a "treat" of some cooked oatmeal, scrambled egg, etc. and mixing some oyster shell in. Pull her aside every day and give it to her alone, see if that helps with shell thickness. Just a thought!

 

[Secretlyspotted]

I've never seen her eat the oyster shell, although I have seen the others. I thought about getting injectable calcium (for dairy cows) and putting it in crickets and then trying to feed them to her. And then I decided that was too much. Too much work, too much money. Just too much. And she's isn't tame enough to catch and feed on her own anyway. I do wonder if I gave the whole flock some treats with oyster shell if that would sneak some into her. It might be worth a try at least!

 

[keesmom]

Give it a try and see what happens. There doesn't seem to be any need to rush to a decision. You could also try feeding yogurt or cheese.

 

[ChickenLegs13]

I have a pen dedicated to substandard rejects that I cull from my layer flock, mostly for bad temperments or egg quality issues. They stay in that pen until they improve, somebody wants them or I get hungry.

 

[Secretlyspotted]

LOL- that's a good idea too! I actually like the idea of a "retirement pen" for the layers I get attached to, but don't produce anymore. At the moment I'm limited by the fact I only have one pen- and a grow out trailer for the babies. It would be possible to build another pen, but we are moving in 3 months, so not really worth the effort. But at the new property I get to design the fencing however I want! Within financial reason, of course. Maybe Nugget can hang on long enough.

 

[ShadyHillFarm]

I also suggest sneaking it into treats. I grind up my chickens dried egg shells (dried in the oven) and mix the powder into a little bit of oatmeal. They eat it up!

 

[Coralietg]

I had a chicken that laid paper thin eggs, despite all the other girls laying rock solid eggs. Nothing I tried hardened her eggs up, and one day I guess one of her delicate eggs burst inside her before she laid it. I never could get her to recover.

I'm sure you will decide what is best for you and your flock.