Paper-thin shells

[Paul Wagland]

One of our two chickens (Daisy) has always laid slightly odd-looking eggs, uneven shaped and with funny knobbles on them like calcium deposits. They've been edible though, until the last week or so.

Now she only lays occasionally and the eggs are always broken by the time we find them because they have paper-thin shells, which split rather than crack.

Has anyone seen this before? What could be the cause?

Our other hen Delicious is laying perfectly and they both have a good diet of layers pellets, greenery and whatever they can forage in the garden. There is oyster shell in a hopper and I've seen both hens eating it.... Can't think what else it could be!

[Topaz]

Have done a lot of reading up on keeping chickens and sounds like a calcium deficiency to me.
A hen on a diet low in calcium or vitamin D, for example, lays eggs having thin, soft shells, or no shells at all, according to the American Egg Board (AEB), a group representing the egg industry. Found this on this website might be worth a read
Chemical & Engineering News: What's That Stuff? Chicken Eggs

[Paul Wagland]

That was my first guess, but they have oyster shell in their run.... Maybe Daisy hasn't been eating enough of it. Is there a way of adding calcium to their pellets?

[Rooster]

There is somthing you can add to their pellets to add calcium to their diet, Limestone flour is usually given to horses but is a good source of calcium for chickens. I sprinkle a couple of teaspoons in their feed and it seems to help.

[kirsty b]

Try poultry spice. Its made up of various vitamins and minerals. It helps them when they are moulting and may be a good tonic for your girl too. It certainly wouldn't hurt.

Kirsty

[terrier]

At least now I can carry on eating eggs knowing I'm not eating my way to a heart attack

[Birdie Wife]

Have a look and see if she has lice or if there is any red mite in the house - I'm ashamed to say I didn't check my hens for ages and wondered why I was constantly getting thin-shelled eggs, or eggs with no shell at all - I finally found out that they were stressed from a louse infestation and dosed them straightaway. The problem sorted itself out in a couple of weeks.

Check very carefully at the base of the feathers around her back end, under her wings and the back of her neck - you might see clusters of white eggs or (more usually) little critters on her skin. Louse power is not expensive and should be treated as part of the basic kit for keeping hens.

Red mite doesn't hide on the hen, but in the house itself. They come out at night when the hen is roosting to feed on her blood. You might see them hiding in nooks and crannies in the house, especially around the ends of roosting bars and corners under the roof, but even if you don't, it might be worth having a good clean out and scrub-down with a disinfectant like Poultry Sheild anyway.

Hope this sorts itself out for you soon.

[Graham S]

Thin cells

I've occasionally had this before, it usually happens when the hens are moulting and the calcium is required to regenerate the new feathers. Egg production therefore decreases and when they do lay the eggs tend to have paper thin shells.
Is Daisy currently moulting?
cheers
Graham

[jeannine]

Hi Graham, I'm Paul's OH if you're wondering why I'm taking such an interest in Daisy.

She's an ex battery hen and you may well be right, I wonder if she is moulting - we got Delicious (our other ex-bat) a week earlier and within 6 weeks she was looking beautiful and fully feathered.

In contrast, Daisy still has quite a bald, red bottom and is generally still not terribly feathery. She isn't half as pretty as Delicious but she is ever such an affectionate old thing and actually flew up on to my lap the other day when I was sitting on the bench.

I'll put some poultry spice in their food and look out for spider mite and other critters too, but would it be unusual for a pest or a dietary deficiency to just affect one of them when they are living in the same coop and eating the same food, or can that happen?

[yoanbob]

it may be that she was much more traumatised than the other hen in her old life. I would agree with all the above, give them a good look over and clean the house, give an extra suplement like poultry spice with there normal food (just because she has eaten the oyster shell doesnt mean she will connect the feeling better with it, think of it like child who has only ever eaten burgers then trys a salad, it may take her a while to get her instincts back.)
I think she is proberbly just putting a lot of energy into growing her feathers back and getting fit, just keep an eye on her.

[Graham S]

thin shells

Hi Jeanine and Paul,

Does sound like she putting all her energy into growing new feathers.

Its still probably worthwhile looking for mite infestations but I might be mistaken, I thoughts these problems usually occur during the warmer months. However seeing as they are ex-bats, the chicken house they where in may have been at a higher temperature allowing mites/lice to thrive.
Mites can effect just one or two birds, these little critters (red mite) tend to live in the walls/cracks of the hen house and venture out at night, walk along the perch and feast (suck blood) on then first bird they find - the ones at the end.
And as chickens are creatures of habit they often perch in the same and therefore the same bird loses blood every night. So if you not vigilant the bird can die from anaemia (or other opportunistic infection as the bird is weak).
You can check for red mite at night, little brown/red walking specs on the perch about 1mm long (look similar to a tick). If you squash them they ouse blood.

Hope this helps.
cheers
Graham

[Paul Wagland]

Blimey! I shall investigate tonight, armed with garlic, stake and mallet!

[Sue]

Paul
If it is just a lack of calcium you could try feeding them eggshells which I've seen advised on poultry forums. You need to bake them in the oven and then bash them into "grit". They really love it too, whenever I have a fresh lot, they elbow each other aside to get a go at the feeder. Doesn't turn them into egg eaters either, I've not had any problems with that. They still have the grit but this is supposed to be a good way of giving them a good dose of calcium
best wishes
Sue............................................................................

[Graham S]

Thin shells

Another way to get oyster shell/calcium into your chucks is to mix some 'chick oyster shell' (ground up oyster shell) with their favourite treat.

Our chucks occasionally get sprouted mung beans as a treat and if you wash it, mix it with some fine oyster shell, the shell sticks to the beans and the chucks get a dose of Calcium/shell. I'm sure you can adapt it to other treats.

P.S make sure you presoak your beans for 24hrs before use, and rinse them every day to stop them getting buggy!

cheers
Graham

[Paul Wagland]

Great tips, thanks guys. I happen to have a large sack of oyster shells (don't ask) and am going to experiment with different ways of crushing them!