Chronic thin shells from only one hen

[CityslickerHomestead]

Do I just have to force-feed her calcium supplements forever or can I fix this with less instrusive measures?

I’ve got a two-year-old cream legbar I’ve had from hatch. She’s always had thin shells even as a pullet, and is the only one of my 20 chickens that lays thin shells, so I feel it’s a “her” problem and not a “me” problem. Also, there are three other legbars I got at the same time as her and they’re laying just fine.

The rest of the flock have strong shells and other than a few rare rubber eggs when they were pullets. I’ve never had egg issues.

I am feeding the entire flock layer feed, free choice oyster shell, and free choice baked eggshell. For treats I give them black soldier fly larvae, and dark, leafy greens - both of which are high in calcium.

I try to feed her separately to make sure she’s getting sufficient food and eggshells, but I feel like unless I pin her down and force-feed her calcium supplements, she’s laying thin-shelled eggs that break.

Then the flock goes in a frenzy trying to eat the broken egg. Or it messes up all the other eggs in the nest.

I’m trying to find less invasive ways of getting her shells to be thicker.

Do I have any other options? Or is this a genetic issue with her and that’s just how it’s going to be?

Disclaimer: my chickens are also pets so I won’t consider culling as an option.

 

[nuthatched]

Dark leafy greens actually block calcium so I'd really cut back on those.
It's likely she just has a defective shell gland, there's nothing you can do. Unfortunately, she's at risk for an egg breaking inside her because of that.
You'll want to keep calcium citrate and antibiotics on hand in case that happens.

 

[Perris]

I’ve got a two-year-old cream legbar I’ve had from hatch. She’s always had thin shells even as a pullet, and is the only one of my 20 chickens that lays thin shells, so I feel it’s a “her” problem and not a “me” problem.

I concur. So diet has nothing to do with it.

is this a genetic issue with her and that’s just how it’s going to be?

There is another possibility; she is dealing with some subclinical infection and it's having this effect on her eggshells.

You do not describe the way in which her eggshells are thin. Is there roughness or staining at one end, around the apex? or a little dent or hole in the same sort of area? Have you got a photo of a typical one?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I feel it’s a “her” problem and not a “me” problem.

I agree. It is a her problem. It is not a flock problem and it is not a you problem.

Do I have any other options? Or is this a genetic issue with her and that’s just how it’s going to be?

It sounds like a problem with either how she absorbs calcium or how her eggshell gland deposits it.

Disclaimer: my chickens are also pets so I won’t consider culling as an option.

Your option. Does force feeding her calcium help stop the eggs from being broken in the nest? If it does, I'd consistently keep it up.

To me an egg eater is a chicken that purposely opens and egg to eat it. Many chickens will eat an already broken egg but I do not consider them to be a problem. If eggs continue to be broken in the nest you have the potential for one or more to learn to open a good egg to eat it.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Does force feeding her calcium help stop the eggs from being broken in the nest? If it does, I'd consistently keep it up.

x2. Knowing the answer to this would help because it is a solution, even if a bit annoying to have to adhere to.

 

[CityslickerHomestead]

I concur. So diet has nothing to do with it.

There is another possibility; she is dealing with some subclinical infection and it's having this effect on her eggshells.

You do not describe the way in which her eggshells are thin. Is there roughness or staining at one end, around the apex? or a little dent or hole in the same sort of area? Have you got a photo of a typical one?

Her eggs are paper-thin. They look and appear normal, but the moment I grab them from the nest box, they break.

Once in a while they have calcium deposits on the ends, but are still overall thin.

Other times they look and feel fine, but then I wash them and they break in my hand.

 

[CityslickerHomestead]

x2. Knowing the answer to this would help because it is a solution, even if a bit annoying to have to adhere to.

They do. I was just asking this question to see if there are less invasive options. Because neither she nor I like this option.

 

[AntiqueB]

I have a hen who lays thin or no-shell eggs consistently. I tried giving her calcium daily, but it didn't help. I would try the calcium for a few days to see if it's a calcium intake issue, or an internal issue.

 

[Perris]

Her eggs are paper-thin. They look and appear normal, but the moment I grab them from the nest box, they break.

Once in a while they have calcium deposits on the ends, but are still overall thin.

Other times they look and feel fine, but then I wash them and they break in my hand.

so the calcium deposits on the ends again say it's not diet; her body has the calcium, it's just not using it appropriately.

There have been episodes of that here, starting with one of my first birds, whom I nearly culled because of it and the advice I got at the time. She is now 8, and has laid perfectly fine eggs since about mid way through her second year - and is still laying! And they are still fertile to boot. So I wouldn't give up on your hen, or assume this will plague her for life. We may never know the cause, but I think illness more likely than a congenital issue.

 

[townchicks]

I had a hen with similar issues, frequent shelless and/or thin shells, she often became egg bound too. I tried supplementing her calcium but it didn't seem to make much difference, except when she was eggbound. She passed at 4 years old from EYP. Some hens are just glitchy. One thing that worked for me to get the calcium into her, I cut the tablets into quarters and inserted them into blueberries, and hand fed them to her. Avoided the catching, forcing her beak open and shoving the pill in, and improved our relationship.