Thin/soft wierd eggs

[Tanner123]

I have 2 hens that I think are pretty old. Not sure of the exact age since we didn't raise them. Im pretty sure one has stopped laying and the other has been laying but they have been thin shelled, so thin she breaks them most the time. Today I pulled this weird shapped egg out of her box, which almost has no shell at all. I do have oyster shell out for them at all times to eat as they need. Is this normal for a senior chicken? Or do I need to find another was to supplement calcium? What health risks do I need to be watching for in a elderly chicken with eggs like these?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Yes senior birds often need a higher amount of calcium than they willingly will intake in order to maintain decent shell strength. Soft shelled eggs are more difficult for a hen to pass which could lead to prolapse and thin shelled ones can break during laying which could lead to infection if the material gets stuck inside.

Since it sounds like you know which bird is the issue, during her laying cycle you can either give her a private breakfast of wet/fermented feed with calcium mixed in, or you can get human calcium citrate tablets/pills and just pop one into her mouth. Frequency of supplementing would depend on how often she lays, as older layers tend to slow down. For my oldest bird (8) that was a pill 2-3x a week, as she only laid about that often.