Rant: 8 months of soggy eggs before I figured out the calcium trick

I kept getting these thin shelled eggs that would break apart when I tried to wash them. Finally after my Wyandotte laid one that looked like a deflated balloon, I counted and realized I was only giving them oyster shells like once a week. I had no idea they needed free choice calcium 24/7 especially during winter when they're not outside eating bugs. Has anyone else had their birds go through a weird soft shell phase that took forever to fix?

2 comments

2 Comments

skyler_white6d agoMost Upvoted

My girls went through the exact same thing last winter. I was feeding them crushed eggshells but not nearly often enough and they looked terrible for months. The turning point for me was when I switched to keeping a container of crushed oyster shells right next to their feed and they just help themselves whenever they want. Now I also mix a little bit of liquid calcium into their water every few days during the dark months and it's made a huge difference. Another thing that helped was adding some extra vitamin D drops to their water since they weren't getting much sun.

brian_jackson5d ago

Switched to free choice oyster shells too and it was a game changer. My Rhode Island Reds would barely touch them at first but now they go through a whole container every couple weeks. I started leaving a little tray of crushed eggshells and oyster shells mixed together near their waterer and they pick at it throughout the day. Also been putting a splash of apple cider vinegar in their water every now and then, heard it helps with calcium absorption. Kept noticing soft shells on some of my older hens last year and this combo seems to dial that in.