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Thought the guy at the feed store was just upselling me on oyster shells, then my flock's eggshells stopped cracking
Three months ago my Rhode Island Reds started laying eggs with shells so thin they'd crack just from me picking them up, and I figured it was just the heat here in Amarillo. The old guy at the feed store told me to add a $9 bag of crushed oyster shells to their diet, and I smiled and nodded because it felt like a pitch. About two weeks after I set out a little dish of it, the shells firmed right up and I stopped losing 3 or 4 eggs a week to cracks. I still don't fully get the why behind it, but I'm not arguing with the results. Anyone else had eggs thin out in summer heat, and did the extra calcium fix it or was it something else for you?
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jessicamiller11d ago
Two weeks is quick enough that I'd look at the calcium angle a little sideways. Oyster shell takes a while to get used up since hens hold it in their gizzard and pull from it overnight, so a fast fix like that makes me wonder if something else changed too, like the heat breaking or you switching feed. I've seen thin shells in August here in Lubbock that were really from hens not drinking enough water, not from low calcium, and those firmed up once I put out extra waterers in the shade. Not saying the shells didn't help, but I'd keep an eye on water and the birds' stress before giving the bag all the credit.
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