Used Omlet outdoor rabbit run Width 2.2m Height 2.05m Length 3.1m vgc.

[chuckmum6]

One of my girls has always laid weaker shelled eggs than the other (whose are really tough to break), she has the same food as all the others and plenty of grit, as well as what she gets herself free ranging. Is it just her or can I supplement her diet even more to strengthen the shell?

[Jenthelibrarian]

One of mine has done a fair few fragile eggs.

 

This week I have baked some 'used' shells and ground them up finely.

 

My chooks usually get some 'supper' of whatever leftovers are going after our meal.

 

To get this extra grit to stick onto their treat, and not just end up untouched in the bottom of the dish, I have been adding a teaspoon of yoghurt to things like rice or peas/sweetcorn. I have also seen it suggested that a tiny drop of cooking oil has a similar effect.

 

[i also do this with ground-up VermX pellets, btw, as my chickens picked them out of stuff they normally scoff down, like mashed potato.]

 

Their dish has been coming back completely clean, so I'm crossing my fingers that this extra grit/calcium is going down, although it's a bit too early to be sure this will have the desired effect

 

Will be interested to hear what others think

[gongladosh]

The other one we had success with recently was limestone flour - you can buy it online.

My hens didn't like it when added into their porridge but I had more success when I added it to the feed.

 

Within a few days, the normally-thin-shelled eggs went back to normal.

 

If you have limestone flour (or any source of calcium for that matter), sometimes it can help to mix a little cod liver oil in with the food to help the hens break down the calcium.

 

Hope this helps!