Soft shells,advice from henkeepers please

[slinkycat]

I have two hens, around one year old, free range in large garden all day, one of them has been laying soft shelled eggs for nearly two months.
They are both healthy and active, fed on layers pellets plus kitchen scraps.
I bake and grind up eggshells and feed it back to them.
A couple of weeks ago I started giving them egg shell improver, a supplement of calcium and phosphorus, but to no avail so far.
Any advice from anyone who has had this problem would be much appreciated.

[wildwood]

Do you give them some oystershell grit? Obviously, the one that lays soft shelled eggs in not healthy. Continuous egg laying draws more calcium from the bird's skeleton than they can replace so need a good source of calcium. Some birds just aren't able to utilise the calcium source and will lay soft shelled eggs forever. Others come right after a while, hope your's is one of them.

[beejay1124]

agree with wildwood re grit
although if they are free range they usually get grit naturally

[Chaffinch]

Agree with above, but also give her a cuttlefish bone to peck on, I found it worked for mine.

[ruthann58]

you need some limestone flour mixed in their feed

[slinkycat]

Thanks for the replies. Wildwood, yes should have put that she appears healthy. I got the supplement from a local poultry supplier and he reckoned it was better than oyster grit, but may go back to that as well. I hope she comes right too, she was fine up til a couple of months ago.
Will try the cuttlefish Chaffinch, hadn't thought of that.
What is limestone flour Ruth, would I get that from the poultry place?
Yes I thought that Beejay, I never had this problem with my previous hens, must be as Wildwood says, she is not utilising the calcium properly.

[ruthann58]

dont know what it is but it has worked for my girls i buy it from my local feed shop they do everything not just hen food , i gave them about a dessert spoon mixed in some wet feed or scraps for a couple of weeks now when i remember my girls are ex battery hens

[Krystalpig]

I breed Brahmas and at this time of year it is quite common for hens to lay soft shelled eggs as they should be off lay anyway. They usually take a break of 8 to 10 weeks and start laying again about a week before christmas, just after shortest day. You could try changing your layers pellets as I found several brands did not suit my birds. Good luck. Krystalpig

[Clanad]

You've already received good advice, but one additional piece I would offer considering our experience with Rhode Island Reds, here in the western U.S. If the feed you get from the supplier comes in a bag, it probably has the percentage amounts of nutrients on it. Check a bag and assure it has the calcium and phosphorus in the right ratio (around 3.5-4% calcium to 0.3% phosphorus).
I would also support slinkycats' advice re: oyster shell. It's a better source of calcium than egg shell and I've found that when fed egg shells, some hens will begin pecking or even eating thier own eggs. I susect they just like the taste... Most commercial egg producers have a tasty Sunday dinner when a hen begins eating their own eggs...

[slinkycat]

Couldn't eat them Clanad, they have names! I'll check the percentages, but I suspect it is a problem with the hen rather than the feed, as the other one's eggs are fine.
I thought they were meant to have a break Krystal, but my previous hens laid right through the two winters I had them.