Neighbor said I was overfeeding my hens... she was right about the eggs

My neighbor Carol kept saying I was giving my girls too many scratch grains. I thought she was just being nosy. Then after about 3 weeks of cutting back to mostly layer pellets, my eggshells stopped being so thin and brittle. Now I only give scratch as a treat, like a handful at dusk. Has anyone else had shell problems from too much scratch?

2 comments

2 Comments

taylor.phoenix1mo ago

Wait, scratch grains can actually mess with eggshells that bad?

lilychen1mo agoMost Upvoted

Oh man, you have no idea lol. I learned this the hard way last summer when I started giving my girls way too much scratch as a treat. Their shells got so thin and brittle I could practically see through them. One of my Wyandottes laid an egg that literally cracked in the nesting box just from her stepping on it. I had no clue the calcium imbalance thing was real until my rooster started looking rough too. Now I keep scratch to just a handful in the afternoon and make sure they get their layer feed first. It's wild how something so simple can throw their whole system off.