thin shelled eggs

I have been very happy with my eggs so far but lately I have been getting the occasional large slightly deformed, kind of nobly egg. It is very thin shelled, and I am concerned about which hen its coming from.
If egg shell qualities are genetic and I am sure many are, should I be looking at culling? Or could it be dietary?
Since 12 of thirteen are laying very well, and laying strong shells, I am leaning toward genetic. Sadly my number one candidate is my very beautiful, somewhat large, speckled sussex. I love this hen, and I am not sure it is her. I plan to isolate her to find out.
My question is, if there is others out there raising speckled sussex is this a characteristic of this breed, or is it an anomaly. Is it just a young hen maturing or is it a genetic flaw? I have six young australorps as well and I have noticely just in the last day one has a messy butt(I have not found any broken eggs). I plan to isolate her too. My flock is very healthy and all eating well and seem to be doing very good. So far all the eggs are fine but I worry about the one thin shell. Any comments would be welcome.
I feed my flock on a grain diet with fish meal and vitamin suppliment. No mixed feed at all.

Shell quality may be genetic but I would not cull if you are not giving your chickens access to oyster shells or some other quality form of calcium. It is not included in the general bagged diet you buy, but must be offered in addition to. It may be that your one hen is simply showing signs before the rest (but they will show signs eventually) if they are not getting calcium.

So, give your girl a break for a month or so before you decide if it's her genetics making her lay such thin-shelled eggs.

I give them oyster shells, free choice, as well as granite grit, both in small and medium size.

Did you get the birds as chicks or adults? There are a few diseases that cause eggs to be thin.

I have the same issue with one of my 9.5 month EE mutts. From the beginning she lays either gnarly, thin shelled or no shelled eggs. She shares the same father with 3 other hens but not the same mother.

They are on a great diet and have oyster shells separate from their main grain mixture and I never know who eats from it and who doesn't and if that is the reason why or it is genetic. I'm in a similar boat as you and hope others will respond to your thread.

How about if you sprinkle some oyster shell around for them to scratch and eat, or even some on there feed.

Well I 'read' that putting it in their food forces them, in a way, to eat it when they may not need it and overconsumption of it can cause organ damage.........

Have you heard of that Chickeesmom?

I believe chickens will only eat as much as they need, and if they were to be overeating they would do it right from your oyster shell feeder. I was just thinking, maybe this girl hasn't figured out where the oyster shell is. It won't hurt to do it a few times and see if the shell improves.

chickeesmom wrote:Did you get the birds as chicks or adults? There are a few diseases that cause eggs to be thin.

I hatched most of my birds myself,and the only adults I bought are fine it is only their progeny I am not sure about.
The oyster shells are offered free choice but I also throw in a handful when I am mixing my feed. There really isn't any way oyster shells could be the problem. They get them in ever possible way. As well I frequently give them milk soaked bread as a treat, calcium can't be the problem. Maybe vitium D may be needed? Still I give them vitamin sups.
The fact that these this shelled eggs are so nubbly, gnarly or whatever you call it, they are imperfect. They are so fragile, I hate to think of one of them breaking inside my hens. I need to find out which hen is laying them.
It will truly break my heart if it is my sussex,she is my absolute favorite. I really don't think I will have any choice except to cull.

I would recommend not culling it. It would be like our parents culling us when we had diarrhea. It is something that comes and goes. I would bet that the hen in question has not always laid those funny eggs and if that is the case then it is doubtful that it is genetic. It may be diet or just an age thing. Maybe she is aging more quickly on the inside like a smoker in humans. I have had a really weird egg and then not again so what ever it was it passed along and didn't reveal itself again.

Dan: I am going to take your advise and wait and see. She is very young, and a largish bird, she is so sweet and pretty and hardy, I want to give her every chance.
I will keep you posted.

Thanks from me too Dan. I lost a few older ISA Browns to 'egg peritonitis' (thin shelled eggs breaking inside the hens' bodies) and I would not hesitate to wait and see. If this does happen, you'll know it nuthatch and you can then do what's necessary then. I had one hen live for months after an egg broke inside her. Whenever I felt it was time to cull her, she would rally.

Anyways, my bigger concern at the moment is my hen who is laying soft, laying broken egg(s) and/or them breaking in the coop/nest box and the other chickens getting a taste for their own eggs. Then that's a whole other issue to deal with once you have egg eaters. What do you think about that Dan?

I don't cull my egg eaters but it takes diligence on your part. I remove the eggs every hour if possible so they are not tempted and eventually they get trained to eat the food that they are expected to eat. Just make sure that they have enough protein in their diet. As much treats from your fridge if possible ie aging fruit and vegetables and out dated bread.