soft shell eggs

owensfive

Hatching
11 Years
Aug 29, 2008
1
0
7
we have 9 hens that just started lays eggs.
what causes soft shell eggs
we are feeding them 16% layer feed bought at local feed store mixed with crushed oyster shells
thanks owensfive
 
I think it just happens sometimes. As long as you offer oyster shell, I imagine they will start laying plenty of hard shell eggs. As long as you aren't getting only soft eggs, I wouldn't worry about it.
 
For the first month or so of laying, hens will lay all sorts of strange eggs before settling in. They can lay soft shells, small eggs, double-yolkers, no-yolkers, etc. One of my girls even layed a wrinkly shell!
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It does happen sometimes, like for now with my hens, I'm seeing it a lot lately. I think if there is some stress involved, that it's more likely. My bird's stress has been that I added a new hen (#4) and they had to do an internal reorganization, and these four chooks had to shuffle the hierarchy in the flock. Just now, I notice #3 hen lay a soft shelled egg in the yard and allowed the three others to go for it - and they did, but she left it for them and went off like it was a gift for them, or some kind of payment or something.

I'm still trying to figure chicken psychology out.
 
I must have posted a reply to another question about soft eggs, in case you are interested in seeing what an egg without a shell looks like, check this out: Youtube

We got a few like that, most were broken before we found them. Don't know which hen lays them.

We also get a double-yolker about every day, a large, and a medium - we know they are from Leghorns.
 
I have 3 BSL's and I am not sure if they all have start laying or just one of them.
First I got one good egg and then 2 soft shell eggs and its been two days and nothing again so far.
Should I be worried?

They are on layer feed, lots of kitchen scraps and treats and oyster shell ad lib.
 
I got my first no shell egg today. They've been laying regularly for two months, eat laying food ad lib, scraps, oyster shell, and graze every day. I thought it was just broken, but when I picked it up, it had a flat shell that looked like canvas.

I'm hoping it's just a one day thing.
 
Odd eggs just happen once in awhile, usually at the beginning when their bodies are getting used to the whole process. I wouldn't worry about it too much. My girls are in their second year and I still occasionally get a soft, thin shelled or mis-colored egg.
 
got 2 soft shelled eggs today, in the coop not a nesting box. I have been feeding them the egg shells hoping that would help the one laying the soft eggs. They are pretty weird. I usualy scramble them and feed them back to the girls.
 
Quote:
Do what you want but we found that feeding egg shells to layers tended to get some of them more interested in eating eggs. We also don't feed the eggs back to the chickens. We have waterfowl that will eat both and do not seem to move this forward into egg eating. Use a good mixed ration mineral supplement instead.
 

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