Hen continues to lay soft shell eggs - what's wrong ?

She's almost a year old Buff Orpington who used to be a really good egg layer - solid shell, nice size egg and never had trouble with egg laying before. About 2 months ago, suddenly she stopped laying for about a little over a week. During that time, her diet hadn't changed. I always have oyster shell and grits freely accessible to the chickens and give them nuts, black oil sunflower seeds, dried worms, etc. as treats. So after stop laying for more than a week, she laid two "fart eggs". Then it took her over a week or so to lay a normal egg again. I was thrilled.... Then suddenly, about 10 days or so now, she has been laying soft shell egg almost every other day. In between these days that she laid soft shell eggs, she laid several normal eggs. There was a day when she laid a normal egg in the morning, then around midnight, she laid a soft shell. Yesterday she did not lay, and now I came home, another soft shell egg. To make matter worse, she had already picked up a habit of eating these soft shell eggs and had taught another chicken how to eat it as well.

I am feeding her Purina Layer, and a separate container for grit and oyster shell. For treats, I still give them nuts, dried worms, grapes, a little bit of organic yogurt. The last 2 weeks we have had good rain here so for a few days I started digging earth worms and gave them some. They hadn't had earth worms for several days now.

I am really worry and I don't know what else to do.

You can try a vitamin boost.

You aren't alone---

Here are some BYC posts on egg shells:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/509038/no-shell-on-eggs

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/648101/soft-shell-egg-egg-eating-cures#post_8758506

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...eek-and-a-half-was-laying-normal#post_8723144


It is something that you may well be able to 'fix' for your flock. Good luck with it

My chickens do not eat the oyster shell so we give plenty of yougurt , and calcium enriched veggies. She may need more yourgurt sounds to me like she needs more calcium.

Thank you both for your time and suggestions. I have always mixed ACV to my flock's waterer on a daily basis and I've done this for at least half a year or so now. Recently, I crushed a tablet of calcium with vitamin D to mix in with the ACV & water for them to drink. The other two hens are laying ok, with good shell, but this hen continues to lay soft-shell egg for the past 2+ weeks. I'll keep trying different as suggested and see if it helps. I am mainly worrying about her overall health as I've read on here several articles/ threads talked about serious illness that leads to death when hens lay soft-shell or no shell egg. I have no idea this is something that's been stressing me out very much!

Oh the "joy" of raising/ keeping chickens as pets!!!

She might not be eating the oyster shell.

Either that, or perhaps you have a "dodgy chicken", as someone I know calls it. These just seem to lay soft-shelled eggs, no matter what you give them to try and change it. I have one. She is perfectly healthy otherwise, and just has a tendency to lay weak-shelled eggs.

To break the egg-eating habit, try filling one of the eggs with something bad-tasting like mustard. This usually deters the chicken from eating anymore after she tries this "egg".

You might have already seen this...
Here's some information about shellless eggs

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publi...ndbook/16/thinshelled-eggs-and-shellless-eggs

Some foods that are good sources of calcium


1. Spinach & Swiss Chard
2. Salmon & Sardines (canned with bones)
3. Mustard, Collard, Kale & Turnip greens
4. Shellfish
5. Blackstrap molasses (can cause runny stools)
6. Corn Tortillas
7. Yogurt
8. Mozzarella & Cheddar cheese
9. Milk, Buttermilk (goat's milk and cow's milk)
10. Basil, thyme, dill seed, cinnamon, and peppermint leaves
11. Romaine lettuce
12. Rhubarb
13. Almonds, Peanuts & Brazil Nuts

14. Black Beans, Dried Beans (Cooked)
15. Sesame seeds
16. Fennel
17. Cabbage, Bok Choy, & Chinese cabbage
18. Summer squash
19. Green beans
20. Garlic
21. Tofu & Soybeans
22. Brussel sprouts & Broccoli
23. Oranges (Some people do not feed citrus to chickens)
24. Asparagus & Okra
25. Crimini mushrooms
26. Foods Fortified with Calcium: Some Orange Juice, Breads, & Cereals

Good luck,

Imp

they could be vitamin d deficient lol

Hi. I am having the same problem you reported on last year. Were you able to fix it? i have 3, 1-year old LegHorns. They used to lay without issue but now Dolores, my smallest one is often laying rubber eggs, getting a shell stuck after passing the yolk and in between it all she lays normal eggs. Well normal in the sense that they are shelled. they have always been porcelain thin. now, since the first rubber egg, when she does lay a solid egg it has a wrinkle on the shell. its a raised wrinkle that is the same each time. could there be an internal issue? she otherwise seems fine. i feed all my girls good layena, they free range and eat grasses and plants, i give them yogurt in oatmeal with honey every morning. they also get oyster shell. i do notice that Dolores is often picked on and probably gets less to eat for running away from her sisters. i hand feed her mealworms and yogurt with apples in the morning sometimes. we also love to go earthwormin' in the garden now and again. she is a great little chicken and i love her for her spunk. i wish she' smack the others when they pick on her.... keeping an eye on them all. but for the soft eggs and the random stuck shell.... i am worried she will never be 100% again.

I give all the girls a vitamin boost in their water too.

were you able to figure your issue out?

What vitamins do you suggest?