Soft eggs

JACKO

In the Brooder
7 Years
Mar 24, 2012
22
1
22
I HAVE A SMALL GAME CHICKEN THAT I HAVE JUST AQUIRED, IT HAS LAID TWO EGGS AND THERE BOTH SOFT, WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP HER
 
There are different things that could cause soft eggs. One very possible thing is that she has not been eating enough calcium. I don't know how long you have had her, how she was eating before you got her, or how you feed your existing chickens, so I don't know how likely this is the problem. If you have just gotten her and your other hens are laying good hard-shelled eggs on their current diet, you may just need to give her a little time to get the calcium she needs from the food available. If you other hens are laying hard eggs, there is enough calcium available with what you are doing. So time is a possible solution,

Stress can cause hens to mess up with their eggs. It may be that she is just stressed out with the move. Once she gets used to the new place and sorts out her place on the pecking order, things could improve.

A pullet just starting to lay will sometimes lay soft eggs until they get the kinks out of their internal egg laying factory. Most clear that up pretty quickly, but I'd give her about two weeks from when she starts to lay before I got too concerned.

Some hens are just genetically messed up. They can't process the calcium right to make the shell. If you have one hen in your flock that consistently lays soft eggs and the rest lay good eggs, this is a possibility.

Some diseases can cause eggs to be soft shelled or otherwise messed up. If she is acting normal, this is probably not the problem, but I'll mention it anyway.

I think the best thing for you to do is offer oyster shell on the side and give her some time. Somehow hens can generally tell when they need to eat extra calcium. I would not mix it with the feed to where the others would be forced to eat extra if they are laying good eggs. Why force them to eat something they don't need and their body has to work extra hard to get rid of if you don't have a need to? Your problem is with one individual hen, not your entire flock.
 

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