Laying an egg without a shell?

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YardBirdCountry

YardBirdCountry

In the Brooder
6 Years
Apr 27, 2013
50
4
48
Yesterday I noticed, for the second time, one of my birds laid an egg without a shell (or more accurately, missing most of the shell and being mostly just membrane). It's the strangest thing. I took a picture of the first one. Other than this, production has been pretty good.

Anyone else ever had this problem?



 
Occasional soft or shell-less eggs are usually just a glitch in the egg laying system and they are especially common in new layers or in birds just coming back into lay as as they get into gear. Usually the egg is just moving through the system too fast. It is not necessarily related to a lack of calcium as such, it can be related to the bird's ability to use calcium or a defective shell gland. If you get more and it is just one bird, I would be inclined to think it is a problem specific to her, and probably not diet/ disease/ disturbances. There is a list of causes on The Poultry Site ... http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publi...ndbook/16/thinshelled-eggs-and-shellless-eggs
 
Thanks. Good to know it is a "normal" glitch. Yesterday it was a shell-less egg, today it was a soft shell egg that was very small.
 
She could have a poorly developed or immature shell gland. Give her a bit of time to mature, but if it keeps up she simply might not be a good layer and it might be best to cull her. I certainly wouldn't breed from her.
 
I too have a hen laying soft shell eggs. She then proceeds to eat not only her egg, but any others in the nest. I know it's one of my reds, not sure which one. I've yet to see any of the 3 reds on the nest. Found the remains of a couple of eggs this morning. Any suggestions?
 
Got another soft egg this morning. Funny thing is that I know these birds have all laid good eggs before... have six birds and a while back I was getting 4-6 good eggs a day. Now I'm getting 3 good eggs and one soft egg.

If I had a bird eating eggs... well lets just say I saw this re-run of Alton Brown's show a few days ago...
 
The largest reason for soft shelled eggs is a lack of calcium in the diet. My first question would be are the chickens being fed a layer ration or some sort or grain. A layer ration is high in calcium which helps prevent this problem. You can also buy Oystershell, which will also help reduce a softshell problem. Or pour some milk on their grain so their calcium can be increased, but you really should get calcium in their diet promptly.
 
I have one hen laying rubbery skinned almost transparent eggs. She's coming back into lay after 8-9 weeks. Have had 2 over a week in the coop which were squashed and broken and yesterday evening, she laid what looked like a used condom with a tail on the end! That one we took out and it's not broken. Whenever we've had a problem with thin-shelled eggs, we just give more bashed up egg shells in the feed and it sorts the problem.

Not too worried as we have 6 new pullets ready to lay in about 8 weeks and the old gals have been given a warning - lay or be despatched! The 9 old ones are currently giving 10-12 eggs a week, so some will have to go. I live in Cyprus and all the locals tells me 2 years is the cut off point for regular laying.
 
Oh, yeah, the egg eater is going. I just have to figure out which one of the RIRs is the guilty party. Hate to condemn the wrong bird.
 

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