Shell-less egg

[MintyEgger]

In the span of just over a week, I have gotten 2 soft shelled eggs. The first time this happened, I stopped giving all my chickens (3 of them) their small portions of sunflower seeds and mealworm treats and kept them on their lay mash only, supplemented by chicken friendly yogurt for calcium. All 3 have been laying normal eggs. Then, today I found another soft shell egg! Today all chickens have laid normal eggs. All acting just fine. What's with the soft eggs? Any tips? I haven't seen any increased predator activity, there are multiple feed and water stations that are refilled often, they are supplied with grit and oyster shell, and no fights going on. What could be happening?

 

[nuthatched]

How old are your birds?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

In the span of just over a week, I have gotten 2 soft shelled eggs. The first time this happened, I stopped giving all my chickens (3 of them) their small portions of sunflower seeds and mealworm treats and kept them on their lay mash only, supplemented by chicken friendly yogurt for calcium. All 3 have been laying normal eggs. Then, today I found another soft shell egg! Today all chickens have laid normal eggs. All acting just fine. What's with the soft eggs? Any tips? I haven't seen any increased predator activity, there are multiple feed and water stations that are refilled often, they are supplied with grit and oyster shell, and no fights going on. What could be happening?

How old are your hens?

Sometimes soft shelled eggs can be just a glitch, but if you know which hen is laying them, then you can give her Extra Calcium for several days to see if that firms up the shell.

You can find Calcium Citrate with D3 in the vitamin aisle of stores like Walmart, CVS, etc. Give 1 tablet daily, just pull down on her wattles, pop the tablet into the beak and let her swallow.

 

[MintyEgger]

How old are your hens?

Sometimes soft shelled eggs can be just a glitch, but if you know which hen is laying them, then you can give her Extra Calcium for several days to see if that firms up the shell.

You can find Calcium Citrate with D3 in the vitamin aisle of stores like Walmart, CVS, etc. Give 1 tablet daily, just pull down on her wattles, pop the tablet into the beak and let her swallow.

Two are nearly exactly 2 years old. I’m not sure about the other one since I found her wandering the street and rescued her. No idea who’s doing it, since I’ve never caught them laying the egg. But they’ve all been laying healthy eggs, I’ve just found 2 of the soft eggs on the ground within the span of a week. Not sure why this is suddenly happening but I’m definitely worried about their health!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Two are nearly exactly 2 years old. I’m not sure about the other one since I found her wandering the street and rescued her. No idea who’s doing it, since I’ve never caught them laying the egg. But they’ve all been laying healthy eggs, I’ve just found 2 of the soft eggs on the ground within the span of a week. Not sure why this is suddenly happening but I’m definitely worried about their health!

What do you feed, including treats?

Do you provide oyster shell free choice?

Can you take a sample of poop to a vet and have a fecal float to rule out worms?

Any lice/mites?

If you've checked them over and everyone seems good, there's no off behavior, then I'd just monitor for now, see if you can figure out which hen is laying the softies, then give her extra calcium to see if that helps.

 

[MintyEgger]

What do you feed, including treats?

Do you provide oyster shell free choice?

Can you take a sample of poop to a vet and have a fecal float to rule out worms?

Any lice/mites?

If you've checked them over and everyone seems good, there's no off behavior, then I'd just monitor for now, see if you can figure out which hen is laying the softies, then give her extra calcium to see if that helps.

The treats were a small handful of black oil sunflower seeds in the morning when they were let out, mealworms near the evening so I could lure them inside with no issue, and their lay feed which they have constant access to. They also eat any bugs they find during the day and small leaves that I've made sure are safe for them. I gave everyone a check over for lice and mites and found nothing. They get free choice grit and oyster shell. I haven't thought about the vet, since nearly all offices around me only treat cats and dogs. Still have yet to figure out who's doing it. I get almost all normal eggs, it's just those two soft ones!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The treats were a small handful of black oil sunflower seeds in the morning when they were let out, mealworms near the evening so I could lure them inside with no issue, and their lay feed which they have constant access to. They also eat any bugs they find during the day and small leaves that I've made sure are safe for them. I gave everyone a check over for lice and mites and found nothing. They get free choice grit and oyster shell. I haven't thought about the vet, since nearly all offices around me only treat cats and dogs. Still have yet to figure out who's doing it. I get almost all normal eggs, it's just those two soft ones!

If it was just the 2 eggs and all is back to normal, then I'd mark it up to a glitch.