Soft egg membrane with no shell

[SLOChick]

Not sure what's causing this- my flock of 10 just started laying, but 1 chicken lays only soft no-shell eggs. They all eat the same food, are cooped together, and range together. I believe it's either my buff orpington or black australorp. Any thoughts? I always find it 1st thing in the morning, before the girls are even off their roots, lying on the floor.

 

[azygous]

You need to figure out a way to identify the soft egg layer. Ten layers are a lot to try to figure out who it is, so creativity is called for. The reason you need to find her is because her shell gland likely needs super charging with a calcium supplement to get it to produce calcium for the shells. Not doing so risks having her become egg bound. That's an issue you really don't want to have to deal with.

Give us a few photos of your setup and tell us more about your flock, breeds, habits, etc. Maybe we can help you figure out how to find this needle in a haystack. Your location will be helpful, too.

 

[SLOChick]

I was thinking about using my other coop as a coup to put them in individually until I figure out which one it is. They all have wide variety in their diet, plus oyster shell in a dish to munch on whenever they want.

 

[azygous]

When you isolate the individual that is producing these soft eggs, give her one calcium citrate tablet with D3 each day until her eggs are coming out normal. Oyster shell is fine for regular consumption but a hen with calcium issues may not absorb enough calcium from it.

This may be a beginner's glitch, but it may also be a genetic inclination to shell issues. I keep a bottle of calcium citrate in my run, and at the first sign of a hen having egg quality issues, she gets a calcium tablet. This is much easier than waiting to see if she's going to get herself egg bound. Then you'd have all kinds of nightmares to deal with.