Soft shelled eggs

[Judy Chicken Mama]

Hello. I am looking for some help. My 6 month old Barred Rock, Esther has been laying eggs in a thick membrane for a while now matter how much extra calcium I give her. She has been laying for a little over a month and at first was laying normal eggs. We then transitioned her and her sister, Bertha in with my 2 older girls. She started laying soft eggs twice a day, sometimes 3 times in 24 hours. She has stopped laying more than 1 in the last 2 weeks, but they are still either soft shelled or a thick membrane. The girls have oyster shells and egg shells on the side. I also started putting egg shells in with their feed, but I don't want to overdo it with my other girls. I also have been giving her calcium pills with d3 hidden in blueberries. I don't know what else I can do for her. Esther and Bertha in picture. Thanks, Judy

 

[DLA]

Sounds like enough calcium is being provided. There are a large variety of things that can cause soft shelled eggs. You mentioned this started when you integrated her with your 2 older hens? Stress can cause soft shelled eggs. Maybe look into how she's interacting with the other chickens and that she's not getting bullied and something isn't upsetting her. If you rule that out then you may want to look into defect or disease cause.

 

[Judy Chicken Mama]

Sounds like enough calcium is being provided. There are a large variety of things that can cause soft shelled eggs. You mentioned this started when you integrated her with your 2 older hens? Stress can cause soft shelled eggs. Maybe look into how she's interacting with the other chickens and that she's not getting bullied and something isn't upsetting her. If you rule that out then you may want to look into defect or disease cause.

Thank you for replying. My oldest hen who is the alpha does peck her and her sister but not as bad as she used to when they were first introduced. I am not always watching but when I see her I do yell or squirt her with water. I was hoping by now they would all be best buds.

 

[DLA]

She may just be more sensitive. Adding some extra places to jump on or get away sometimes helps with that. Just keep an eye on her that she isn't exhibiting any symptoms of being sick like wheezing, losing weight, not eating well and that her vent and poo looks normal. If it doesn't resolve and you have a chicken vet you could get her checked out.

 

[Judy Chicken Mama]

She may just be more sensitive. Adding some extra places to jump on or get away sometimes helps with that. Just keep an eye on her that she isn't exhibiting any symptoms of being sick like wheezing, losing weight, not eating well and that her vent and poo looks normal. If it doesn't resolve and you have a chicken vet you could get her checked out.

They do have roosts and boxes to get away...I know they do eat when she is preoccupied with other things and she turns in a lot earlier than they do(she's an old grouchy lady) so they really fill up on the food.