Chicken laying 2 soft shelled eggs a day

[Brybry16]

I have 2 chickens and they've both been laying for nearly 3 months now and the other day, I found an extremelyarge egg in the laying box. The next morning, there were 2 soft shelled eggs in the box and 1 normal egg (from my other chicken). The next day, there were 2 more soft shelled eggs and 1 normal egg again. I'm worried since the chicken has been very tired recently which is not its usual behaviour. She seems to have a bigger back than usual too. I don't think the eggs are staying inside her long enough to get strong enough to be laid properly. The pellets they eat have calcium in them but now I've recency started giving them more calcium in different ways,. I'm worried about her so any advice would be very appreciated, thanks.

 

[ChickenEnthusiast2000]

You should probably take her to a vet

 

[Kirbys Hens]

Hi. One of my original isa brown chickens had an egg laying problem where she laid a couple of soft shelled eggs. After going to the vet, it turned out that she had a calcium deficiency from her younger days where I purchased her from. After some treatment, she was fine, but I have my girls as loving pets and not for eggs, therefore I get them hormone implants to prevent them from laying. That original hen who had the problems ended up passing away a few years ago at the age of 4 as she developed a large tumour which is common due to their egg laying breeding. The other original hen is still going at 8 years of age. With some breeds of hens, majority of their problems are caused by their egg laying process. Good luck with her.

 

[Brybry16]

My parents refuse to take her to the vets but she seems to be doing ok at the minute, she's running around the garden with my other hen. I'll keep a close eye on her and my parents said they're going to get her some calcium supplements or something so hopefully she'll be ok.

 

[ChickenEnthusiast2000]

If that is the case then calcium is your best bet

 

[aart]

The pellets they eat have calcium in them but now I've recency started giving them more calcium in different ways,. I'm worried about her so any advice would be very appreciated, thanks.

Too much calcium can cause problems.
Good shells are about more than just calcium,
the other vitamins/minerals/amino acids in the layer feed are important too.

What all, and how exactly, are you feeding?
What are the the "calcium in different ways" that you are giving?
What breed of birds do you have?
Are all your other birds laying 'normally'?

 

[Brybry16]

They eat their pellets and they get treats sometimes. They always have pellets available to them and they eat it regularly. I've only recently began giving them crushed egg shells in Yogert just until I manage to get them some calcium powder or something. The chicken began laying the soft shelled eggs before I gave them the egg shells so I highly doubt that it's too much calcium. My other chicken is completely normal, she's laying one egg regularly and it's just a normal egg. She seems to have been happier today since she was running around and digging with my other hen.

 

[Brybry16]

Update- when I got home from work, there were 2 fully formed eggs in the nesting box, meaning both hens laid normal eggs.

 

[NatJ]

I've only recently began giving them crushed egg shells in Yogert just until I manage to get them some calcium powder or something.

If you make crushed eggshells available all the time (no yoghurt), you may not need any other calcium supplements.

The layer pellets have some calcium, and the eggshells have some, so that might add up to enough.

The yoghurt was a good idea to encourage them to eat more right away! But as a long-term thing, hens are usually pretty good about eating calcium (eggshell or oyster shell) when they need it. So you can just leave some out for them, no need to mix it with anything else.

Personally, I crush all eggshells used in the household, and drop them on the floor in the coop or run. Then the hens can decide whether to pick up bits to eat. (By "crush," I really mean I either squish it with my hand, or step on it. Nothing fancy there.)

All the bedding and manure from my chickens get composted anyway, so any eggshell the hens don't eat just ends up in the compost.