Chicken laying shell less/ thin shelled eggs in the middle of the night on roosts

[applethechicken]

I have an almost 1 year old ameraucana (Peach) that has laid three soft shelled eggs (a little bit of shell development) in the middle of the night. I found one last Tuesday (3/21) morning under the roosts, and that egg was supposed to be laid around 12 pm Tuesday, so it was laid hours early. I gave her half a pill of calcium citrate that afternoon, and she still sat in the nesting box around 12 pm thinking she would lay.

Wednesday, she laid a normal egg at the correct time. Thursday was her off day, and Friday (3/25) she laid a normal egg early in the morning.
Last Saturday (3/25), I found another soft egg under the roosts. This one is supposed to be laid around 10 am. (Brown dots on it is dust from the coop floor)

And then she laid all normal eggs, until Saturday (4/1), another soft shelled egg in the middle of the night.

They all have free choice calcium/ oyster shells, and I've seen her eat them. Peach’s shells are usually softer than my others, but they’re still harder than grocery store eggs. But they usually have small calcium deposits on the end. She also lays pretty big eggs for her size. Also, the egg contents are normal. As far as I checked, no mites, lice, vent prolapse; crop, comb, and over physical appearance looks normal. Haven’t found parasites in poop. She seems fine other than those soft eggs. She does sometimes have runny poops after she drinks a ton of water, but the next poop would be normal.
Those eggs are soft because they’re laid several hours early, but I’m not sure if this is a sign of another problem.
Does she have problems holding her egg in? Have any of you have experience with this, or know what’s wrong? Anything I can do to help her out?

 

[applethechicken]

This is a perfectly normal state of affairs. It happens. It will take about 3-6 weeks to straighten out if you do nothing, or if you do something. A lot of people will get on here and recommend oyster shell, or feed or pills - but truly it will just solve itself.

I am rather horrified that you have a time that your chicken is suppose to lay, planned out. They are not machines, and a lot of things can influence when they lay, and still be considered perfectly normal.

If you have a younger bird, they have sufficient calcium to produce regular shelled eggs without additives. It won't hurt to have some calcium on the side, or use layers feed, but it is not necessary for younger birds. If your whole flock is producing soft-shelled eggs, and lethargic, and not active - then you have a diet problem, or a worm problem, or some kind of problem.

The only thing that you should do that might have an effect - is not to hatch this birds eggs. The tendency, when birds start laying or start up laying, and get these glitches could be genetic. But mostly I think you are worrying over a natural state of affairs. This will just go away.

Mrs K

thanks. I am, in turn, horrified that you think I "plan" when my chickens lay. I only have four chickens, and I spend a lot of time with them, and I am educated on the timeline of egg production. It is not rocket science. I am not planning when they lay, nor forcing them to lay. It is just an observation that I keep in mind so I can catch sicknesses early, since not laying is a fist sign of sickness. I'm not like those who catch egg binding 2 days late when their chicken has died. Just like how a parent keeps in mind when their baby has pooped, they're not forcing their child to poop, just keeping note of it.

As I already mentioned, she is one years old, so she has been laying for 6 months, and never has had this problem until now. they eat some organic layer feed, and have free choice oyster shells, as I said already.

Since nothing else is wrong with her, then I'll just keep an eye on her and hope it sorts out

 

[rosemarythyme]

She may still need more calcium than she's taking in. I would schedule regular doses of the calcium tablets for 2-3 weeks (either once a day or once every other day) and see if that resolves the issue - if her eggs are all normally shelled during that time, ease back on the frequency of calcium for 2-3 more weeks, and as long as the eggs are still normal you can try easing back further, etc.

 

[Kprestridge]

I have an Easter egger (Americauna mix) who has similar issues. She lays softer eggs than the others, they are quite large, and the eggs often have calcium deposits on them in odd places, sometimes on the inside of the egg. I have never seen her lay a shell less egg, though if she did I imagine it would have been eaten by the time I go to let them out in the morning, as they are usually up. Our other easter eggers all lay normal eggs. She is four years old now and her eggs have always been this way and it has never resolved, for her it was not due to youth, just the way she is. She is more sensitive to heat than our others, but is otherwise healthy. I wouldn't worry about it if she seems healthy otherwise. Could just be a defect with the reproductive system.

 

[Mrs. K]

This is a perfectly normal state of affairs. It happens. It will take about 3-6 weeks to straighten out if you do nothing, or if you do something. A lot of people will get on here and recommend oyster shell, or feed or pills - but truly it will just solve itself.

I am rather horrified that you have a time that your chicken is suppose to lay, planned out. They are not machines, and a lot of things can influence when they lay, and still be considered perfectly normal.

If you have a younger bird, they have sufficient calcium to produce regular shelled eggs without additives. It won't hurt to have some calcium on the side, or use layers feed, but it is not necessary for younger birds. If your whole flock is producing soft-shelled eggs, and lethargic, and not active - then you have a diet problem, or a worm problem, or some kind of problem.

The only thing that you should do that might have an effect - is not to hatch this birds eggs. The tendency, when birds start laying or start up laying, and get these glitches could be genetic. But mostly I think you are worrying over a natural state of affairs. This will just go away.

Mrs K

 

[SmiYa0126]

Hi! Any respiratory issues? I would continue dosing her with calcium citrate twice a day for a few days.

Do you have more than one feeding station?

 

[ChickenTenderz]

I'm having a similar problem with my RIR that is almost 1 yr old and has been laying regularly for 6 months. I have been giving her calcium carbonate with D3 for 2 weeks. I only just saw improvement (she didn't drop an egg overnight from her perch and then laid a very thin shelled egg the following day) I just recently began giving her food with her pill, as directed on the bottle. She gets a few pieces of grape with her pill and that is when we finally saw improvement.

 

[applethechicken]

Completely? Or did you ease off? See my original post:

completely, since I see her eating oyster shells frequently.

but I will ease her off this time. So when her eggs are back to normally shelled, how often should I give the calcium supplement?

 

[rosemarythyme]

completely, since I see her eating oyster shells frequently.

but I will ease her off this time. So when her eggs are back to normally shelled, how often should I give the calcium supplement?

I'd reduce frequency over time, if for example you start off with every other day, then once her eggs are normal, try once every 3 days. If that stays consistent for around 2 weeks, then try once every 4 days. There's not a set number because each individual bird needs differing amounts of calcium.

Quite possibly you will end up supplementing her in some fashion throughout the laying season - I have a couple of older hens that end up needing extra calcium 2-3x a week, but they don't lay for very long each year, so I discontinue supplementing when they stop laying in the summer.

 

[Mercyr79]

Ok, that's good.

Hi. I’m curious on why you need more than one feeding station for 4 chickens. Thank you