I found one of my Rhode Island Reds in her nesting box at 5pm this evening, but a moment later she got up and I saw that all she'd laid was yolk and egg whites. No shell, no "rubber" egg. Just the insides. This is the first time any of our chickens have laid a less-than-perfect egg. We currently have them on laying feed, they are free-range during the day, and have access to an entire road paved with oyster shells. So they shouldn't be deficient of Vitamin D or Calcium. Any thoughts? I also found it unusual that she would be laying so late in the day. But our chickens aren't really on any laying schedule -- generally all 8 of them are finished by around 2pm.
Sometimes that happens, especially with hens that are bred for high egg production. Also, hens can lay any time of the day since it takes them about 25 hours or so to "make" the egg, then lay it.
I have a chicken who has been laying eggs quite happily since Christmas almost everyday, but over the last 3 weeks she has only laid eggs with no shells and has unfortunately tended to eat them afterwards. She is one of seven hens all the others of whom are laying perfectly well with no soft eggs. I cannot see how it is anything to do with feed, since they all get the same, and have free range around the garden. She may have been scared by a dog a few weeks ago but otherwise I can think of nothing that this chicken has experienced that the others haven't. Could this be an illness, caused by a virus or something or a physiological problem with the shell glands. She appears somewhat unhappy in the period before she lays the soft egg, and has on two or three occasions laid while on the perch, rather than in the nesting box. I would welcome any suggestions or ideas anyone has. In the meantime I am wondering if I should isolate her from the others in case it is an infection. Thanks
