Hen laying shell-less eggs

[LucyCorbett]

Hey, my hen has been laying very irregularly recently, I have two backgarden hens which I have had for a year but I’ve known them for 4 years altogether so they are both fairly old. They both lay every day in the spring, summer and autumn and lay irregularly in the winter, but recently one of them has stopped laying as much, of course this is normal for an older hen but for the past week or two she has been laying shell-less eggs, I was worried at first but then she laid an egg a few days later but she’s now back to laying shell-less eggs again. Is this normal in older hens or should I be worried? It has been a lot warmer then usual in the uk. I read that she may have a defective shell gland? She is acting completely normal and looks healthy, she also gets a high amount of calcium.

Thankyou in advance

 

[Eggcessive]

If she is getting plenty of calcium and occasionally laying shell-less eggs, she may be having a shell gland problem or is having another issue. The danger with shell-less eggs is that they can get stuck because they are harder to pass. There cannbe a danger of one breaking inside which can provide a good medium for bacterial growth in the oviduct. Is she getting enough vitamins in her chicken feed? Here is a good article about some of the possible causes of soft eggs:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/common-egg-quality-problems.65923/