Hen lays soft eggs!

[ScoopTheCoop]

Hello everyone! I just bought a golden laced wyndotte and it is about a year old. The hen itself is friendly but it has a bald patch on its back, it also looks slightly irritated (reddish). The previous owner mentioned that it was bullied by a rooster constantly. I've had the hen for almost two weeks and I haven't seen any progress in feather growing. The hen has also been laying soft eggs every few days. I've been feeding it calcium through egg shells(crunched) and I plan to switch to oyster shells soon. Any ideas on what to do for both these situations?

 

[Pork Pie]

At that age, and IF you are providing layers feed, the reason for the soft shells may not be calcium based. But oyster shell is a more effective calcium boost than shells, so i have read.

 

[Jensownzoo]

Depending on how damaged the follicles are, she may never grow back the feathers. If it is still pretty red, I would try applying something like Vetericyn spray (for poultry) to the area a few times daily until it is looking like normal skin.

Eggshells are poor supplements for a bird that may be calcium-depleted. Get the oyster shell or crushed calcitic limestone. You want pieces big enough to sit in the gizzard through the night, when the shell is being deposited on the egg...roughly pea-sized. Keep in mind that the hen may need to deposit some calcium in her bones first, so improvement in shell quality may be delayed.

 

[ScoopTheCoop]

I will hopefully switch over to oyster shells asap then! I really hope the hen will grow it's feathers back because golden laced are beautiful birds. Thanks for the help!