Jlwennerberg9
In the Brooder
- Aug 11, 2024
- 11
- 4
- 16
Looking for any advice regarding a few of my girls laying soft-shell eggs. For context, one of my Easter Eggers, Lindy, who is just shy of 2 years old, dealt with a vent prolapse last year. She was seen by a vet and had recovered. She occasionally laid an odd soft-shell egg in the months after but mostly laid plenty of normal eggs, up until recently. Starting around the end of April, I noticed the amount of soft eggs I was finding from her was increasing. I'd always find them under the roost bar in the morning. My girls always have access to oyster and grit but this one in particular rarely ever eats the oyster. Not sure why, but it's like she has an aversion to it or something. They're all fed organic layer feed, get their egg shells fed back to them, and the occasional kitchen scraps and bsf larvae treats.
While I've been keeping a closer eye on Lindy, another one of my EEs, named Fury, has also started laying some soft-shell eggs. She is the same age as Lindy. Sometimes, these girls are laying a regular egg and within 12 hours laying a soft egg, or vice versa. I know this is not sustainable for their bodies and I have been worried about egg binding, so I started giving them calcium citrate tablets straight into their mouths. After a few days, Fury laid a regular egg 2 days in a row so I stopped her tablets. After stopping, she has begun laying soft eggs again. When she lays a regular egg, there's often calcium deposits on the top, as if she's getting too much calcium which is obviously confusing the heck out of me since some of her eggs are lacking calcium. Lindy has been receiving the calcium tablets for 2 weeks now and has laid a couple firm eggs since but is still sometimes laying the soft ones only 12ish hours later. Does anyone have any idea what could be going on here? I'm at the point where I have started bringing them both in around 5pm and placing them in a dark room for the night to try and trick their bodies into thinking the days have shortened.
Also, would like opinions on whether this could be due to them recently becoming free-range? Previously, my girls were strictly kept in an enclosed coop because I was too worried about predators. Starting in March, I began free-ranging them while I was out with them and now, they pretty much free range all day until dark which is 8-830 here currently. I am wondering if they are eating less of their layer feed due to foraging? It also has been ungodly hot here so far this summer so I've noticed them eating less in general I believe to the heat.
While I've been keeping a closer eye on Lindy, another one of my EEs, named Fury, has also started laying some soft-shell eggs. She is the same age as Lindy. Sometimes, these girls are laying a regular egg and within 12 hours laying a soft egg, or vice versa. I know this is not sustainable for their bodies and I have been worried about egg binding, so I started giving them calcium citrate tablets straight into their mouths. After a few days, Fury laid a regular egg 2 days in a row so I stopped her tablets. After stopping, she has begun laying soft eggs again. When she lays a regular egg, there's often calcium deposits on the top, as if she's getting too much calcium which is obviously confusing the heck out of me since some of her eggs are lacking calcium. Lindy has been receiving the calcium tablets for 2 weeks now and has laid a couple firm eggs since but is still sometimes laying the soft ones only 12ish hours later. Does anyone have any idea what could be going on here? I'm at the point where I have started bringing them both in around 5pm and placing them in a dark room for the night to try and trick their bodies into thinking the days have shortened.
Also, would like opinions on whether this could be due to them recently becoming free-range? Previously, my girls were strictly kept in an enclosed coop because I was too worried about predators. Starting in March, I began free-ranging them while I was out with them and now, they pretty much free range all day until dark which is 8-830 here currently. I am wondering if they are eating less of their layer feed due to foraging? It also has been ungodly hot here so far this summer so I've noticed them eating less in general I believe to the heat.
