My chicken is laying a soft shelled egg several times a week

[micheleomal]

My 2 Marans are about a year old. They were laying well for a month or so this spring then stopped. A few weeks ago I started finding soft shelled eggs splattered on the coop floor in the morning, several mornings a week and was able to figure out that they were coming from the Marans. One developed a prolapse yesterday that I am trying to treat (with vet direction) but will probably lose since she keeps pushing the prolapse back out. My other Marans has not prolapsed yet but I figure this is bound to happen with her as well. I have a total of 11 laying hens, with these 2 Marans being the only problems. Everyone else lays hard shelled eggs virtually everyday. They have layer feed, oyster shells in a dish too, some greens/scratch daily and a grassy yard to spend several hours a day in. What can I do to help my Marans lay hard eggs again. The Marans with the prolapse layed HUGE eggs when she was laying but the other ones' eggs were just large size. I will be worming when the meds come in the mail, no mites or lice. They have had some loose stools recently but the weather turned hot fast and they eat earthworms which the vet says can cause this as well as worms. I also have 1 hen that I "rescued" a year ago, who was supposed to be 1 yr old then, who has never laid an egg for me but she looks very happy and healthy. Weird. Anyone have any suggestions? Are Marans prone to this problem? I had a Marans chick die of sour crop earlier this year too. I really wanted those dark eggs but I am done with Marans...

 

[Folly's place]

My hatchery cuckoo Marans hens were not long lived; in fact one died because of a prolapse, at one year of age. I now have blue and black copper Marans from a breeder, and hope for better! I also just lost a hatchery Welsummer, one year old, to peritonitis. In general, chickens aren't bred with longevity in mind; many hatcheries cull annually, so birds that produce well for a longer time aren't favored. Mary

 

[sumi]

Sorry to hear you are having these problems with your hens. Here are some more causes for soft eggs that may help you:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/common-egg-quality-problems

Best of luck with them!

 

[micheleomal]

Thank you for your replies. Sumi, that was great information. Yesterday and today my dependable RIR laid eggs with thinner than usual shells so it's not just the Marans. My vet (yes, I am lucky enough to live in a rural area where the vet has chickens herself) suggested that for some reason the calcium levels in the hens, maybe due to an "off" bag of feed, fell to a level to barely support good egg shells and for the hens with the larger eggs, just not quite enough. She had me inject Calcium Gluconate 23%, .5cc IM into the 3 hens that are having trouble. We'll see if that helps with the egg shells. The hen with the prolapse is doing better. The vet put in 1 long suture to hold things loosely in place (much the same as is done in cattle prolapse) and I untie the suture several times a day so she can poop, then retie loosely. So far, so good. The prolapse is shrinking to the point that last time, after she pooped, she was able to retract it inside on her own, then I tie the knot again. I really hope that I have just one more day of this before I can cut the suture and we can both get on with our lives. The things we do for our feathered friends...
I will let you know the outcome in a few days.

 

[micheleomal]

Update on hen with prolapse. After about 40 hrs of being "wired" shut so to speak, I removed the suture. There was still a small prolapse but it didn't seem to bother her so I figured I'd let her be a chicken in with everyone else until she seemed in distress or the others started to pick at her. I'm home all day so I've been keeping a close eye. She seemed more upset with the drainage at her back end so today I put her in a tote of warm water and washed her off. What I thought was a small prolapse seemed to be nothing more that poop so I cleaned her up and let her back out to do her thing. This afternoon she is in a nesting box. First time I've seen her show any interest in laying (other than the soft shelled eggs at night) in ages. I'm worried that the prolapse will come back but what can I do... I'll give an update in a day or so.

 

[ChirpyChicks1]

Sounds like you have a wonderful Vet! Lucky you glad she's doing better!

 

[Eggcessive]

It's nice that your vet could help you out. Usually when a chicken has a prolapse, you can place them in a darkened room or cover their cage for 16 hours a day to prevent them from laying until the vent heals, but it takes a couple of days to work. Some articles also suggest reducing the feed also. You are one of the few people I know who would tie and untie that purse string besides me, LOL. My husband would just say, well we'll just have to put her down (if he had to do that.) I have a couple of hatchery BCM's plus about 7 others who lay well without problems. It could just be the line you have or the feed is lacking in calcium or vitamin D. I like to feed back all of my egg shells in addition to putting out oyster shell, and they gobble up the egg shells.

 

[Bethel3330]

Update on hen with prolapse. After about 40 hrs of being "wired" shut so to speak, I removed the suture. There was still a small prolapse but it didn't seem to bother her so I figured I'd let her be a chicken in with everyone else until she seemed in distress or the others started to pick at her. I'm home all day so I've been keeping a close eye. She seemed more upset with the drainage at her back end so today I put her in a tote of warm water and washed her off. What I thought was a small prolapse seemed to be nothing more that poop so I cleaned her up and let her back out to do her thing. This afternoon she is in a nesting box. First time I've seen her show any interest in laying (other than the soft shelled eggs at night) in ages. I'm worried that the prolapse will come back but what can I do... I'll give an update in a day or so.

oh dear. I hope she does better!

 

[micheleomal]

Update 2- after a week, the hen with the prolapse seems to be healed. No prolapse or drainage and her feathers are clean back there. She never did lay an egg and has shown no more interest in doing so. The other Marans I have who was laying soft shelled eggs at night and was given a shot of Calcium Gluconate has also not shown any interest in egg laying, but has not layed many more soft shell eggs. I hope I will someday get more eggs from these girls but I'm glad that everyone seems healthy and happy again. Whew!

 

[Bethel3330]

Yay!! Glad to hear that