One layer with only soft shell eggs for a few months

[charlotte-and-the-bees]

Hi there. I have a year old layer who started laying soft shells a few months ago and now only lays soft. She seems extremely healthy otherwise. No one else in the flock is having any issues.

I always have a bowl of oyster shells and another of crushed baked eggshells on the side. We transitioned foods from scratch n peck to a couple of layer pellets before trying a crumble, but doesn’t make any difference. They free range part of the day and get treats very sparingly.

For the past couple of weeks I’ve been giving a half tablet of calcium citrate to her directly and she’s only had one hard shell egg.

Any ideas what could be going on at this point? None of the common culprits (lack of calcium, illness, stress) seem to be at play.

 

[Emelyn]

Hi there. I have a year old layer who started laying soft shells a few months ago and now only lays soft. She seems extremely healthy otherwise. No one else in the flock is having any issues.

I always have a bowl of oyster shells and another of crushed baked eggshells on the side. We transitioned foods from scratch n peck to a couple of layer pellets before trying a crumble, but doesn’t make any difference. They free range part of the day and get treats very sparingly.

For the past couple of weeks I’ve been giving a half tablet of calcium citrate to her directly and she’s only had one hard shell egg.

Any ideas what could be going on at this point? None of the common culprits (lack of calcium, illness, stress) seem to be at play.

Do you feed her any citrus foods such as lime,lemon or oranges/tangerines? Citrus isn't good for eggs since it causes weaker egg shells.

 

[Kiki]

Do you feed treats?
How long were you feeding each type of food before you switch to a new one? The original food you were feeding was a whole grain or was it a pelleted type feed?

 

[charlotte-and-the-bees]

Do you feed treats?
How long were you feeding each type of food before you switch to a new one? The original food you were feeding was a whole grain or was it a pelleted type feed?

They get treats sparingly, only to coax back into the coop and even then it’s a very very small amount. They eat grass and clover but don’t seem to pick at other plants around the yard. The first foods I switched to were pellets (purena and then payback because the purena pellets were a bit big for the bantams). They were only on that for about 1.5 months before switching to a crumble, which they’ve been on for about a week.

 

[dawg53]

Hi there. I have a year old layer who started laying soft shells a few months ago and now only lays soft. She seems extremely healthy otherwise. No one else in the flock is having any issues.

I always have a bowl of oyster shells and another of crushed baked eggshells on the side. We transitioned foods from scratch n peck to a couple of layer pellets before trying a crumble, but doesn’t make any difference. They free range part of the day and get treats very sparingly.

For the past couple of weeks I’ve been giving a half tablet of calcium citrate to her directly and she’s only had one hard shell egg.

Any ideas what could be going on at this point? None of the common culprits (lack of calcium, illness, stress) seem to be at play.

Give your hen Vitamin D. It helps with calcium absorption.

 

[charlotte-and-the-bees]

Give your hen Vitamin D. It helps with calcium absorption.

The calcium citrate tab has vitamin D as well.

 

[dawg53]

It's possible that it might be a genetic issue or shell material isnt being deposited as the egg passes through the oviduct.

 

[charlotte-and-the-bees]

It's possible that it might be a genetic issue or shell material isnt being deposited as the egg passes through the oviduct.

Any possible treatment for this?