TundraGhost
Chirping
- Jul 2, 2021
- 43
- 47
- 99
Hello everyone, I apologize if this post comes off as a bit of a vent, but basically I have been seeing recurring instances of my hens laying soft shelled eggs, or in one hen’s case, just the membrane with egg white (sometimes with the yolk.)
Initially I was only feeding them the layer feed that all of our local stores sell (aside from some vegetables or fruit for treats), there is basically only one option. Of course the sellers try to tell you that this feed has everything a hen would need in their diet, but I simply don’t think that’s true anymore. I have had one dear hen pass from being egg bound about two years ago, and since then I have kept Calcium and D3 pills on hand if I ever see a purely membrane egg, or a sign of one. I crush up the pill and mix it in with scrambled eggs. I give them crushed up eggshells when I have a significant amount, though I know that isn’t the greatest calcium boost since it’s so processed already.
The local farm animal vet recommended free-choice oyster shells, which I tried, but my hens only made a mess of them. I was also told to try food-grade lime by one farm vet, then discouraged to try it by another. So I have been crushing up the oyster shells and sprinkling the power on their food, and I thought it was doing well for a while. But now one of my hens (Mitzi) has been regularly laying soft and membrane eggs— sometimes the other two hens lay a softer one. But Mitzi is definitely laying funny. I often find residue of broken soft eggs on the poop board and have to clean what’s left.
I guess I’m just tired of trying to solve this soft egg problem. It seems to forever be ups and downs. I’d hate to lose another to being egg bound or an infection from a broken egg inside. I’m reading up now on other things in the diet that could cause a soft egg and looking into that. Like maybe they don’t have enough protein or phosphorus (according to a quick Google search.)
I don’t know what I’m hoping for in terms of replies here, perhaps I just wanted to put this out there to other chicken people. But any suggestions or anecdotes would be appreciated. All my hens recently had a birthday and are 4 years old now, and I’d like to try and enjoy a few more good years with them healthy as I can have them.
Thank you to all those who gave this a read! I'll share a picture of Mitzi I took today for the trouble. Her and her grouchy eyebrows
Initially I was only feeding them the layer feed that all of our local stores sell (aside from some vegetables or fruit for treats), there is basically only one option. Of course the sellers try to tell you that this feed has everything a hen would need in their diet, but I simply don’t think that’s true anymore. I have had one dear hen pass from being egg bound about two years ago, and since then I have kept Calcium and D3 pills on hand if I ever see a purely membrane egg, or a sign of one. I crush up the pill and mix it in with scrambled eggs. I give them crushed up eggshells when I have a significant amount, though I know that isn’t the greatest calcium boost since it’s so processed already.
The local farm animal vet recommended free-choice oyster shells, which I tried, but my hens only made a mess of them. I was also told to try food-grade lime by one farm vet, then discouraged to try it by another. So I have been crushing up the oyster shells and sprinkling the power on their food, and I thought it was doing well for a while. But now one of my hens (Mitzi) has been regularly laying soft and membrane eggs— sometimes the other two hens lay a softer one. But Mitzi is definitely laying funny. I often find residue of broken soft eggs on the poop board and have to clean what’s left.
I guess I’m just tired of trying to solve this soft egg problem. It seems to forever be ups and downs. I’d hate to lose another to being egg bound or an infection from a broken egg inside. I’m reading up now on other things in the diet that could cause a soft egg and looking into that. Like maybe they don’t have enough protein or phosphorus (according to a quick Google search.)
I don’t know what I’m hoping for in terms of replies here, perhaps I just wanted to put this out there to other chicken people. But any suggestions or anecdotes would be appreciated. All my hens recently had a birthday and are 4 years old now, and I’d like to try and enjoy a few more good years with them healthy as I can have them.
Thank you to all those who gave this a read! I'll share a picture of Mitzi I took today for the trouble. Her and her grouchy eyebrows
