Recurring Soft Shelled Eggs

holisticliving

Chirping
Jan 5, 2021
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Hi, I have looked through the forum and saw some similar posts about soft-shelled eggs, but most were about young chickens or those with health issues. One of my Lakeshore Eggers has started laying soft-shelled eggs for the past several weeks and I don't know why! We have only had a couple of soft-shelled eggs before, back last winter when the hens were new to laying and they were also spilling their calcium supplement daily so they probably weren't getting enough. (We have since switched to a larger feeder that is attached to the side of the run, and they always have plenty of crushed oyster shells in there.)

This hen is now about 16 months old, and usually lays daily. A few weeks back, she started acting a bit sickly one day, and I noticed she had an egg membrane hanging out of her vent. I cleaned and washed her butt and put her in a crate for a day and provided powdered calcium citrate, ACV, and garlic in her water (which she loved). She was acting totally fine the next day, so I put her back with the others.

Then she laid another soft one a day or so later, and I did some research and found that a common cause can be stress. We thought it was due to our cat, who had taken to regularly chasing the chickens on a daily basis. The cat has since been re-homed, and she seemed to be fine for a week or two - but then started back up again with the soft eggs!

I don't know what could be causing this... None of my other hens have this issue, and she has all the same feed and access to oysters shells as the rest. I'm worried about her getting sick, as I know that can happen if egg material gets left inside her. She acts totally normal most of the time - eats, scratches, pecks around with the others. She doesn't seem to be getting picked on, and I don't know what could be stressing her out - other than perhaps the fact that it has been so hot until just recently, but there's not really anything I can do about that...

I read some suggestions about giving her extra calcium - all I have is the powdered stuff - is it okay to put it the water for all of them, even if the rest of them aren't having an issue?

They should be getting close to their first molt (one of the others just started this week), so maybe that is the issue? Shouldn't she stop laying anyway if she's molting? If this keeps happening, I worry she will get sick and die at some point... Is there a way to get her to stop laying for a little while? (Without starving her, as I read about that somewhere and that just seems too cruel!)

Would love some tips for what to do for her!
 
Is there a way to get her to stop laying for a little while?
keep her in the dark for a few days, that'll turn it off.

It may be just end of season exhaustion of nutrients, going into molt, lack of vit D (needed to make use of the calcium), or she may be dealing with an illness - there are lots of possible causes. But as you say, stopping her laying for a while will help, whatever the cause may be. That she's acting normal is encouraging.
 
I would supplement her with extra calcium for the time being, whether that's the crushed calcium citrate you have, or powdered oyster shell (which is what I have).

How to isolate her for a private breakfast: 2-3x a week serve a small bowl (like 1 Tbsp is fine) of wet or fermented feed with oyster shell mixed in. If she does not like chunks of oyster shell, crush it up or use the powdery remnants from bottom of the bag. Should only take her minutes to eat and after that she's free to go.

Assuming her issue is simply insufficient calcium intake, you should see results in a week or two, and you can try reducing it to 1-2x a week and should hopefully continue getting good results.
 
Awesome - thanks! I will try those tips! I managed to get her to eat a spoonful of yogurt this afternoon with calcium citrate mixed in (she's not feeling great today as she had another egg membrane hanging out of her this morning). I'm hoping that helps. She did go out to forage with the others when I let them out - she's just a little slower than usual.

I will try the extra calcium in her breakfast for a few days, or if she still doesn't seem to be feeling well tomorrow, I'll try putting her in the crate with an old blanket over it to make it more dark in there. It might be a little too hot for that this coming week, though...
 
If you live in the northern hemisphere she's likely slowing down production as the days shorten.
You can get some funky eggs around that time.
I'd just keep an eye on her.
Cut out the ACV and garlic, neither will help and may hurt.
 
I would supplement her with extra calcium for the time being, whether that's the crushed calcium citrate you have, or powdered oyster shell (which is what I have).

How to isolate her for a private breakfast: 2-3x a week serve a small bowl (like 1 Tbsp is fine) of wet or fermented feed with oyster shell mixed in. If she does not like chunks of oyster shell, crush it up or use the powdery remnants from bottom of the bag. Should only take her minutes to eat and after that she's free to go.

Assuming her issue is simply insufficient calcium intake, you should see results in a week or two, and you can try reducing it to 1-2x a week and should hopefully continue getting good results.

Thanks for the tip on the private breakfast! That works well - we use a dog crate as our chicken "infirmary," so I just put her in there every morning for a few minutes with a couple of teaspoons of fermented feed (I started with a tablespoon but she wouldn't finish it), mixed with a scoop (approx. 350 mg) of calcium citrate powder, and a teaspoon of plain yogurt to bind it all together. Sometimes I add a drop of vitamin D oil from a soft gel capsule to help with absorption as I read that helps. The first couple of days she was a little confused and just wanted to go back in with the others, but now she usually gobbles it right up in a minute or two.

I did this every day for 5 days (during which she didn't lay as far as I could tell), and then she laid a normal (hard shelled) egg! I then cut back to 3x per week with the calcium supplementation, and she laid regular eggs for several days, then went back to the soft shells again! :-( I went back up to the daily supplementation for the past few days, but so far she is just laying a soft or shell-less egg every single day. I wish she would just go into molt and stop laying, but she doesn't seem to be wanting to do that...

Next week when it's cooler I can try the darkness tip by keeping her in the crate for a few days covered with a blanket to see if she will stop, but won't she just start back up again once she's out?

I think I've learned my lesson and won't get egger breeds again - just too many health issues! I do love the colorful eggs, but not sure they are worth it. My heritage multi-purpose breeds are healthy and low-maintenance, and they lay just fine - just not every single day without stopping.
 
Thanks for the tip on the private breakfast! That works well - we use a dog crate as our chicken "infirmary," so I just put her in there every morning for a few minutes with a couple of teaspoons of fermented feed (I started with a tablespoon but she wouldn't finish it), mixed with a scoop (approx. 350 mg) of calcium citrate powder, and a teaspoon of plain yogurt to bind it all together. Sometimes I add a drop of vitamin D oil from a soft gel capsule to help with absorption as I read that helps. The first couple of days she was a little confused and just wanted to go back in with the others, but now she usually gobbles it right up in a minute or two.

I did this every day for 5 days (during which she didn't lay as far as I could tell), and then she laid a normal (hard shelled) egg! I then cut back to 3x per week with the calcium supplementation, and she laid regular eggs for several days, then went back to the soft shells again! :-( I went back up to the daily supplementation for the past few days, but so far she is just laying a soft or shell-less egg every single day. I wish she would just go into molt and stop laying, but she doesn't seem to be wanting to do that...
Glad it worked, even if only part time. :( Unfortunately production hybrids are built for production, and not for longevity, so it's not unusual to see laying issues pop up as they age.

It's a tricky thing, because without the calcium you're looking at soft eggs possibly getting stuck in her system, but if she needs so much calcium that she's getting dosed daily, that's a lot of calcium in her system. Might try tweaking it to see if you can find a happy medium... maybe 7 days for a few weeks, then 6, then 5, then 4, etc. Obviously if she molts and stops laying you can discontinue the calcium entirely until she starts again.

Next week when it's cooler I can try the darkness tip by keeping her in the crate for a few days covered with a blanket to see if she will stop, but won't she just start back up again once she's out?
I personally wouldn't do the darkness thing, as she won't eat if it's dark and it'd probably just stress her out, but if you do try it it would be interesting to see if it actually stops her laying.
 
Glad it worked, even if only part time. :( Unfortunately production hybrids are built for production, and not for longevity, so it's not unusual to see laying issues pop up as they age.

It's a tricky thing, because without the calcium you're looking at soft eggs possibly getting stuck in her system, but if she needs so much calcium that she's getting dosed daily, that's a lot of calcium in her system. Might try tweaking it to see if you can find a happy medium... maybe 7 days for a few weeks, then 6, then 5, then 4, etc. Obviously if she molts and stops laying you can discontinue the calcium entirely until she starts again.


I personally wouldn't do the darkness thing, as she won't eat if it's dark and it'd probably just stress her out, but if you do try it it would be interesting to see if it actually stops her laying.
Thanks so much for the ideas! I will try the step-down method you mentioned and see if that works... I had the same thoughts about keeping her in the dark - she wouldn't eat or drink in that case!

My other egger (same age and breed - Lakeshore) is perfectly fine so far (thank goodness, since she's the only one who lays green eggs and they're so pretty!), and hasn't had this issue, and she lays like a champ.
 
What is their feed like? Mixed grain? Crumble or pellet with added calcium?

Chickens are like people - they eat what they like, not what they need and hens high on the pecking order will take the best bits and not leave any for their subordinates. Especially with production breeds, offering free choice grains and feeds that don't have calcium mixed in can be a big cause of issues.

There is a poultry specific liquid calcium with vitamin d which is great for direct-dosing via syringe. It works it's way into their system quickly and is my go to for issues like eggbinding (which can also be caused by low calcium).

I think you've successfully pinned the issue as dietary, now it's just a matter if watching her eating habits to determine the best long-term plan for ensuring she's getting what she needs without the need to intervene like this.
 

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