Silkie laying soft eggs.

[Lilac Ginata]

Hi all,
I bought a silkie hen last weekend. At the time I asked if she was laying yet and the seller said so and produced an egg for me that she had "laid" the morning of the chicken swap. The seller did warn me that she has laid soft eggs before but that it was only when she was stressed and that adding some shell would fix it right away. Since last week she had laid 4 eggs. All 4 have been soft. I added oyster shell to her feed after the first soft egg but she has yet to lay anything but. Am I doing anything wrong? Can I add anything else to her food to help with egg laying?

Thank you!

 

[BellyShell]

I've only had or seen soft eggs from a stressed hen...I've added oyster shell for brittle eggs but never soft. Not saying thats the problem...really have never seen 4 in a row from a hen. Hmm srry I couldn't be of any help but I'll be interested to see others suggestions!

 

[Lilac Ginata]

Thank you anyway. I am very shocked she is laying so many eggs for a Silkie. Now if we can only get one of them to be hard.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

How old is she? If she's young, she could still be working out some kinks (which is normal). Stress can cause them as well, which would be fitting. She's only been at your place for a short time, there could have been a change in feed, routine, ect. Chickens HATE change. Just leave her the oyster shell and keep an eye on her.
You know, my Silkies are surprising good little layers. When they're on, they're ON! Just about everyday I get an egg from them, they might skip a day here and there, but I'm very pleased. Where they get that low production rating is their tendency to go broody. They base that production rating on the # of eggs the bird lays in a year. Which for Silkies, isn't much. Mines normal MO is to lay for a couple of weeks, sit on eggs, hatch chicks, raise babies, repeat. This time of year I collect everything they lay, bc once one starts laying, its only a matter of time before they're ready to sit again. All of my Silkies have gone broody at least once since Feb. One of them has gone broody 3x's since then!

 

[Lilac Ginata]

Thank you so much. She is exactly a year old and she really is the sweetest little thing. I will give her more time and hope for the best.