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Soft Egg Shell with no clear cause

Mregg

Hatching
May 13, 2025
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2
I own three chickens, two of which have now started laying either soft shell eggs or I discover a broken egg from where they were perching in the coop over night. This started about 2 months ago out of the blue with no clear cause. Before this it would be an egg a day from each chicken and the chickens themselves are only 2 years old (Amber hens). I've followed all guidance online, no signs of infection, infestation or poor health. They all seem very happy and are very social with no signs of bullying. They're calciumed up to the max with Oyster shells and supplement in their water. Being fed layers pellets and have been since the day I've got them (winter months supplemented with corn mix)
The coop I keep to a good standard and have recently added a egg rollaway system to rule out one of them pecking eggs, causing others stress.

I'm very much at a loss and Google isn't proving much help. If it was the one chicken I'd be inclined to visit the vet.. but two at the same time? Maybe I've missed something. Any help would be greatly appreciated
 
While it’s not common it’s possible to have to much calcium. If the calcium is in very plentiful amounts it can cause buildups leading to soft shell eggs. The eggs won’t be getting the right amount of nutrients they need and your hens may face some health issues caused by the calcium buildup. Have you noticed any strange behaviors?
 
While it’s not common it’s possible to have to much calcium. If the calcium is in very plentiful amounts it can cause buildups leading to soft shell eggs. The eggs won’t be getting the right amount of nutrients they need and your hens may face some health issues caused by the calcium buildup. Have you noticed any strange behaviors?
I understand this can be the case sometimes but yesterday I found an egg in perfect condition. The first one in weeks! Yet this morning it's back to normal soft topped eggs.
This week however I went a little belts and braces with smite powering each hen every 3 days and course of worming just to rule out that I'd overlooked something.

Behaviour wise all normal, plenty of activity, dust baths and foraging. Happy sounds. Though I have noticed 2 out of the 3 hens (one of which is the one still laying daily) have missing feathers on there chests... I've seen no bulling or pecking and this can only be seen when pulling back other existing feathers. They dont seem in any discomfort. I have read this could be for getting better heat into there eggs when laying? Or is this something else?
 
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