Soft egg shells at 1 1/2 years

[RascalAndJemima]

I know there are many threads on this topic but none seem to answer my questions. Jemima is on and a half years old and is an Aylsbury. She has laid an egg a day since she first began but for the past 3 days she has laid eggs with soft/no shells. It's just the membrane holding them together.
She has always been on layers pellets which are available to her all day which have generous helping of calcium and phosphorous to support the shell quality so I'm wonder why suddenly the change? Any suggestions or advice would be much appreciated. I'm feeling a bit concerned that it could lead her to be egg bound!

 

[chickenmama109]

layer feed does not have enough calcium you can give them oyster shells free choice or in there feed i just spread mine on the ground along with grit you can find oyster shell at tsc- tracter supple.co good luck with your flock

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, hope you are enjoying BYC!

To me soft eggs often happen when the reproductive system is starting up or shutting down, like a hiccup... more often then not.

The reason I don't believe it's lack of calcium, when you have plenty available is because they oyster shell is actually absorbed into the keel bone where it is then redistributed to the shell gland. A hen will use up her own body calcium to lay eggs...

At 1.5 years old and heading into the fall with shortening daylight, your girl very well be getting ready to enter molt and exit laying for the season. Are her softies being laid in the box or just random places? Very often they are mistaken for a standard poo and left wherever.

Egg binding of course is serious. But is often caused by an egg being too big to pass, which can happen easily in girls that often lay double yolkers or coming back out of molt/brooding during summer daylight hours. And people offer calcium as mineral support for the muscle more than trying to build shell, though many don't realize that's the reason.

Hope it's nothing more.

ETA: my experience is with chickens, not ducks. Oyster shell in the side is offered at my house but I also don't use layer... which *should* have enough calcium for non free range birds that aren't receiving extra treats besides their feed. Free range or treats *may* need the extra available on the side to make up for what they aren't getting.