Soft eggs

[Chickiemom25]

We lost our White Rock, Snowball, a few weeks ago who had a habit of laying soft shell eggs. My Orpington is now the head hen. Now the Orp is laying soft shell eggs rather regularly. Never seen one from her before Snowball died. She is my only white egg layer so hers are easy to identify. Feed has not changed. They have lots of access to layer pellets. Also they get all rice/veggie/noodle/table scraps including yogurt. they free range in an urban backyard. Is this coincidence the head hens keep laying soft shells? my Americana lays almost daily and I have never seen a soft shell from her and she eats the same as the others. I should note the Orp has fattened up some since Snowball's death. The girls are about a year old now.

I bought some oyster shell since I will be introducing two new chicks in a couple weeks to the older gals and figure I have to remove the layer mix but have not set it out yet. Should I? Any suggestions? I'm so bummed we lost one girl and now the second isn't laying well.. Help

 

[Den in Penn]

Why wait on the calcium? Put the oyster shell out now. Let them build up the calcium before you take away the layer. If you were feeding stuff other than the layer, they may not have been getting enough calcium. Its tough to balance a diet if you don't access to what you need. That's why mine have the shell available.

 

[Chickiemom25]

I will put it out. I don't understand why she never laid soft shells before we lost the head hen though and why both head girls have had this problem now. Could they be hogging the scraps for themselves and leaving the pellets for the others? i put scraps out in the morning before I leave for work and they are gone when I get home... I know the cat comes in for picking too but she is afraid of the chickens so they probably eat first.

 

[Den in Penn]

Could be she is hogging the treats. She may have been on the edge of a calcium deficit before. Maybe try either spreading the treats out or cutting back.