soft eggshell..Help

[animal nut]

I have a 22 week old comet that is laying really soft eggshell. The shells are so soft that they break open when she lays them and they are paper thin. She has oyster shells available and is fed very well. What do I do to help these shells harden up. I think the soft shells are causing her problems when she lays them.





2 children, 3 dogs, 2 cats and 21 chickens, with more on the way.

 

[katrinag]

If she is a new layer she may just need some time to get things worked out.

 

[LynneP]

A few of my golden comets did that at first. It passed and all 12 are making beautiful eggs now, and have all winter. The only way to know is to wait, I'm betting your girl will be fine...

 

[Blue_Myst]

Give her some time, like the others said, she is most likely just adjusting to her new job. As long as she has layer feed and oyster shell, she should be fine!

 

[animal nut]

Thank you for the advise. I was worried for her considering last week she looked like she did not feel well. We gave some extra TLC and she seems to be fine, her eggs are just extremely soft and I do not want anything to happen to her that I could have prevented. Thanks again, this website has been alot of help...........

 

[chickenfever]

Yeah, I think it can be normal for hens that are newly laying. My hens have not been laying long and I have gotten 3 eggs so far that didn't seem to have any shell at all, just a membrane.

 

[sewchick]

One of mine is laying soft shell eggs. God it grossed me out. I have never seen soft shells before. I do offer them oyster shells in a dish I have mounted on the wall. They gobble it up. I keep it filled daily. They are new to laying. Just started last month. Hopefully it's just they are new to it. I hope you post again and let us know if your hen is laying hard shells.

 

[msgenie516]

Hi,

I have a brand new layer, an EE, and she just laid two soft-shelled eggs in a row. Before that she layed two perfectly good eggs with hard shells, for a total of 4 eggs so far. I would say this is common in new layers and will pass as they get adjusted. At least I hope so! Genie