Soft, leathery egg?

[Erinjmiller]

Hi all! My girls are all around 6.5 months old and have begun laying. Five out of my 7 hens have laid daily, if not every other day. I have 4 ISA browns and 3 barred rocks. For the past 3 weeks now, the girls who have laid eggs have laid some beautiful and superbly hard-shelled eggs that are perfect in shape, size, and coloring. Except for one bird. I am not sure which breed it is since all their eggs look the same, but one of the girls has laid a soft, leathery egg for the past 3 days. Today it was utterly covered in poo, whereas all the other girls' eggs have been super clean and away from the poo. Given how the other eggs are excellent in quality, I don't know what to make of this one chicken's wonky eggs. She is a new layer, so I am thinking it could just be her inexperience, if you will...but could there be something wrong that I should look into? Thanks a million!

 

[Erinjmiller]

Sounds like new layer maybe nothing .Are you giving them oyster shell on the side ?

Okay good! Yes, I am giving them oyster shells often. The others' eggs are super hard, so I don't believe it's a calcium deficiency...but I guess you never know!

 

[ChickNanny13]

Oyster Shells should be available free feed. That one girl is a newbie so it's "normal" but personally, I would be concerned as it's been 3 days in a row. You could crush up some Tums or calcium tablets & mix it in something yummy for her.

 

[Erinjmiller]

Oyster Shells should be available free feed. That one girl is a newbie so it's "normal" but personally, I would be concerned as it's been 3 days in a row. You could crush up some Tums or calcium tablets & mix it in something yummy for her.

Thanks for the input! I do mix the oyster shells in with their feed every time I fill the feeder. They get a generous amount. All the others seem to have decently hard eggs, so I know they are getting enough. If I knew which bird it was, I would definitely try the Tums. I will have to keep a close eye on them. There are 4 that I know are for sure laying. Just not certain about the other 3. Could it be something else if not a calcium issue?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Thanks for the input! I do mix the oyster shells in with their feed every time I fill the feeder. They get a generous amount. All the others seem to have decently hard eggs, so I know they are getting enough. If I knew which bird it was, I would definitely try the Tums. I will have to keep a close eye on them. There are 4 that I know are for sure laying. Just not certain about the other 3. Could it be something else if not a calcium issue?

Really shouldn't mix it in, the birds should be allowed to take what they need. You're potentially overdosing them on quite a lot of calcium which can lead to organ failure over time (granted if you plan on culling older hens that might not matter, but I don't know if these are strictly livestock or what).

If you can figure out which bird is the problem, yes supplementing her directly is the way to go. For that I prefer to mix oyster shell into wet feed only for the bird I am supplementing, but I also actively try to minimize it as much as possible by reducing amount over time and seeing if the desired results (hard shell) is still achieved.

New layers can be glitchy and it can take a while for their systems to figure out what to do. So it's possible that this will resolve itself in a few weeks.

 

[ChickNanny13]

2x Oyster Shells should be in a separate dish, not mixed in.

 

[Kiki]

Collect some fresh poop and have the local dog vet yest it for worms.

Do you feed treats? If so stop.
Which exact feed do you use?