Soft Shell Advice

[Plaid Dad]

We have a small flock of Rhode Island Reds. Three hens and a rooster that are a year old. One hen has laid exclusively soft shelled eggs for at least the last 3 or 4 months. It's possible that she's never laid a normal egg but it's difficult to say for sure.

Most days she drops it from the roost. A few days a week she drops one in a nest box.

All hens are on layer pellets with available oyster shell. I've seen this hen eat the oyster shell but not often. We gave her calcium/vitamin D pills every day for a week on two different occasions. No change.

I doubt it's EDS as none of the other birds are having any issues and it's been so long that I'd expect it to have run it's course already.

She's otherwise healthy and active.

At this point I'm thinking it's a physical condition of some sort that she likely won't recover from. Is there anything else it could be?

 

[ilovechicks41]

Soft-shelled eggs can indeed be caused by various factors including nutritional deficiencies, stress, or physical issues. Since you've already addressed nutrition and ruled out EDS, it's possible there could be an underlying reproductive issue or hormonal imbalance.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have a easter egger that laid her first egg last night that the membrane is thin. It broke. Do chickens lay at night while on the roost? If so, it can break. The other two girls have used the nests. They are about 21-22 weeks old. I give them layer feed and they have calcium and I am finishing off the chick grit.

What should I do? What do you think? Thanks.

The egg laying process is pretty complicated. Sometimes when a pullet first starts to lay it takes a while for her to get all the kinks out of her system. You might get soft shelled or no-shelled eggs, really thick shelled eggs, no yolk, only yolk and no whites, tiny eggs, double yolked eggs, or other strange things. As complicated as the process is it is a bit surprising to me that so many get it correct right from the start.

Part of that process is when and where to lay the egg. There are triggers that tell the pullet or hen when to start the egg through her internal egg making system so it is laid during daylight. Some have control over the egg laying process and can delay laying the egg for a while if they need to. Most handle this correctly from the start but you can occasionally get one that doesn't.

Most pullets straighten this out in a few days. I don't worry about any of this as long as it doesn't go on for longer than two weeks. Then I start looking for a reason this is happening. Often when that happens there is something wrong with the chicken, call it a birth defect.

Over the years I've had maybe two pullets that did not correct these problems, most pretty quickly. That means it is pretty rare. You are lucky in that you know which pullet it is. Sometimes that is hard to figure out. If she persists in laying soft shelled eggs you can try giving her a calcium tablet to see if that corrects the problem. Sometimes it does, sometimes not.

Good luck!

 

[Mrs. K]

An occasional soft egg does show up, a glitch, but nothing to worry about. But this is not that.

I think that is probably a genetic goof, diet is probably not going to fix it. You can keep her or cull her depending on your preference. I would not be surprised if she might not die suddenly. She may have other genetic mistakes that you have no indication for, they often do.

Mrs k

 

[rosemarythyme]

I have a easter egger that laid her first egg last night that the membrane is thin. It broke. Do chickens lay at night while on the roost? If so, it can break. The other two girls have used the nests. They are about 21-22 weeks old. I give them layer feed and they have calcium and I am finishing off the chick grit.

What should I do? What do you think? Thanks.

Normal to see some glitchy eggs from new layers and it's generally not indicative of a long term issue. Soft shelled eggs are harder for chickens to pass so it's not unusual to find them under a roost, for example. If she continues to have thin or unshelled eggs, then you could try supplementing calcium to her directly, but I wouldn't resort to that just yet.

Also they should be on layer/adult grit already, chick grit is simply going to be expelled by their system. Save the chick grit for the next time you have chicks.

 

[Sally PB]

An occasional soft egg does show up, a glitch, but nothing to worry about. But this is not that.

I think that is probably a genetic goof, diet is probably not going to fix it. You can keep her or cull her depending on your preference. I would not be surprised if she might not die suddenly. She may have other genetic mistakes that you have no indication for, they often do.

I have a pullet who has passed lash egg material, sometimes lays thin or no shell eggs. I *think* she has laid normal eggs too, but I'm not certain.

I've switched to a high protein (also much higher priced) layer feed, added a third type of calcium for them to use, and I don't think this has "fixed" her. I've given her calcium pills too, but long term that's hard on her kidneys, so it's not the answer either.

I'm resigned to her not being a productive member of the flock, egg-wise, but that's ok, because she's my favorite (of course). I also have no illusions about her living a long life; salpingitis (laying lash eggs) is eventually going to kill her.

She also had coccidiosis when she was about 5 weeks old. I don't know if the two are related. She was the smallest chick, so perhaps she isn't as robust inside as the others.

I'll do the best I can to keep her healthy and happy.

 

[Sally PB]

If you still have it, cut it open and post another picture.

 

[Sally PB]

The larger thing looks like a soft/no shell egg.

Do you have any calcium citrate? The same kind you get as a supplement for people. That can help with the soft egg shells. Pop a pill in her beak every day for 4-5 days. Yes, they're big pills, yes she can swallow them.

The blobby thing looks like lash material. This is a sign of salpingitis, an infection in the reproductive tract. Do you have any amoxicillin? It's an antibiotic. It used to be available online, but as of last summer, it's by prescription only. If you have a vet who see chickens, they might prescribe some.

If you find it for sale online, BE CAREFUL! Check the vendor, as there are scam sites out there.

Sadly, there is no cure for this. I've read most hens might live another 6-12 months.

I am experimenting on my own bird with salpingitis, by treating her with Lotus Leaf Extract. I'm not expecting a cure. I'm just hoping to keep her as healthy as possible for the best quality of life I can give her.

 

[rosemarythyme]

First time seeing something like this:
View attachment 3804881
I think it’s from one of my July-August ‘23 pullets.
Typical egg mass in the flock is 38-45g.

I'm a little undecided if that's a lash egg or not, it's hard to tell. It likely is, but the flaky stuff around it is a bit confusing.

Bacterial salpingitis can be treated with antibiotics, viral cannot. There's no easy way to tell the difference so treating it as a bacterial infection is the route to go if you're hoping to save her, but there's usually a recommended egg withdrawal time depending on what you choose to dose her with.

I have a hen that's almost 6 that laid lash eggs in year 4 and year 5. I treated with enrofloxacin each time. Other than the fact that she hasn't laid since the last lash egg, she looks and acts quite healthy. So it's not necessarily an instant death sentence.

 

[tranquiliti]

I'm a little undecided if that's a lash egg or not, it's hard to tell. It likely is, but the flaky stuff around it is a bit confusing.

Bacterial salpingitis can be treated with antibiotics, viral cannot. There's no easy way to tell the difference so treating it as a bacterial infection is the route to go if you're hoping to save her, but there's usually a recommended egg withdrawal time depending on what you choose to dose her with.

I have a hen that's almost 6 that laid lash eggs in year 4 and year 5. I treated with enrofloxacin each time. Other than the fact that she hasn't laid since the last lash egg, she looks and acts quite healthy. So it's not necessarily an instant death sentence.

Thanks; the assembly pictured above had kind of a sweet/yeasty smell. There was definitely a flaky/powdery component on the outside… I buried it about an hour ago in fear that it would begin to rot.