Soft shell egg on one end

[chixrus2013]

Help. I have a year old hen that has started laying an egg that is soft at only 1 end. It’s also discolored. Dark on one end (which is what it should be all over) and light at the other end. She is still laying 1 egg almost every day. She seems totally fin except she does have some missing feathers in the front of her neck in a strip down her neck bone. Only place missing feathers. They’re all on layer feed. Haven’t supplemented with calcium.

 

[Saveria]

How long has she been doing it for? Only two days?

 

[nuthatched]

She could be molting.https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/common-egg-quality-problems.65923/

 

[chixrus2013]

How long has she been doing it for? Only two days?

No. It’s been happening for about 3 weeks now

 

[Saveria]

She could be molting.https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/common-egg-quality-problems.65923/

Nuthatched, do you know someone we could tag for troubleshooting egg issues?

 

[Saveria]

What breed is she? It sounds like a production breed if she is laying everyday. Did she ever lay normal eggs? Adding oyster shells or egg shells to their diet can't hurt, and is something you can try.

Some hens just have defects in eggs, too. Some people cull, some people deal with it, but lets try to see if we can fix it first.

 

[nuthatched]

Nuthatched, do you know someone we could tag for troubleshooting egg issues?

No one besides the usually people and I'm sure they're sick to death of being tagged.
Mmm, let me see who's on.

 

[nuthatched]

@Yardmom ?
@Folly's place ?

 

[Folly's place]

Any recent illness in your flock? New birds added? Some respiratory viruses can cause 'funky eggs' too. Or she's having a malfunction all her own, at her shell gland. Might straighten out, or not, sorry.
Mary

 

[rosemarythyme]

I'd try supplementing her with calcium for a few weeks to see if you can get some improvement.

If you know exactly which bird is the problem bird, isolate her for a private breakfast. 2-3x a week serve a small bowl (like 1 Tbsp is fine) of wet or fermented feed with oyster shell mixed in. If she does not like chunks of oyster shell, crush it up or use the powdery remnants from bottom of the bag. Should only take her minutes to eat and after that she's free to go.

Assuming her issue is simply insufficient calcium intake, you should see results in a week or two, and you can try reducing it to 1-2x a week and should hopefully continue getting good results.

IF you do not see any improvement, it could be a shell gland issue or something else funky about her system that's causing her to not shell eggs correctly.