soft shell egg questions

[Dixiedoodle]

I have a 1yo, true Ameraucana, who was injuried by my ex-roo. It's been a week now and she has laid two soft shell eggs ( 0ne yesterday and one today). They are blue but they remind me of a blue egg noodle wrapped around the yoke and white. She was laying 5 beautifully shaped , bright aqua colored eggs a week for several 2 months before the injury. She is much better, walking with just a tiny limp (if you had not known she was injuried you may not even notice), eating like a horse, drinking and dust bathing--even scratching thru the dirt, leaves, shavings... She now manages to get into the nest box and on to the roost w/ no problem..

Last Sat. I started feeding them 24% protein feed (free choice), giving them vitamins and electrolytes in their water and feeding them more organic greens each day.. they have oystershell, grit and 16% Layena free-choice!


Is the soft egg a 'product' of being injuried?
Will she recover and go back to laying 'normal' eggs?
Is there anything I can do to help her recover?

Thank you...

 

[CoopCrazy]

Sounds like you are doing everything right.. She may just need some time to get going again.. I would also try giving her some scrambled eggs, I am amazed at how something so simple can make a huge difference

 

[jrabbit]

one of our hens laid a soft egg yesterday. We get 3 eggs most days from the 5 hens. All are about 12-15 months old: bantam mixed breed, bantam cochin, black sex link, barred rock, and something red ... the red is who I think laid this. The red hasn't laid anything else in about 4-5 days. She's the youngest and lays almost every day & she is the dominant hen of the bunch. Her eggs are pretty big and dark brown.

I checked their feed - it's a non-GMO blend which we switched to a couple months ago. I can't find the tag now, but I think it was 16% protein, for laying hens and required no additional calcium/oyster shell. Our hens are fed kitchen scraps (vegetarian) and are currently not free-ranging outside of their run. Their run has plenty of bugs in it, I'm sure, though!

The soft egg (left) is almost yellow and resembles a water balloon to me. The egg on the right is from the barred rock - who lays jumbo eggs. The picture isn't the best, but the day before yesterday, that egg was laid with what seems to be a "lip" on it. The soft egg is really about the right shape and size for the red, or I'd wonder if the barred rock laid it. Today's & yesterday's eggs have been from the other hens. Should I be worried?

 

[jrabbit]

I spoke too soon. We got another soft egg. DD says she saw the red hen coming out of the coop, so if we're to believe the 6 year old, that's "proof" she laid them. Still no other eggs from the barred rock or her.

help! 2 days in a row!!??
--janis

 

[tamlynn]

It took about 2 weeks for my hen to start laying normal eggs after I started giving them oyster shell grit.

 

[Lobzi]

I am having the same problem with my youngest hen, Honker, recently "dropping" soft eggs. I say drop because they are not in her nest box but just dropped other places in the coop as if done unexpectedly.

I did some research and found out stress can cause hens to pass the egg too quickly before the shell forms. Honker is very stresses right now. Her mom just hatched 11 chicks and Honker was very curious about these fuzzy butts. Mama did not appreciate Honker sticking her nose into her child-care business so she chases after Honker whenever Honker is near. I know the poor thing is a little overwhelmed with so many babies to keep track of and safe and therefore she is on edge regarding all the other chickens, she even attack the father roo when he tries to help teach the babies to search for food. I feel terrible for Honker. Im doing my best to keep her and Mama with the babies separated. Today Honker laid a normal eggs.

Anyway, I just wanted to share my experience with the stress factor contributing to the soft shell.

 

[Dixiedoodle]

Thanks everyone!

 

[patman75]

What kind of water are they getting? Well or City water?

I have a shoft shell problem and I found arsenic in my water and a few other things. I have switched to filtered water and extra veggies and I have gone from no eggs and soft shelled eggs to some soft and some hard. Still working on it.

 

[Dixiedoodle]

We have well water. It has a whole house filter on it. We had it checked last fall and it was good.

 

[patman75]

Quote:
Just curious, what type of system do you have?