Soft Shell eggs every day from 1 bird!

[Snack Giver]

My little leghorn used to lay perfect eggs every day, for months, no problem. Now she lays an immature soft shell egg every single night. Weird. Somehow she climbs down off the roost in the dark and lays it on the ground. I finally saw her do it last night. These eggs are worthless. You cannot even pick them up, they fall apart. They have a thin jelly-like shell. ThIs has been going on for almost 3 months. The other girls all lay normal eggs. They all have unlimited oyster shell. I even give cheese for snack to boost calcium. Again, she used to lay normal eggs. It seems like she's letting the egg out too early (not the normal 25 hours). Why is this happening? Can I boost the calcium another way? Or is it something I just can't control?

 

[Happy Chooks]

You can crush up a tums into some yogurt and give that to her for a calcium boost. Good luck.

 

[speckledhen]

She may not be processing the calcium she is eating. I have a hen like that who eats from the calcium hopper just fine, but most of her eggs are very fragile and have been for about half of her life. Sometimes, a vitamin supplement containing Vitamin D will help them process calcium better.

 

[Happy Chooks]

She may not be processing the calcium she is eating. I have a hen like that who eats from the calcium hopper just fine, but most of her eggs are very fragile and have been for about half of her life. Sometimes, a vitamin supplement containing Vitamin D will help them process calcium better.

I have wondered about this. My production red still lays thin shelled eggs. Occasionally she will lay a normal shelled one, but most of the time it's so thin that it cracks if I tap it with my fingernail. I've just attributed it to age - she's over 3 now.

 

[speckledhen]

It's not necessarily age, Kelly. My 5 1/2 year old hens who are laying are all laying hard shelled eggs. This hen of mine who has the issue is 4 years old now, but has been laying fragile eggs for half her life, when she lays at all. Some of them don't make it out of the nest before they are squashed.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Some of them don't make it out of the nest before they are squashed.

Same here with my production red hen.

 

[momtotnt]

Wow, my 1 year old RIR just started this happening about 3 weeks ago! Unlimited oyster shell (that I watch her eat!) but produces a soft shell egg every day that she bursts. Then, she proceeds to sit on her pen mate's (Barred Rock) egg! So sad, because she is (was) my best layer!