Soft shell eggs

[Willow2253]

One of my hens for the last couple of days has been laying eggs with soft shells. We didn’t know who it was at first, but we found her eating one of the soft eggs this afternoon. The flock always has access to crushed egg shells and are eating layer feed. We put out a dish of oyster shells as well when we started finding the soft eggs. They free range though and get occasional scraps, so they’re not eating exclusively feed. The specific hen is a bit of an outsider in the flock, she tends to be somewhat aggressive towards the others and they don’t tolerate it, so while she still stays with the flock, she’s at the outside of the group. Now that we know who it is, we’re thinking about separating her and keeping her in our temporary coop so that we can monitor her diet, and because she’s the most likely to bully the chicks that we’re about to integrate. Is there anything else we can do for her? Anything specific to look for? This is the first time we’ve had to deal with this issue.

 

[aart]

How old is this bird and how long has she been laying?
Do they eat the egg shells...are they in a separate dish?

 

[Willow2253]

She’s about 2 and has been laying for probably a year and a half. The flock free ranges and we toss out scraps and egg shells every couple of days at the edge of the gravel driveway where they spend most of the day. I have seen the chickens eating them and they’re usually mostly gone after a couple of days, but I can’t recall if I’ve seen this specific chicken eating any shell.

 

[Elfie4306]

Sometimes stress can cause soft eggs. You might want to feed her separately for a bit with a lot of calcium, it's what makes the eggs hard in the first place. If you said she pecks at the other ones they're probably trying to drive her out. Some chickens resort to bullying due to stress too, so the added stress of being pushed from the flock along with the original stress could be causing the soft eggs. Is there anything that could be causing a disrupture? Such as a nearby predator, recent death? Or something as little as eating the wrong thing. Speaking of, you might want to watch for signs of sickness too.

 

[Willow2253]

Stress seems like a likely factor. We had mites a few weeks ago(taken care of now) and added a new rooster a few weeks ago as well. So far she seems otherwise healthy, but we'll be sure to keep a lookout for other signs of illness.

 

[Willow2253]

This issue has now been resolved. She has been a bully for the last several months and has begun looking unhealthy. She was being overly violent with our bantams and chicks, and just started eating eggs from the nests. We decided she had to go and it’s been taken care of.