soft shell / no shell eggs?

[jeslewmazer]

she is not low on the pecking order. in fact, she is one of the rooster's favorite hens. she eats with everyone else, no problems there.

we have been collecting drying and powdering their egg shells for some time now. have given them some a few times, not as consistently as we should yet. i am not interested in buying oyster shells.

she is a young hen, only started laying in the last 2 months, so i know age isn't an issue. i really hope this is just a phase and things go back to normal!

what if they don't though?? anything else i should be concerned about??

Age can be the issue. Young (new layers) and the older hens are more often to lay weird eggs. Their are some "disorders" (I don't know what to call them) that can be due to heredity or illness. Most of the time it corrects itself, with all needs being met accordingly. Sometimes it is just a 'hiccup' in the cycle. If you have shells to feed back you should not need to buy oyster shells, I do only about once a year or less if I run out of shells.

 

[granmama]

I have 3 leghorns that I rescued last December from an egg laying production farm outside of town. 1 and now maybe 2 of them are laying soft shelled eggs. I have added oyster shells crushed to their feed, they are fed a commercial organic mash, and organic veggie scraps, and they forage. It seems what I am reading that possibly they are too olde now to continue laying, or possible need a molt. I just want to make sure there isn't something more that I could be doing to help the ladies out.

 

[chickabell]

My little Ms. Kitty (bantam) laid her first egg today and it was soft shell. What does she need to correct this?

 

[chickenteacher2]

My little Ms. Kitty (bantam) laid her first egg today and it was soft shell. What does she need to correct this?

I've heard it's normal with a new laying hen. Just make sure she has all her nutrients. she'll be fine.

 

[feeding frenzy]

I have a young hen who has been laying since Feb. 24 2013. She's top of the pecking order too and is a RIR. I've seen her lay shell-less eggs. They're like a sac with egg whites and yolk. Yesterday I found a small sac with very little whites and no yolk (a first from her) She lays 7 days a week since she started! She missed 3 days or I couldn't find those eggs. She was my only layer until 2 weeks ago and she's my only brown layer so it's easy to track her eggs. Every 2-3 weeks she would lay one shell-less egg and go back to normal the next day. All my chickens free range with supplemental feed. I scatter oyster shells and egg shells on the ground for hens who want them. My hen never lays shell-less eggs in her normal nesting spot-only good eggs she'll lay them in her favorite spot behind a pile of dry branches.

 

[bower007]

Just started with one of my hens yesterday; today is the 2nd day in a row with no shell. like lots of other people have said, she has access to oyster shell when she wants it. I was mixing it in the feed, then stopped. today I mixed some back in; we'll see what happens but it's stressing me out!

 

[chickenteacher2]

I just gave mine some extra protein....yogurt with oatmeal and mashed egg. They LOVE that!

 

[aldarita]

I just recently read Gail Damerow's Hatching and Brooding your own chicks book. There is a piece that I want to pass along to you all that are having problems with shelless eggs:


Calcium in needed by laying hens to keep eggshells strong. The amount of calcium a hen needs varies with her age, diet, and state of health; older hens, for instance, need more calcium than younger hens. Hens on pasture obtain some amount of calcium naturally, but illness may cause a calcium imbalance. In warm weather, when all chickens eat less, the calcium in a hen's ration may not be enough to meet her needs, and a hen that gets too little calcium lays thin-shelled eggs. On the other hand, a hen that eats extra ration in an attempt to replenish calcium gets fat and becomes a poor layer.
Eggshells consist primarily of calcium carbonate, the same material found in oyster shells, aragonite, and limestone. All laying hens should have access to a separate hopper full of crushed oyster shells, ground aragonite, or chipped limestone (not dolomitic limestone, which can be detrimental to egg production).
Phosphorus and calcium are interrelated- a hen's body needs one to metabolize the other. Range-fed hens obtain some phosphorus and calcium by eating beetles and other hard shelled bugs, but they might not get enough. To balance the calcium supplement, offer phosphorus or charcoal (biochar). The correct ratio of phosphorus to calcium is 1:2. When both supplements are offered separately and are available at all times, hens will ingest the right balance.

I give my hens free choice oyster shells but they don't seem to like it, so I started mixing crushed egg shells in their treats and they are eating them. I have been thinking about putting a little container with crushed charcoal free choice and watch what happens, I believe Gail Damerow is an authority in chickens' keeping and has a very long experience so I value her opinion.

 

[anlawrence]

I have two young hens who have just started laying daily (about a week ago) after various traumas such as dog attack; broodiness (both but one longer than the other) and a soft moult. Yesterday's collected two eggs at around 2pm and when I went out with their breakfast at around 8 am I discovered a shell-less egg by their feeding area I.e. not I. The nest box or coop. I did not see who laid it as I suspect it happened while my back was turned ! Today at around 2.30 pm I collected another normal egg but only one today. My girls are on layers pellets with treats such as grapes, lettuce and melon, yoghurt and occasionally whey. (They don't get the same treats every day I chop and change). The afternoon they get a mix of mixed corn, mealworms and suet just a few handfuls to scratch around for. They mainly free range In the garden.

Do I need to worry about this or is it possible that it is just a one-off?

 

[anlawrence]

Oh I just re read that message! The hens have been laying since last October. I meant they have started laying daily after a break since the end of April.