soft shell

[TEXASSCENT]

One of my year old rir is laying a soft shell egg. Inside is ok. They get treats,scratch and lay pellets.What is going on?

 

[ImpulsiveFarmer]

If you are sure she is getting enough calcium then she might have a parasite either internally or externally (like mites). I've dewormed my chickens with wazine before, you just ad it to their water. It's only for round worms though.

 

[TEXASSCENT]

Thanks....No mites. Do they get any calcium from lay pellets?I have oyster shell for chickens.Do you feed that or leave it out all the time?

 

[ImpulsiveFarmer]

layer pellets should have calcium in them but I've always left out oyster shells for them as well. I put it in a separate dish and let them eat it as needed.

 

[BackyardAnita]

When did your chicken start laying? When they start to lay the eggs are small and don't have the strongest shell, but when they get older the eggs get bigger and stronger. Do you feed them layer feed? They need calcium to make their eggs strong.

Yes, layer feed has calcium. Check the ingredients.
Oyster shells are great for chickens! Feeding them an oyster shell every once in a while should be fine.

 

[TEXASSCENT]

All 6 of them have been laying for a good 6 months with no problems. They eat layer feed pellets. Thru the summer they got lots of veges from the garden. They may be getting ready to molt as 4 of them have lost the big feathers in their tail.

 

[Den in Penn]

If they are ready to molt, and losing tail feathers means they are into it, and ending their lay cycle they sometimes do lay the odd egg. If its one egg nothing to worry about. Oyster shell available at all times, separate form the other feed, especially if you feed a lot other then the layer feed.