Soft-Shelled Broken Eggs Under Roost

[uncle]

About 2 or 3 times a month I notice a soft shelled broken egg under the roost when I let them out in the AM.
The first time it was a real small egg but the one today would have been a Large egg.
I have oyster shells and good feed. The girls free range during the day.
Should I be worried or just let it go?
Brian

 

[gritsar]

Is it under the same spot on the roost each time? Do you think it could be the same hen laying them?

 

[twistedwire]

I'm glad this question is being asked because I have a hen that is laying one more regularly than that

I'm not sure *which* hen it is, but it's one of 2. I have egg shells and oyster shells available.

 

[tiffanyg2]

Does oyster shells do the same things as eggs shells would?? I know I have read it on here that you can crack up some egg shells and add it to their feed and it is suppose to strengthing the egg shells they are laying. I haven't had a chance to try this method but thought I would share it with you! I do recall to heat the shells up slightly to cook any rawness out of it as well. Again, maybe someone can confirm this!

 

[Backyard Barb]

If you bird is lacking any other symptoms and receiving good feed, light, sanitation and other comforts might be Egg Drop Syndrome.

Its a virus or group of viruses carried by water foul (ducks etc). Oddly enough, it dosnt affect water foul and they are only carriers.

Signs

* Egg drop at peak or failure to peak. Drops may be of 5 to 50% and last for 3-4 weeks.
* Rough, thin or soft-shelled eggs and shell-less eggs.
* Loss of shell pigment.
* Poor internal quality.
* Lack of signs in the birds themselves.

There is nothing you can do for egg drop other than remove the dropped eggs as fast as you can so that other birds arnt tempted to eat them and become infected themselves.

Even if you dont have water foul in your area, it could have been transmitted from egg to egg by poor sanitation in the incubators. Its on the rise. The current science indicates that there is no threat to humans.

Oh, and watch your birds more closely for egg binding. They sometimes have a hard time passing dropped eggs.

 

[gritsar]

Great information Barb

Here's some more info. on shell-less or soft-shelled eggs:

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publi...ndbook/16/thinshelled-eggs-and-shellless-eggs

Tiffany, to answer your question. Oyster shell is a good inexpensive way to provide hens with the extra calcium they need to make good stong eggshells without having to steal the calcium from their own bodies. Most layer feeds have a small amount of calcium added, but the extra never hurts.

I don't recommend mixing it with their feed though. The chickens will waste food by billing it out to get to the OS. I offer it in a seperate container.