Soft shelled egg. Need help please!

[chick-a-dee1984]

I feed my hens oyster shell calcium and crushed up egg shells. I rescued a little hen.. I don't even know her breed and she lays tiny eggs. Today we found this little egg in the nesting box.

This is about the normal size of her eggs that she lays. This is the first time we have gotten a soft shelled egg. She and another hen have been fussing at each other over guarding the favorite nesting box. I am beginning to think they are trying to go broody. Would that cause her to be stressed and possibly lay a soft shelled egg? Or is it because of lack of calcium?

Thanks all!

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hens will occasionally lay a shell less egg, they are pretty common in young layers, hens returning to lay, or hens that have been stressed especially. The eggs are usually just a glitch in their system, and nothing to worry about. If you are getting a lot of them, or one hen is laying them consistently you'd want to look into other causes. They are usually not related to the lack of calcium directly, but may be on the hens ability to use calcium. The poultry site has a list of possible causes. http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publi...ndbook/16/thinshelled-eggs-and-shellless-eggs