Soft shelled egg - what's the cause?

[VlkStinu]

Hi there, one of my rescued ex-battery hen started laying eggs after she fully moulted, but the egg has a soft upper part - you can see it in the attached photo. The egg is otherwise firm and the hen is in a great shape - she is one of the strongest and healthiest of the flock. Is it a reason for concern?

I currently have 2 ex-battery hens that suffer salpingitis. They both laid perfectly normal eggs in the beginning, but their shells developed abnormalities progressively (weird shape and texture and later on softening of the shell) and when a discharge from cloaca started, it already progressed into the infection and they weren't able to lay a normal egg since then, just shell-less ones.

So I was worried to see this, thinking whether it couldn't be a symptom of a starting salpingitis. What do you think?

 

[azygous]

There are so many causes of egg shell abnormalities, you can't really say it's from salpingitis. If you are worried it could be, it wouldn't hurt to give this hen a round of an oral antibiotic. If caught early on, a reproductive infection has a chance of being cured.

If nothing else, this hen should receive a calcium supplement to bump up the calcium stores in her body. This is what I give my hens that are having egg shell issues. One tablet a day until shells are coming out normal on a consistent basis.

 

[VlkStinu]

There are so many causes of egg shell abnormalities, you can't really say it's from salpingitis. If you are worried it could be, it wouldn't hurt to give this hen a round of an oral antibiotic. If caught early on, a reproductive infection has a chance of being cured.

If nothing else, this hen should receive a calcium supplement to bump up the calcium stores in her body. This is what I give my hens that are having egg shell issues. One tablet a day until shells are coming out normal on a consistent basis. View attachment 2475073

Thank you for your reply! They have all the essential minerals and vitamins in their diet, so the cause was likely elsewhere. However, she laid a perfectly healthy egg yesterday, so that's really good news. I will keep an eye on it and if anything will pop up, I will go for the oral antibiotics. I was just picking up some from the vet today for one of the hens that is suffering from salpingitis, hopefully, it will help her...

 

[jeighlynn]

There are so many causes of egg shell abnormalities, you can't really say it's from salpingitis. If you are worried it could be, it wouldn't hurt to give this hen a round of an oral antibiotic. If caught early on, a reproductive infection has a chance of being cured.

If nothing else, this hen should receive a calcium supplement to bump up the calcium stores in her body. This is what I give my hens that are having egg shell issues. One tablet a day until shells are coming out normal on a consistent basis. View attachment 2475073

How do you feed the Calcium Citrate + D3? Do you mash it and put it in some crumbles? Or add to water and use a dropper? I would like to try this. I have 1 hen laying shell less eggs and would like to see if this helps. thanks.

 

[jeighlynn]

There are so many causes of egg shell abnormalities, you can't really say it's from salpingitis. If you are worried it could be, it wouldn't hurt to give this hen a round of an oral antibiotic. If caught early on, a reproductive infection has a chance of being cured.

If nothing else, this hen should receive a calcium supplement to bump up the calcium stores in her body. This is what I give my hens that are having egg shell issues. One tablet a day until shells are coming out normal on a consistent basis. View attachment 2475073

Also... where does one get antibiotics for chickens? Sadly I live in the suburbs and there isn't a vet around that treats chickens.

 

[azygous]

I get mine online here. https://www.kvsupply.com/item/aqua-mox-250mg-capsules-100-count/P06184/

 

[jeighlynn]

I get mine online here. https://www.kvsupply.com/item/aqua-mox-250mg-capsules-100-count/P06184/

Thank you!!!!