soft shelled eggs

[bclamp]

I have a Cotswold black tailed chicken. She is now thirteen years old and still lays. I have also so some young Lohmans. The old girl started to lay a soft shell and it was eaten. I am now having a problem that all the eggs are getting broken and eaten. I have filled a blown egg with salt and that has been eaten as well. My chickens have layers pellets, oyster shell and grit, vitamins in their water and have a big run and freedom of an orchard. Has anybody any more suggestions.
I really dont want to cull the old girl as she has been so good but I think she started it.

 

[azygous]

Here's the solution. I love this particular design because it's easily adapted to existing nest boxes and you don't need to rebuild, just add an insert.

 

[guineapeeps]

I have a Cotswold black tailed chicken. She is now thirteen years old and still lays. I have also so some young Lohmans. The old girl started to lay a soft shell and it was eaten. I am now having a problem that all the eggs are getting broken and eaten. I have filled a blown egg with salt and that has been eaten as well. My chickens have layers pellets, oyster shell and grit, vitamins in their water and have a big run and freedom of an orchard. Has anybody any more suggestions.
I really dont want to cull the old girl as she has been so good but I think she started it.

This BYC article has some good tips to try:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/six-tips-on-breaking-your-egg-eater.63022/

 

[oldhen2345]

I have a splash marans about 9 months old. She has been laying perfect eggs until about 2 weeks ago. She has laid thin shelled eggs routinely in the past two weeks, but has also laid two soft eggs with only a hard membrane for a shell. She get layer feed as well as protein snacks and free choice grit and oyster shell. She also gets snacks of greens, watermelon, cantaloupe, squash and tomatoes. The other chickens get the same and their eggs are perfect. What would cause this all of a sudden? What can I do to correct?

 

[Kris5902]

I wish I could bookmark this somehow I have a similar issue... and need a better design on the rollaway beatboxes than what I cobbled together! Thanks @azygous and @guineapeeps, so far the roll away has been the only somewhat successful solution for me and I’m looking to improve mine. I also tried the “icky egg” and ceramic eggs with no success

 

[Perris]

hello @bclamp ! welcome to BYC

She is now thirteen years old and still lays

wow! you must know really well how to look after chickens
I have one that lays normal eggs at the start of the season then lays soft shells most but not all of the time leading into molt, so am following this thread with interest

 

[guineapeeps]

I have a splash marans about 9 months old. She has been laying perfect eggs until about 2 weeks ago. She has laid thin shelled eggs routinely in the past two weeks, but has also laid two soft eggs with only a hard membrane for a shell. She get layer feed as well as protein snacks and free choice grit and oyster shell. She also gets snacks of greens, watermelon, cantaloupe, squash and tomatoes. The other chickens get the same and their eggs are perfect. What would cause this all of a sudden? What can I do to correct?

There are a lot of threads here on egg quality problems and causes, so I won’t start it all from scratch. Here is some info from a good article here on BYC:

A shell less egg consists of a yolk, albumen and membrane, but has no shell at all. The egg contents are protected by the outer membrane only. These are often seen in pullets coming into lay. Causes are:

- Immature shell gland (young layer);
- Nutritional deficiency, usually lack of calcium and vitamins E, B12 and D as well as phosphorous and selenium;
- Certain diseases, such as Newcastle disease, infectious bronchitis, avian influenza, egg drop syndrome;
- Exposure to very high temperatures and extremely high or low humidity levels;
- An infestation of internal or external parasites, such as worms, mites or lice;
- Stress prompting the hen to lay an egg prematurely, before the shell is formed;
- Egg laying while molting;
- Exposure to toxins, such as mold, fungi, bacteria.

I will include the link to the whole article below, which has great pics and causes of egg problems:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/common-egg-quality-problems.65923/

I had a guinea hen with that issue, and in researching I came across this thread about giving calcium citrate in case you suspect a calcium issue over the other causes. Here is the link to that:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/soft-shelled-eggs-for-days-in-a-row.968754/

Good luck!