soft shells and watery poop

Have her eggs always been soft-shelled? Soft-shelled eggs are very difficult to expel from the body because the body has no hard surface to push against, so the egg sticks and is hard on a bird to push out. These eggs are usually just a glitch in the plumbing, but sometimes they are as a result of a defective egg gland. If she is laying just soft-shelled eggs then it is likely a problem that cannot be resolved. If she is laying both hard and soft eggs then I would be looking at her nutrition. Offering free choice oyster shell is a good way for birds to get enough calcium in their diet to build strong egg shells.

Veggies and scraps from your kitchen are a great treat, but in too large quantities they can result in health problems. Poultry food formulas are specially created to give your birds the exact nutrition that they require. Scraps can be treats, but they should be just that- treats. Something to look forward to on special occasions. Not an every day thing. Feeding scraps everyday leads to birds not eating their regular feed, which can lead to GI disturbances (diarrhea, liver disease) and poor nutrition. I'd be cutting out the vegetables for a while until the watery poops stop. Keep up with the ACV and maybe add a bit of yogurt to their regimen to build up some healthful GI bugs. Make sure the birds have access to grit this time of year because with the snow they may not be getting as much as they need. Oyster shells do not qualify as grit (too soft).

Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

I had a brahma hen about the same age that seemed to be having her share of soft shelled eggs also, I just made sure she had plenty of oyster shell for the extra calcium she needed and she finally got it worked out. She lays beautiful large eggs now.

 

If it's not calcium, please watch out. I had a hen who would lay funny eggs all the time and it turned out she had this weird illness that resulted in her eggs getting infected and impacted. I forgot what the illness was called but antibiotics wouldn't hurt right now.

 

One of mine sounds exactly like this, well, *past tense.* It's been a while since she did it, but I'm interested in the advice you get.
She's a really normal sized Rhode Island Red (as far as I know at least; she was the "mystery chick" *shrigs*) Right around 6 months she laid a soft shelled egg, that was really like a flat see-through lizard/snake egg. She also had watery poops. The first time she did it, I didn't worry much, just noted it, because she seemed otherwise very healthy and with a great appetite. Then a few weeks later (2-3?) she did it again. Right around the second time (I can't remember if it was just before or just after) she laid a giant egg. It looked like a goose egg. It wouldn't even fit in a carton. She alternated between huge eggs and goo eggs for a short time. I upped her calcium and grit (Because they were the same product. I hand fed her so I knew she'd get what she wanted, she's kind of timid when it came to eating around the others) and I just haven't seen the problem again. Once I changed her layer's feed to organic, she stopped laying the giant eggs too. (Also, winter started to hit at about the same time, and the days were getting really short. That could have also been it.) I've also noticed that she's always drinking. Maybe twice as much as the other girls. (I only have 3, so it's easy to observe them) Also, only a day or two before the first goo egg, I was still feeding her growers. I also gave them super worms for the extra protein. (Not meal worms, those things are like feeding your pet cardboard. I have lizards, so it's the same stop for me. Crickets are a great lean protein. Super worms are a little fatty in comparison. If you have a bunch, it could get expensive to do that though)