Soft Shells - Treat Whole Flock?

[Dreammaker]

HELP!

I just found 2 soft-shelled eggs in the coop. Roughly the same size and color. I'm guessing it's one bird who laid them, as they look so similar and were in the same spot under the roosting bar.

I'm not sure who did this. I've been seeing regular egg laying lately (4-6 eggs/day from my 6 girls). I can't pinpoint which one it might be, as it seems like they're all laying normally based on the colors and sizes of eggs I'm used to seeing.

Being that I don't know who did this, how should I deal with this? Treat the whole flock with supplemental calcium? My husband and I are going to do a vent check on them later and deal with a particularly poopy butt (I need his moral support ). We'll see if we find anything troubling.

Here's what they eat:
Blue Seal Extra Egg Layer (16% protein) - I'm seeing more poop and poop butts since using this food for the past 3 months. I think I'll switch to a different brand and maybe go to an All-Flock.

Free-choice oyster shell

Occasional (<1x/wk) veggie scraps and/or fresh herbs

Fresh water that I add ACV and Rooster Booster vitamins/probiotics/electrolyte powder to approx. 1-3x/week.

NOTE: We're traveling across the country next week and will be gone for a week. I'm really hoping this doesn't require intensive measures because we'll be leaving so soon. My dad is generously helping out with their care, but as a newbie, I don't want him to have to deal with treating them if it's a big, complicated process.

Thanks so much!

 

[1muttsfan]

I would not be concerned about a few shell-less eggs. Are these young birds? Most likely one of your birds is having a little difficulty with her egg laying machinery, not necessarily a calcium deficit. Most of the time they go back to normal within a short time. As long as the other hens are laying with good shells, and the birds look healthy, it sounds like your feeding program is fine.

If you put additives in your water, be sure to offer fresh water without additives as well - it can cut down water intake if a bird does not like the additives. Most adult, healthy birds with a good diet do not need supplemental electrolytes. And they get plenty of probiotics by ingesting fecal material as they scratch and peck.

 

[Gypsi]

A bowl of egg shell calcium or clean crushed eggshells available in the coop won't hurt. My eggs harden (and my hens are older) when I add fresh sand to the run

 

[1muttsfan]

She is providing oyster shell free choice.

 

[coach723]

Too much ACV can inhibit calcium absorption, and certain birds that may be prone to issues can be more sensitive to it. I would discontinue the additives and just give them fresh water. Electrolites can be very valuable in the right circumstances, but giving them too much, or when not really needed can also not be good. Just changing those things might make a difference. Some birds find ground egg shells to be more attractive than oystershell, so I mix my eggshells about 50/50 with the oystershell. If your bird is a new layer, or just coming back into lay after winter, then it may work itself out with a little time. If she's been laying for a while, then I'd keep an eye on her.

 

[Dreammaker]

I would not be concerned about a few shell-less eggs. Are these young birds? Most likely one of your birds is having a little difficulty with her egg laying machinery, not necessarily a calcium deficit. Most of the time they go back to normal within a short time. As long as the other hens are laying with good shells, and the birds look healthy, it sounds like your feeding program is fine.

If you put additives in your water, be sure to offer fresh water without additives as well - it can cut down water intake if a bird does not like the additives. Most adult, healthy birds with a good diet do not need supplemental electrolytes. And they get plenty of probiotics by ingesting fecal material as they scratch and peck.

Thank you for your response. Yes, they're fairly young--about 10-11 months old. Plus, they're all going crazy with the laying. I'm getting a lot of eggs since spring has sprung!

I just found 2 more questionable eggs this morning: One appeared to be laid last night (under roosting bar) and was soft-shelled again. The other was laid in the nesting box maybe 30 minutes ago and was semi-soft (it was hard, but I could just tell the shell was thinner than usual). I am hoping whatever issue is going on is resolving itself.

Thanks re: the tip about fresh water. I haven't been doing that, since they seem to enjoy when I do add stuff to it. They drink it at the same rate as plain water, but it might be good to back off on the ACV and Rooster Booster for a while and see if that makes a difference. I had no clue about probiotics in fecal matter! But it makes sense that they'd be constantly ingesting bacteria (not necessarily bad) that way.

I'll keep my eyes on things in the next few days. They're all pretty normal-looking. One did have a really dirty bum yesterday that I had to clean off (poop, not vent gleet). That's the only thing that's been out-of-the-norm recently.

 

[Dreammaker]

Too much ACV can inhibit calcium absorption, and certain birds that may be prone to issues can be more sensitive to it. I would discontinue the additives and just give them fresh water. Electrolites can be very valuable in the right circumstances, but giving them too much, or when not really needed can also not be good. Just changing those things might make a difference. Some birds find ground egg shells to be more attractive than oystershell, so I mix my eggshells about 50/50 with the oystershell. If your bird is a new layer, or just coming back into lay after winter, then it may work itself out with a little time. If she's been laying for a while, then I'd keep an eye on her.

Thanks! You must have been responding the same time I was, as I'm agreeing that I might need to back off the ACV/Rooster Booster powder. When we return from vacation, I might try adding egg shells to their diet (it's too much hassle to make my Dad do that on top of everything else). They do seem to eat the oyster shell, as the level in their dispenser is going down (not at an alarming rate though, just enough to show they eat it here and there). As I had mentioned in my recent post, the spring weather is making their ovaries go into overdrive! They've all laid for an average of 3-4 months, so not a very long time, but enough that I'd have assumed the "wonky pullet egg stage" would be over by now.

 

[Dreammaker]

A bowl of egg shell calcium or clean crushed eggshells available in the coop won't hurt. My eggs harden (and my hens are older) when I add fresh sand to the run

Hmm, interesting! I didn't think to add sand. We have dirt mixed with broken down pine pellets (they're great for soaking up really wet mud). I figured their substrate was fine, but we do have sand laying around (I add it to their dust bath) thay I could add. I figured sand would only help as grit, not necessarily as a calcium source.

 

[1muttsfan]

Sand is not a source of calcium, is is silicate which is not absorbed. If you are not offering granite grit as well as oyster shell that may be something to think about doing.

 

[Dreammaker]

Sand is not a source of calcium, is is silicate which is not absorbed. If you are not offering granite grit as well as oyster shell that may be something to think about doing.

Thank you. Yes, I had always thought sand was just a type of grit but figured it'd be easy enough to add a little to the run if a lack of grit was somehow contributing to the problem, as it appeared to help Gypsi. I did wonder about granite grit, as I've seen it in stores. I figured our somewhat sandy/rocky soil here in MA was enough. I'm sure we've got traces of granite in our soil, but hey, if it's cheap and easy enough to pick up some granite grit at the store...

Thanks for everyone's continued feedback here at BYC. Seriously, it's great to get advice and sanity checks when stuff like this happens!