Soft Shells - Treat Whole Flock?

[1muttsfan]

Depending on your soil and the typed of rock in it your birds may or may not be getting enough grit. For example, limestone is too soft, and some harder material may be too large or small to work well. In addition, if birds are kept mostly in a pen, usually the dirt has been amended with things like wood chips, straw, leaves, or over time the fiber in poop, and the stones may not be readily available. Granite grit is cheap and easy to feed on the side.

 

[Gypsi]

I just added sand to my run after I scooped off nasty dirt to make it clean. Why the old birds shells got firmer I do not know. I usually get a fairly gritty sand.

 

[Dreammaker]

Update: Found 3 more today--one in the same spot that I've been seeing most of them, one in the nesting box that was not quite soft-shelled but was broken, and another soft one that I discovered when turning the litter (I don't know where it had been laid; I sort of just happened upon it).

I'm leaving in 36 hours, so I'm hoping there's nothing really serious going on that needs immediate and ongoing attention. I'm going to spy on them tonight to see who's roosting in that "trouble spot." I'm guessing they generally roost in the same place every night. This might tell me who's laying these eggs.

 

[1muttsfan]

I would consider buying a new bag of feed. Just to be on the safe side until you can figure out what's going on. Rare but troublesome mixing issues can arise in feed manufacturing. If you do, try to get a bag from a different lot.

 

[Dreammaker]

I would consider buying a new bag of feed. Just to be on the safe side until you can figure out what's going on. Rare but troublesome mixing issues can arise in feed manufacturing. If you do, try to get a bag from a different lot.

Thank you! We actually just bought a new bag of the same feed yesterday, as we were running low. I had considered switching brands to see if that helps, but am holding off until we get back from vacation and can add it in gradually w/ their current feed over the course of a few days.

I hadn't considered the possibility of a manufacturing issue, but it doesn't hurt to start with a fresh bag. I'm not sure if it's from a different lot, but I assume so since we bought the new bag from a different store (I don't know if it makes a difference, but the previous bag was from Tractor Supply and the new bag was from a small, local feed store).

Do you think if this was an infectious disease, that I'd be seeing something else? My other birds are giving me their usual, normal eggs. No signs of respiratory distress that I can tell (no wheezing or sneezing), nothing weird with their eyes or nostrils. They're eating and drinking normally, pooping, and scratching around the run as usual.

 

[1muttsfan]

I still think that it's likely a laying problem with just one hen which may resolve itself with time, but since you are not going to be able to keep an eye on them yourself for a little while I would just switch to a different bag until you can get things figured out.

 

[Dreammaker]

Update: Still seeing soft shell eggs about every 2-3 days. I'm still not sure who's laying them and whether it's one or more girls. I did switch to a new bag of feed just recently, so we'll see if things improve in the next few days. Still leaving oyster shell out free-choice and added a container of granite grit free-choice as well. Haven't been giving them any treats.

Is there anything else I should do? Does anyone recommend getting a fecal float test to see if there could be internal parasites? Could that be what's causing this? I don't see any signs of lice/mites. Should I give a vitamin D supplement? They're out in the run, but it's in a fairly shady area. Could it be respiratory? If I end up needing to administer a de-wormer or some sort of antibiotic, do I treat the whole flock? Should I check the questionable birds for signs of being egg-bound? I don't see any limping, sulking, or otherwise "complaining." Is this possibly Egg Drop Syndrome, which from my limited research, has no cure and can last several weeks (this has happened for maybe 3-4 weeks, so the timing could make sense here)?

Really at a loss as to what's going on. Almost everything I read makes it seem like adding oyster shells is a quick fix, but it hasn't seemed to do anything for me. I'm getting very frustrated with broken eggs in the nesting box and soft eggs under the roost. I think a lot of the broken ones are getting stepped on and squished by some of the bigger girls when they go into the boxes, since the shells aren't strong enough. And, of course, it makes me wonder if anyone's been eating them. I don't even want to go there...

 

[Gypsi]

I would consider worming. I've seen a couple of soft shelled eggs from my pullets, and my older hens need wormed anyway, so I'm worming them all tonight. Pullets and young hens should not lay soft shelled eggs

 

[Dreammaker]

I would consider worming. I've seen a couple of soft shelled eggs from my pullets, and my older hens need wormed anyway, so I'm worming them all tonight. Pullets and young hens should not lay soft shelled eggs

Thanks. I have considered that too. I don't see any signs of worms in their poop, but I could be missing it. I know some people do preventive worming every year anyway. Is there any harm in doing so if they don't actually have worms?

I will say, I've seen fewer soft eggs lately. I was seeing multiple ones a day at its worst last week and now I've only seen them every few days. I do get 1 or 2 broken eggs (shell appears hard but perhaps slightly more delicate than I'd like) in the nesting boxes lately, but I'm not sure if that's because the boxes aren't padded enough and are breaking on the wood floor? I may try to devise a rollaway floor for them and add washable plastic pads for easy clean-up.

I do agree that this shouldn't be happening and they're established enough in laying that this shouldn't be a regular thing.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Is there anything else I should do? Does anyone recommend getting a fecal float test to see if there could be internal parasites? Could that be what's causing this? I don't see any signs of lice/mites. Should I give a vitamin D supplement? They're out in the run, but it's in a fairly shady area. Could it be respiratory? If I end up needing to administer a de-wormer or some sort of antibiotic, do I treat the whole flock? Should I check the questionable birds for signs of being egg-bound? I don't see any limping, sulking, or otherwise "complaining." Is this possibly Egg Drop Syndrome, which from my limited research, has no cure and can last several weeks (this has happened for maybe 3-4 weeks, so the timing could make sense here)?

I'm getting very frustrated with broken eggs in the nesting box and soft eggs under the roost.

If you can figure out which hen is laying the soft shelled egg, then yes, you can try giving her 1 Calcium Citrate tablet once a day for 5 days to see if it makes a difference.

You are finding soft shelled eggs under the roost, likely this is being expelled at night. Who is roosting in that spot? You may be able to narrow it down a bit and figure out which hen that way.
Is there a lot of drama between your hens?

Getting a fecal float is a good idea, this should tell you whether you need to worm or not. Generally the only worms you would see in the poop is Roundworms or Tapeworm Proglottids, but by that time, the bird(s) would have a fairly heavy load.