STILL having issues with my Ameracauna's eggs 😤

[HeatherKellyB]

PERFECT!!! THANK YOU!

You're welcome! Please keep us updated with your bird. Here's hoping she'll be laying some beautiful blue perfectly shelled eggs soon!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

A couple months back I posted about my new hen's eggs being broken by the other hens...her eggs were light blue and had a fairly decent shell. Over time, the shells became thinner, and I watched one break on it's way out. I've been giving her calcium citrate 630mg pretty much every day. She has free access to crushed oyster shell and is on Purina Late a feed just like the rest of my flock. (No other hen has an egg issue)
For the last week, I've not seen any evidence of her laying an egg at all. Just now I watched her lay an egg and I'm dumbfounded. It does not have a hard outer shell at all. When held up to light it has a yolk, and it's a normal size. With all the prescribed "treatments" for soft shells, you'd think we would be moving forward, not backward!
Is she just a "dud" at laying viable eggs?!?! She's about a year old. Please, anyone, any OTHER suggestions?!?

Can you get some photos of the eggs? No photos in the other thread either.

If you have been giving extra calcium for a month, then I would stop that. Calcium is likely not the issue and too much of a "good thing" can be bad.
She may have a defective shell gland - it's hard to know.
Look her over for lice/mites and consider getting a fecal float to rule out internal parasites as a possible problem.

@Tonyroo brings up a good point about stress. Observe the flock. Stress can cause all sorts of issues.

I'll be honest, I have not read all 4 pages of this current thread so you may have replied to some things I have suggested.


Here's your other thread - that's a long time giving extra calcium.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/breaking-my-blue-eggs-those-haters.1448543/

 

[aart]

So yes, this hen is weird, has been weird since day one, and I got her becuz I wanted a blue egg in my egg basket.

It maybe why she was available to a new home.

 

[Kakaruk]

I know I shared this before, but if she is just genetically disposed to not making good eggs, then she just won't make good eggs. I know that sounds like a downer and not a 'fixed' solution but it makes sense to me at least. Every chicken is different, every hen is different.

Maybe you can keep her as a 'friend' in the flock?

 

[wf1992]

I know I shared this before, but if she is just genetically disposed to not making good eggs, then she just won't make good eggs. I know that sounds like a downer and not a 'fixed' solution but it makes sense to me at least. Every chicken is different, every hen is different.

Maybe you can keep her as a 'friend' in the flock?

Wouldn't this kind of "friend", who guarantees a broken egg every couple days, increase the chances of egg-eating?

I'm actually having the same problem - a new layer (also an ameraucana!) who produces nothing but softies. Often from the roost; occasionally in a nest, which then messes up all the other eggs. How long before one gives up and accepts this is genetic and never going to change??

 

[Kakaruk]

Hi, yes, I happened to be on here when your comment just came through. I would cull the hen out of the flock actually. I was just trying to be kind. So many posters on this string were suggesting solutions. I think it's genetic. I don't know much about this group of birds called 'Olive eggers' but from what I gather they are not pure breeds. Of the four I have each one is different in coloring, size, and shape and lays eggs of varying shades. I think they are often sold as Ameracaunas but they are mixed breed. Three of mine I bought under that title from a hatchery and they are definitely not pure.

Maybe the soft-shell layers turn out in 1-2% of the group and ya'll just happened to get one of those. I would cull it out, try to find a new home for that girl, or maybe make some enchilladas or pot pie. I know not everybody would approach it that way.

 

[wf1992]

This is one of 6 my broody hatched last summer, and I'm going to have to separate her from her identical twin to find out which one it is. Ugh. I wish I'd figured this out before I sold her other 2 sisters in my attempt to be good and not let chicken math take over

 

[Kakaruk]

Chicken math always seems to take over..........

I currently have 7 viable eggs in my incubator and I think I only need 2-3 to add to my flock. I am going to have to find homes for them or chopping block for roosters.

 

[CheerioTheBuffRooster]

Huh, the same thing happened with my amerucana, she’s pretty small and she lays only about once a week, but she runs around and stuff and seems pretty fine and happy

 

[wf1992]

I never even considered it a possibility that a young, healthy chicken couldn't produce a shell! The hybrid layers after a couple years, sure, but right from the beginning? Always a new chicken mystery to I guess.

I can't tell these twins apart, so it's definitely not affecting her behaviour. In recent days I'm not even seeing the thin, powdery 'shell', just membrane. I wonder how long this can go on before one of these eggs breaks inside her...