Two soft eggs in 30mins, same bird

[bokboklady]

hi all, your expert advice needed once again, earlier on as i went into the run one of my birds had just popped out a soft egg, membrain but no shell, she looked a bit bewildered, anyway i grabbed it as i didnt want her to have a peck at it, she was looking really droopy and miserable with her tail was up in the air, anyway as i approached her i saw her vent was wide open and she popped out another softie, which i quickly grapped again, after that she perked up again and started pecking about with the others, is this a one off do you think, could it happen again and is it unusual, ?,

 

[NCchicken]

This happened to me this morning. I posted pictures of it and asked the same thing. They told me that sometimes it happens, kinda like a fluke egg. But to also keep an eye on her and to make sure she has plenty of oyster shells available to eat as well. Here is my picture from this morning. The crumbs are their laying mash, not sure how some ended up on the "egg" though

Did your bird lay it in the nesting box? I found mine on the poop tray in the coop. I was also told that perhaps the chicken just knew this was a fluke egg and that's why she laid it on the poop board instead of in the nesting box. Sorry, I'm not more of a help.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It is kinda unusual but not unheard of. Sometimes a hen will lay two eggs in the same day or even back to back like yours. When they do, the shell gland does not have enough time to get a good calcium shell on them so they are soft like you found. Often, the first one is hard enough but the second is soft. It can vary. Extra calcium will not help. The shell gland cannot make enough shell to cover two eggs that close together no matter how much calcium they eat.

It is not a desirable condition for me. She will probably skip tomorrow since she laid two today. They were soft so you probably won't use them. Certainly can't sell them or hatch them. As you appear to be aware, they can break and train a chicken to become an egg eater.

Something is not right in her internal egg laying factory. It could be a one time thing. It could be genetic. One common cause is that they are getting too much protein. They have to have a certain amount of protein to replace that 2% to 3% of their body weight they lose every time they lay an egg. But too much can cause the yolks to be released into their factory system faster than they should. When this happens you can get double yolk eggs or, as you did, two in one day. To me, neither is good. You know why I think two eggs in one day is bad. I consider double yolkers bad too. It means they probably won't lay the next day. I'm not going to try to incubate a double yolk egg. The large eggs won't fit in an egg carton. The extra large eggs can cause prolapse or egg bound hens. Not that it happens all that often but hens have died from this.

If you are feeding a high protein diet, this might be a good sign you need to cut back. Otherwise, I suggest you just watch her. It may just be a one time fluke.

Good luck!

 

[turtlebird]

Last year I had a red star pullet that was egg-bound. Helped her out with a little olive oil in her vent. She laid two soft shelled eggs that night and has been a perfectly healthy daily reliable layer! Hope your story ends well

THat is interesting Ridgerunner....I never thought about the double yolker before. Makes sense that they would skip the next day! Thanks!

 

[bokboklady]

Quote:
hi, yes, i read your post this morning, how strange, the first soft egg was on the ground and she was just standing over it, and the second was while she was walking around, i think perhaps i am feeding them too much protien as mentioned in the next post, i do give a lot of treats, veg;s, corn etc, as well as their pellets, she seems ok now and has roosted with the others, but i will watch her, those were her first eggs by the way, so shes proberbly a little confused.

 

[seminolewind]

I would def. give her some oyster shell if you have it, and maybe a tums (?), maybe she needs calcium. I'm sure SpeckledHen can give you better advice since she's had some beloved hens die of internal laying. I know yours is laying, but maybe there's something in common.

I do find a shell-less egg now and then and it's usually on the ground under the perch or outside. Maybe 2-3 times a year for me.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If those are her first eggs, I would not worry about it. It is not at all unusual for the first eggs to be strange. It sometimes takes a while for their internal egg laying system to get the kinks worked out..