Why did this happen!?

[BuffBuff123]

My chicken, who is 4 years old, wasn't eating one day. She was walking quite slowly, and then she stopped. She closed her eyes, like a chicken does when it's ill, and slowly, over about 5 mins, she leant backwards, her body was about 60 degrees down, then suddenly, a very very soft shelled egg came out. It bounced on the floor, and as soon as she layed it, she turned round, pecked it, and it burst like a balloon. Any ideas??? It hasn't happened before!!

 

[Kelsie2290]

Shelless eggs are pretty common with young pullets just starting to lay, or older hens getting back into laying, older hens in general, and they sometimes just happen with any age hen. We often don't see them because the chickens will eat them like in the case you saw. Sometimes they will lay them in the nest box and make a mess, though once in a while you will find them intact (btw, they hardboil nicely). The shelless eggs seem to take longer to lay since they don't go through the system right and the hens will stand around looking unhappy and contort themselves into various positions. If they just happen once in awhile they are usually nothing to worry about.

 

[Wyandottes7]

Hens lay soft shelled eggs every once in a while. It often ocurrs when a pullet begins laying, as there body isn't quite used to the egg laying process yet. Older hens are susceptible to it too, as they aren't quite as good as layers as before. Any age hen can lay soft shelled eggs though. It can also be caused by a calcium deficiency, but as long as you are providing layer feed or a form of calcium like crushed egg shell or oyster shell, this probably isn't the reason. I wouldn't worry about your hen; its a pretty normal ocurrence for a bird to lay a soft egg every once in a while.

 

[BantamLover21]

My chicken, who is 4 years old, wasn't eating one day. She was walking quite slowly, and then she stopped. She closed her eyes, like a chicken does when it's ill, and slowly, over about 5 mins, she leant backwards, her body was about 60 degrees down, then suddenly, a very very soft shelled egg came out. It bounced on the floor, and as soon as she layed it, she turned round, pecked it, and it burst like a balloon. Any ideas??? It hasn't happened before!!

Like everyone else has said, soft-shelled eggs are not that uncommon. Young pullets whose egg laying systems are not yet up to speed are the most common layers of soft-shelled eggs. Most of the time, this problem will be resolved once the pullets get older. And birds of any age may lay soft eggs if they have a calcium deficiency, are stressed out, or have some sort of internal problem. To prevent this, it is a good idea to provide oyster shell or ground egg shells to your hens in case they need more calcium.

Hens become more prone to laying soft-shelled eggs as they get older, too. This is because they lay larger eggs as they age, and since the same amount of shell is used for each egg (no matter its size), the shell is stretched more, becoming thin. Don't worry too much about your hen, as this is probably only a fluke in her egg laying system, not a sign of disease.

 

[casportpony]

Keep an eye on her, I just lost one due to a retained soft-shelled egg.

-Kathy