i have two ordinary laying chickens, free range but in a suburban backyard. One is perfectly healthy laying great eggs. the other is laying soft eggs, she has been doing this for a few weeks now some really bad others just thin shelled but still okay , a few days ago she laid a soft egg at the back door which she has never done before. and now she is laying two soft eggs a day, even when she was well she never layed two a day. She has golden yoke pellets, standard scratch and we got shell mix for her, but nothing has been any-better. she seems sick and quiet before she lays the egg then straight after she is fine again. please help we love our beautiful blossom (chicken) i plan to worm them tomorrow. but seeing as its only one that has the issue i dont think thats the issue. does anyone know what it could be? any information would be great. x
How old is your hen?
While soft shells sometimes indicate a lack of calcium, protein or other vitamins, this reason is generally not a problem in free range hens.
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Do they get table scraps? Table scraps shouldn't make up more than 25% of their food, but they do get lots of "goodies" from it.
Soft and weak shelled eggs can be common in older birds, especially those which are nearing the end of the laying period.
If an egg is retained in the shell gland for too long, the next ovulation takes place at the usual time but before the previous egg is laid. The second egg may spend less time than normal in the shell gland and the result is a soft or shell-less egg. In such cases, a hen may not lay an egg on one day, but may lay both a coated and a soft-shelled egg on the next.
Some strains of birds can lay more soft egg shells as they age. This is particularly true of hybrid breeds that have been optimised to give as many eggs as possible during their first year. Once these birds reach 4 or 5 years old, they may start to lay eggs with soft shells.
Hmm, have you tried Layers Pellets? They are meant to harden the shell of the egg.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com ~ Zarago ~
