Soft Egg Shells

[Fred]

My chickens are around two years old now and one has started laying soft shelled eggs, when you touch them they burst.

Nothing has changed in their diet accommodation etc and it's only one that has started doing it.

If anyone has any ideas please let me know.

Fred.

[Steve]

Could be she's getting ready to go into a moult (when she'll stop laying), we had it on occasions but they do seem to get over it in a while if they don't go into a moult.

It's a PITA if they do it in multi-user nests and then the following on girl stomps all over them, making a pretty nasty mess over the rest of the clutch.

[Fred]

It's a PITA if they do it in multi-user nests and then the following on girl stomps all over them, making a pretty nasty mess over the rest of the clutch.

Yep that's what's happening, interesting didn't think of the moult.

Thanks.

[Steve]

Probably wouldn't hurt to get them some crushed oyster shell. Soft shells normally mean they're either out of calcium in their systems or they're using it for other reasons such as feather production I guess.

[Fred]

Probably wouldn't hurt to get them some crushed oyster shell.

Nope not that, they get plenty of oyster shell and have loads of room to peck around.

[Willow17]

My chickens are around two years old now and one has started laying soft shelled eggs, when you touch them they burst.

Nothing has changed in their diet accommodation etc and it's only one that has started doing it.

If anyone has any ideas please let me know.

Fred.

If your Chicken is still laying soft eggs, she is lacking in some form of mineral, what are you feeding them on? perhaps give them some granulé or see if there is something you can add to their water.

[Fred]

If your Chicken is still laying soft eggs, she is lacking in some form of mineral, what are you feeding them on? perhaps give them some granulé or see if there is something you can add to their water.

Don't think it was a mineral problem because the others are fine, they do get a splash of Cider Vinegar now and again in their water.

But I'm afraid it's too late she had to go in the end. We didn't want to, but she ended up just laying eggs without shells and it made such a mess the others stopped using the nest box. They also started picking on her, and she was looking very poorly.