[megmeg]

We have had chickens for nearly a year now and in the last couple of months our chickens (dont think its all of them) have been laying a soft egg, been finding the burst egg in there hutch.
We only have 4 chickens, all been fed on Corn, pellets, the ocationall bread and have left a dish of calcium shells out for them.
Yet they still seem to be laying the soft egg...what am not doing right?? 

[poultrygeist]

Hi megmeg. Welcome 

The usual reccomendation, and one which I follow, is to give them access to layers pellets at all times because these have the correct formulation of everything they need and corn, etc very occasionally. If they've got access to extra calcium, it would suggest that they're getting enough of that though.

Soft eggs can be caused by a fright or stress so it may be that one or more are being bullied perhaps ?
Are there signs of pecking on any of them ?

It can also be that one of them has a physical problem and cannot produce shells properly.

If there are any other 'odd' signs we may be able to come up with something. But the main thing is to make sure they are getting their pellets and calcium and leave out the corn and other treats as much as you can.

Do they get access to any greens at all, or grass ?

Rob

[smiler43]

I had problems with soft eggs last year on and off.  I put limestone flour in the feed, can get this at any horsey shops.  I laid off the corn and just fed layers pellets.  Also lots of grit and shell for them to get at, in fact we have 4 pots around the run.  When we treated them to corn again we got soft eggs again so stopped it altogether.

[andreadon]

i agree with the above advice, but as an extra tid-bit - a lot of members seem to be having this problem at the moment (or at least over the past couple of months), so my guess is that it has a lot to do with the fact it's winter and they're putting more energy into keeping warm.
and the days aren't long enough for them to lay properly.  some breeds will stop laying altogether over winter because of the hours of daylight, and it would seem that hybrids just lay soft eggs.

follow the above advice, but keep any eye on them and see if it gets bette ras the nights draw out.

[wafflycat]

My girls, ex-batts, have not laid a soft-shelled egg in the year I've had them. As well as feeding them a mix which includes layers' mash or pellets, they have access to grit at all times. I aslo save  their eggshells - wash them out - bake them in a hot oven for 30mins, and crush them into a fine powder which gets sprinkled on to their food. My girls have good strong shells on their eggs.

[smiler43]

Mine are hybrids and have laid everyday all winter.  I know someone though that has 20+ chickens and for a month or so only had a few eggs!

[wafflycat]

Mine are hybrids and have laid everyday all winter.  I know someone though that has 20+ chickens and for a month or so only had a few eggs!

My two ex-batts - this was their first winter out of battery conditions - both continued to lay until well into mid-December, although frequency of laying was reduced. One then went into a full moult & didn't lay again until February. The other continued to lay at reduced frequency, only havign a single week without laying anything at all. Now both are back into full swing. I was actually pleased to see the reduced frequency of laying from them - and the full moult, as it showed that despite their horrible beginnings, they have gone on to develop normal chicken behaviour - and that is lovely to see.