[debih]

Morning all.

One of my chickens has started laying very soft eggs, sometimes they have a shell but it is very thin, sometimes they are soft shelled, sometimes no shell at all (just the inners on the floor) and twice now a sort of gloop with blood in it.

The chickens are about 18 months old and have layed without any problems until this - laying well all through the winter too.

About two months ago I started to let them out of their run most days.  Sometimes for the whole day, sometimes just for a few hours.  The run had become very bare and there was all this long grass and garden all around for them to explore, much of it very overgrown.  I had not done it before as there is no way of keeping them off our neighbours gardens - but a conversation with the neighbours, who all said not a problem, resulted in them coming out.

At around the same time we started to get one huge egg a day - as big as (if not bigger than) a duck egg.  Sometimes they were smooth, sometimes pale and sometimes the most revolting "wrinkled" shell on them.

Nothing else has changed - their food is still the same, their run and house are still the same, they still get cleaned out and changed exactly the same and I have treated for red mite (although there is no trace of any).  The only difference is that they are out and about a lot more.

Some areas that they are now exploring are very overgrown and some are cultivated.  They venture down to the yards every day and there they are scratting at moss.

They all seem happy and spend their days exploring the garden (and sitting on the window sill looking in to see what we are doing) - its just this one (I assume that it is just the one) chicken laying these horrible eggs.

[Casey76]

What breed are they?

If they are commercial hybrids (like ISAs/ Warrens or Lomann browns etc), then this could just be the start of the end of their laying cycle... there is a reason why farmers get rid of them at 18 months

The eggs you get with crinkly shells are still perfectly good to eat, even if they are not so nice to look at.

[debih]

We have two hybrids (brown ones) and I think it is one of those that are laying the soft eggs.

The other two are a Black Rock and a Bluebell.

We do eat the wrinkly eggs - they look horrible but, as you say, taste fine.

EIGHTEEN MONTHS???   I didn't realise that was all they laid for!!!!!  I thought they would last a good 3 years for laying, with it just slowing down after a while.

[PaulineM]

Hi
I am going through exactly the same as you at the moment, my two Isa's are the same age too.
I hoped that they would just slow down with egg production but it seems its not as simple as that.
I give all my girls a feed of layer pellets made up as a mash and add some cod liver oil and a teaspoon of limestone flour twice a week and it has helped a bit with the thin shelled eggs. We are saving most of the eggs now (they made be unsightly but we can still eat them).