[sorrel]

One of my buff orps, lays eggs with soft squashy shells (a bit like the texture of those executive stress ball things)

Anyway i am wondering if this if genetic as she always laid these kind of eggs, they are never laid in a nest box either - just sort of dropped as if she doesnt realise one's coming. other than this she is happy healthy and looks amazing!

 - I do have 19 other chickens (all fed on organic, hexane free layers pellets / greens / corn / grain etc) and they all lay beautiful eggs.  

PS they always have access to plenty of poultry grit etc.

Any advice or as anyone else come across this?

[muntjac]

i think she may have egg drop syndrome EDS .this affects hens laying eggs with no colour in coloured eggs thin shells and no shell at all .this a disease that can be passed onto other hens .sorry to say there is no treatment but culling  

[sorrel]

Oh dear!

How fast would EDS spread to the other chickens? I am really worried now because i just assumed it was genetic and never bothered to much as she (and all the others ) appeared so healthy

 the one laying soft eggs is  about 14 months old and has never been a good layer and regularly laid soft eggs - although for the last six weeks or so she has only laid eggs without a shell and only laid about once a week.

[muntjac]

id remove her from the coop and keep her away from the rest .this isnt a diagnosis just an idea as to why she is doing this .for a complete testing she needs a vet to check her over with smear tests etc ,,hope this helps  

[sorrel]

thanks for your help - will do as you advise and let you know what happens

[muntjac]

oks hopes u get it sorted  

[Champ15]

I have a small 14 ounce Japanese Bantam Hen that is a house pet.  She will be 2 years old Nov. 11.  She began laying when she was 5 months old, and all was well until a few months ago when she began laying soft shelled eggs.  We had gotten a different kind of laying crumbles, so we purchased the kind we had been feeding, but she continued to lay soft shelled eggs.  We also feed her greens, and treats of meal worms, canned crickets, and she loves chedar cheese.  We have a pen in our yard for her so she can be out in the sunshine for several hours a day.  On the 3rd of July, she passed an egg that had broken inside her, and only part of the shell came out.  She acted droopy, so on the 4th, we took her to a Vet, who gave her a thorough exam, including xrays, gave her fluids, a calcium shot, and put her on anti biotics orally.  The followiing day she passed the rest of the shell, and seemed better.  However, the soft shelled eggs continued.

When she repeated the laying of an egg that broke inside her a month ago, I took her to an Avian Vet, and he said to give her liquid calcium orally daily.  Soft shelled eggs continued, and today again another egg broke inside her.  Does anyone have any suggestions.  She gets lay crumbles, liquid calcium with Vitamin D3, and we coat the crickets and meal worms that she eats with powdered calcium with Vitamin D3 that is made for reptiles.  She should be getting plenty of calcium.  I know that there are hormone shots to prevent hens from laying, and they can do hysterectomies, but the Vets all agree that these things could endanger her life.  It may seem silly to have a pet chicken, but we love Little Bit, and do not want to endanger her life.  Do you know if it is life threatening for her to go on laying these soft shelled eggs.  Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.  We have even gotten supplements to mix in the feed from McMurray Chicken Hatchery, to no avail.

[muntjac]

you do not mention if she is getting any oyster shell in her diet .if not you should purchase some oestra
also remember that to much of one thing can be worse than not enough .. soft egg shells bunged up can be broken and cause death through septicemia and other ills

forget the cheese as well its a dairy product with fats in it this can add to problems , try a little cod liver oil in her feed and if she is on layers pellest  wean her off them onto whole seed feed barley wheat,crushed maize etc over the next week .dandelions have medicinal values so feed her a few every other day , also the treats she is getting are very high in protien having eaten them myself so knock them out for now until the problem resolves itself
and forget all the supplements  as i feel the problem is to much love and not enough normal chicken    sorry to make that sound harsh but its my thinking   .. oh and a great welcome to the site  

[Champ15]

Thank you for your prompt reply muntjac.  Yes, she does get oyster shell.  She also gets dandelion.  Vets at U.C. Davis Veterinary School of Medicine told me to be sure that she does not get Spinach or Chard, but other greens are fine.

I have allowed her to have the cheese, as various web sites have said it is a good source of calcium.

Also, all of the Vets I have talked to said that you cannot give too much calcium, as they will excrete any excess that they do not require.  

I will see if I can find a source for the mixture of feed that you suggest.  

She has eaten the same foods all her life, and did not have a problem until we changed the lay crumbles to another brand a few months ago.  Once she started the problem, we switched right back, but to no avail.

Thanks again for your suggestions.

[muntjac]

the spinach and chard is because its full of iron  . which i may add i grow lots of and feed my birds add lib during winter  as for the to much calcium im sorry to disagree with a vet but its something i and my bird keeping relatives and friends have known for years and had bad birds as a result ,
go for the full seed diet and hopefully it will correct it .once again matey welcome to the gang