Soft shell eggs!

Kyliet · **Joined:** Thu Dec 27, 2012 10:57 am **Posts:** 5

My one year old silkie has laid four soft shelled eggs over the past few weeks! She has access to shell grit, high protien food, the occasional fruit or veg treat and free ranges most of the time. She was wormed last month and lice treated two weeks ago. She still seems healthy but I'm concerned there maybe a problem. She is very friendly and has never gone broody unlike our other silkies. What can cause this issue?

ILoveMyChickies · **Posted:** Thu Dec 27, 2012 1:14 pm

Our Isa Brown has the tendency to every now and then lay tiny yolkless eggs every second day or so for about a week for no reason at all as she is healthy, has access to free ranging, shell grit and grains, vitamins and yummy greens/household scraps, so maybe your silkie is just having a funny egg laying moment like our Isa does occasionally?

Definitely watch her close though, I haven't much experience with sick chickens, hopefully it's nothing, just a temporary thing and that she starts laying normally again soon. :razz:

LennieFowl · **Joined:** Fri Dec 28, 2012 1:56 am **Posts:** 2

I get those say once a month but I do not think its the same han but hard to tell with 16 girls all looking the same I know its not their food as they get all the goodies they need and shell grits and lots of green veg and they get out 2 times a day so I guess its just the breed of the isa brown

parvo · **Joined:** Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:39 pm **Posts:** 735

It may have something to do with the fact that heavy egg laying breeds need high levels of minerals especially calcium and to a lesser extent magnesium, manganese and others.

In the commercial laying situation they are provided just laying pellets where the carefully calculated dietary components are always available.

In the free range situation at home, we tend to feed all these extras including greens & other treats.
Although many of these are beneficial in their own right, the end result is we end up diluting the calcium from their diet. Not all birds will partake of shellgrit all of the time.

Since these birds are literally walking a physiological tightrope with their dietary needs and the egg laying demands placed upon them, it is hardly surprising that they lay the odd soft shelled egg.

In fact, what is more surprising is that they don't run into more egg laying problems.

LennieFowl · **Joined:** Fri Dec 28, 2012 1:56 am **Posts:** 2

Very good points you make parvo makes you stop and think how they and why they are here in the first place

Kyliet · **Joined:** Thu Dec 27, 2012 10:57 am **Posts:** 5

I have spoke with a local breeder and have changed foods. A point made was with the grain food if the hen doesn't like the supplement part of the grain she may not be eating it. With the pellets I have purchased the nutrient, calcium and supplements are bound with in the pellets. Therefore as long as she is eating the pellets she is getting the nutrient, if that makes sense :-|

Time will tell, it's not an issue in the sense of egg production loss because that's not why I have these special little hens its more the risk of the egg erupting inside her.

Kyliet · **Joined:** Thu Dec 27, 2012 10:57 am **Posts:** 5

Yey, a normal hard egg was delivered by my white fluffy silkie!!! I'm very relieved

RedHen · **Joined:** Sat Dec 29, 2012 1:04 pm **Posts:** 2

I only use the pellets because they are supposed to be the complete food for laying hens are they not a complete food for them?

Kyliet · **Joined:** Thu Dec 27, 2012 10:57 am **Posts:** 5

Well I was using the grain and after speaking with the breeder changed to Laucke's mill micro pellets. They seem to have a little but more of everything as far as protien and nutrients and the ht s eat the while pellet hence they are getting all the nutrient. It seems to have worked or it can be coincidental.

RedHen · **Joined:** Sat Dec 29, 2012 1:04 pm **Posts:** 2

Most of the pellets say they are a complete feed but I am not sure that 100% I think adding free range to them helps

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