We were out today. Came home, went to check on the Girls (and George)and collect eggs.
Found this.
Never EVER seen this in all my days (365 + )
of owning chickens.
THIS. IS. A. NEW. ONE.
A Soft Shelled Egg.
Reading up on 'soft shelled eggs'. How to 'treat' the Hen that laid. Could be a problem as there are NO outward signs of illness. I guess I'll treat the whole flock?
Any suggestions from the Chicken Wranglers that read my blog?
Anyone?
Bueller...Bueller... Bueller?
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Inquiring here: deborah jean's DANDELION HOUSE
Trust in the LORD with all thy heart; and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight. ~Proverbs 3:5-6
12 comments:
I've gotten some of these before and it is pretty shocking! Usually it's no cause for concern. From what I've read, it can be the result of your hen getting scared or startled and the egg moves down too quickly for all the shell calcium to be deposited on the outside, so it ends up rubbery. Mine lay one every once in a while, but if it is happening over and over again you may want to add calcium (oyster shells) to their feed, or just crush up their egg shells and feed back to them. Good luck!
That is strange looking. It doesn't look like it has a shell at all. Is it just contained in that membrane that lines the inside of eggs? Hope it is nothing serious with your hen (whichever one it was).
We see it from time to time but never consistently. We've never done anything to correct it other than to make sure we have good feed for them.
Hi there. Please don't treat anyone ...or everyone. It happens. I can be attritubed to low calcium, but if its a one-time thing, just keep an eye out to be sure its not happening regularly. As long as you have your chickens on a good quality layer feed and provide them oyster shell or crushed eggshell, free-choice, you're doing what you should be doing.
While soft-shelled eggs CAN be a sign of something more serious, they are normally just a glitch in production. You could try some Apple Cider Vinegar in their water - a good idea anyway - or add a bit of liquid calcium into their water if you are really concerned.
Come visit my blog for tons of information on raising your chickens naturally. http://fresh-eggs-daily.blogspot.com/2012/01/holistic-trinity-acv-garlic-and-de.html
Hi, I’m Anne from Life on the Funny Farm (http://annesfunnyfarm.blogspot.com), and I’m visiting from Farmgirl Friday.
I've never seen this either, though I've only had chickens about a year and a half. I'll be interested to see what you learned!
Anyway, it’s nice to “meet” you! Hope you can pop by my blog sometime to say hi…
My mother-in-law has gotten a few eggs like this, but I don't know is she did anything for them or gave them anything...sorry, I'm not much help :) Thank you for your kind reply - I appreciated what you had to say. Enjoy your weekend!
Hugs,
Stephanie
www.theenchantingrose.blogspot.com
I'm no help at all since I know nothing about it, but had to at least comment! And had a question. What was the inside like? I'm assuming the brown was showing through the membrane? See? I know nothing, but learn a lot coming by here. Ann
Actually... and I don't know why I didn't photo that too; but that brown was part of the pigment on the outside. When I punctured it... It was just like an egg on the inside, with a white and a yolk clearly distinct from each other. Only the outside was soft. Weird.
I'll be giving them calcium...crushed shells in their diet.
We have chickens but I've never seen this but we do give ours the crushed shells as well. Thanks for the visit! Blessings, Tammy
Hi Pat. Thanks for stopping by! We raised chickens when I was younger and then again when I became a big person :D We had Isa Browns, and red Rock Cross. As far as I know, it was a calcium thing. We would just "free feed" oyster shell. A frightened chicken can also lay a shell-less egg as far as I know. My mom was a walking encyclopedia for all things animal, but she is gone now so I can't ask her. I wouldn't be too concerned about it.
If you're not feeding them calcium, you might start. Aunt Bonnie would always brown egg shells on her wood stove and feed them to the chickens. It increased the strength of their egg shells. Some folks buy various forms of calcium but you've already got egg shells...right? -smile- No wood stove? You could brown them in an iron skillet.
I'm chicken ignorant. I had never even heard of a soft shelled egg. Interesting to see the trials and tribulations as well as the joys and interesting stories from about raising chickens, though. Good luck figuring it out!
Liz
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