Soft Shelled or "Rubber" Eggs - Causes and Prevention

   Here's a great post from Fresh Eggs Daily on why some eggs your hens lay, may come out with a soft shell, while others maybe not even a shell at all - Only just the membrane. 

 The other day when we were in the barn, one of our hens laid an egg without the shell, just the membrane. We thought it was the weirdest thing, but I guess it was just because she wasn't getting enough calcium?  

The longer you raise chickens, the more chance that eventually you'll collect some odd-looking eggs on occasion. Most times, they are nothing to worry about - just a glitch in production. One of the more common 'glitches' is a soft-shelled or 'rubber' egg, basically an egg laid without a shell or with a very soft shell.

Soft-shelled eggs look and feel like water balloons, with the yolk and white covered only by a membrane, not the hard shell. A hen needs calcium to form the shell around each egg, and a diet that consists of good-quality layer feed plus free-choice crushed eggshell or oyster shell normally is sufficient to ensure nice hard shells. So what causes them?

Causes: 

1) Young layers often lay soft-shelled eggs when they are first getting started. This should stop once their reproductive systems mature and fully develop.

2) Stress can cause a hen to lay her egg prematurely without the shell. Being chased by children, or harassed by dogs or other predators can be the cause of great stress and fright.

3) Older hens often lay thin-shelled eggs since the same amount of shell must encompass a much larger amount of yolk/white than when she was younger (eggs generally get larger as a hen ages).

4) A Calcium deficiency can result in soft-shelled eggs, so be sure you provide the added calcium supplement in the form of egg- or oyster shell.

5) A Vitamin D deficiency can also result in eggs with soft shells, so allowing your chickens time outdoors year round is important.

6) Far less common, soft-shelled eggs can be a symptom of such diseases as Newcastle disease or infectious bronchitis. If you are regularly seeing soft-shelled eggs, a vet should be consulted if you have ruled out all other causes.

Prevention:

1) Crushed eggshell or oyster shell should always be made available to your flock on a free-choice basis, not mixed into their feed. This way each hen can eat as much or as little as she needs.  Different hens absorb calcium differently, and depending on how good a layer she is, one hen may just need more than another.

2) Avoid feeding spinach, as well as beet greens, chards and citrus fruits, which can interfere with calcium absorption. If soft-shelled eggs are a problem, try cutting those treats out completely. If you do feed them in the future, add some apple cider vinegar to their water (1 Tablespoon of ACV per gallon of water) which helps increase calcium absorption rates.

3) Add some herbs and other greens rich in calcium to their diet. These include: alfalfa, burdock root, chamomile, chickweed, clover, dandelion greens, horsetail, lambs quarter, mustard greens, nettle, parsley, peppermint, raspberry leaf, rose hips and watercress.

4) In severe cases, some liquid calcium can be added to your flock's water as an added calcium boost.

Sources: www.mountainroseherbs.com as written by Mary Janes Farm magazine Aug-Sept 2013
Your Chickens magazine, January 2014

Take a Peek at my 'Rubber" Duck Egg  Video