What To Do When Your Chicken Lay Soft Eggs

Laying chickens are expected to start lying after about 18 weeks with good management practices. Upon laying, there are several production issues that may occur; some of which are soft-shell eggs, very small eggs (peewee eggs), bloody egg production, to mention a few.

Majority of these problems can be prevented and treated with proper and balanced nutrition, unless, they can cause a significant drop in egg production and even death of the hen in severe cases. In detail, we will look into the causes, solutions, and prevention of soft-shelled eggs in laying hens.

Causes

When you see one or two soft-shelled eggs in your flock, it means your hen are not getting enough calcium in their diet, it could also be as a result of an imbalance in the calcium and phosphorus ration in the feed.

Calcium and phosphorus work hand-in-hand to fortify the eggshells, giving the eggs stronger shells. The recommended ratio of calcium to phosphorus in layer feed is 3:1; when there is an imbalance, it causes a deficiency and it is usually expressed with signs like soft eggshells, leg disorders, and bone malformations in layers.

Solutions

The main solution to soft eggshells is supplementation of calcium in the diet. Sources of calcium like crushed eggshells can be sprinkled into the feed to increase the calcium and phosphorus level of the feed.

You may wonder why crushed eggshells are added to the layer feed, your worries are valid. Eggshell is rich in calcium and phosphorus and it is the best and cheapest alternative to commercial calcium supplements. Also, laying hens will readily eat eggshells than other calcium supplements.

Calcium supplementation in layer feed will help strengthen the eggshells and aid egg formation, thus, improving the quality of the eggs produced.

List of Calcium Supplements

Crushed eggshells are the common and readily available supplement poultry farmers use to increase the supply of calcium to laying hens, however, there are other natural calcium supplements that can be used instead of eggshells, they are:

1. Oyster shells
2. Snail shells
3. Diatomaceous earth

The aforementioned calcium supplements are natural and contain high concentrations of calcium and phosphorus that can be easily utilized by laying hens.

These calcium supplements are crushed and sprinkled into the laying hens’ feeds. Crushing eggshells, snail shells, and oyster shells helps reduce the particle size to improve their intakes in feeds and increase the surface areas for actions of the digestive enzymes during digestion and absorption of nutrients in the small intestine.

How To Prevent Soft Eggshells in Laying Hens

• Feeding laying hens with quality layer diet from reputable feed manufacturers.
• Providing mineral supplements regularly to help correct and eliminate any mineral deficiency like calcium.
• Regular monitoring of the flock can help detect nutrient deficiencies quickly and treatment can commence quickly to prevent economic loss.
• Ensure the particle size of the feeds is small but not powdery. This will increase the surface area of the ingredients for better utilization and digestion by the digestive enzymes in the small intestine.

Lastly, soft eggs in laying hens is a sign of calcium deficiency in the layer diet and this can be treated and prevent by providing calcium supplements. Crushed eggshell is the most used calcium supplements, other alternatives are crushed oyster shells, crushed snail shell, and diatomaceous earth.