Help! 2.5 year old isa brown is laying a soft egg with no shell followed by laying a normal egg.

[Haynesherway]

I have recently taken on two 2.5 year old isa brown chickens. I was told they were both laying.
After having them for a little over a week I’ve collected about 6 or 7 viable eggs. Nearly daily I’ve been finding one egg with no shell that’s usually already been broken. I didn’t see who was laying the shell less egg so I assumed it was the one chicken I haven’t seen lay yet.
Much to my dismay this morning my neighbor caught one of the chickens laying an egg out in the middle of the yard and it’s the one that had been laying regularly since I got her. The egg that she laid in the yard was soft shell and the two of them collectively ate it immediately.
I would have never known about it if my neighbor didn’t catch them in the act. Soon as I went out there she got in the coop and laid another egg though but this one was normal. Initially when I seen the first shell less egg I started incorporating crushed oyster shells and kale, but that hasn’t seemed to help a bit. Does anyone know what might be happening to this poor girl? Could it still be a calcium deficiency like I thought or could it be something more?

 

[WingsysRoost]

It's hard to say without a more thorough examination (including, possibly, vet tests which are not always accessible). It could be something as simple as her not actually eating the provided supplements despite them being offered, her body not processing them properly, the supplements not being enough calcium, or similar reasons.

It could also be a genuine reproductive issue. Unfortunately, higher producing breeds can be prone to things such as reproductive cancers and infections. If you inspect the hen closely, this can sometimes reveal signs of something like this (typically drastic weight loss, a swollen or fluid-filled stomach, or color and shape changes in the comb - pale, drooping slightly when it usually stands upright, etc). This isn't always the case, especially if caught early, but it can give a good baseline to monitor progress.

The first thing to do would be to ensure that she is actually getting the calcium. Usually, I will do one of two things in this situation:

a) mix the supplement (as a powder) with some treat that they really like (scrambled eggs are good for this and will help boost protein which can also help with soft shells) and handfeed the bird​

b) mix the supplement (powder) with water to make a slurry and syringe feed the bird - when I did this for a hen that I was treating for yeast, I did water, raw egg to thicken the mix slightly, and the yeast treatment powder.​

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I'm not sure on the exact dosages for the calcium, so I will have to let someone else chime in on that.

Best of luck with your bird!

 

[RiDaGeckoGuy]

They do that some times when low on calcium

 

[Galaxy_rules]

This happened where my hens were only laying soft shelled eggs. However, this was very early in my poultry career. In my case, my chickens were only eating scratch (Corn,seeds,etc.), and it just wasn’t giving them enough calcium. We switched to feeding them laying pellets, and we havn’t had a soft egg since.