Soft shell eggs

kegsy

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Hi everyone

Sorry if this is a bit of a recycled topic but I am still unsure even after sifting through previous posts!

I got 4 hens about 3 weeks ago, 2 hybrid POL (22 weeks old) and 2 cream legbar pullets.

One of the hybrids has never seemed to settle in and I suspect is laying soft shell eggs (I have found these frequently around the enclosure - the other hybrid is laying regularly) . She has lost weight, and sometimes withdraws from the group and sometimes a little cranky with the pullets - pecking them if they come too close!

She goes off her food every other day or so, and sometimes hunches over and seems very quiet. Her comb flops over and sometimes seems a little pale but today it is a deeper red. When they free range out of the enclosure she eats plenty of grass, and enjoys the treats of pasta and grapes I give them once or twice during the week. She scratched out a dust bath area and sometimes I have found her just sitting in it.

Any tips or advice is greatly appreciated - hubby to be is a farmer and doesn't see the justification in taking a cheap chook to the vet! I disagree and she has really grown on me - she is the tamest of them all.
 
could she possibly be a bit broody? some poultry spice may give her a bit of a boost.
 
She may just be an unthrifty type chicken whose problems went un-noticed in a big bunch before she came to you.

Your intended is obviously a practical man who I agree with as I'm not a keeper of 'pet' chickens.
 
she has perked up a little since I last posted - haven't come across any soft shells and found a mini egg so hopefully that was hers!

And Chuck, I grudgingly to agree with you and hubby to be in terms of practicality - I'm just going to have to give her a bit more time and then decide what we need to next!

Thanks both of you for replying!
 
Sometimes it can take them a bit longer to get into the swing of egg-laying especially if it's their 1st laying season or they've been moved. Softies can take some pushing out so the hen can feel kind of lethargic & under the weather til the egg passes (hence the irritability with the others).

Hopefully the mini egg was hers & her egg-laying "equipment" is finally settling.
 
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