Healthy mature eggs which any healthy layers should lay. Photo: Courtesy.

For an egg to be fertilized or contain both male and female genetic material that is usually necessary to create an embryo a hen must mate with a rooster. 

If an egg does not contain the roosters’ genetic material it becomes unfertilized or immature.

Causes

The laying of soft-shelled eggs or rubber eggs which usually have a soft and pliable membrane is usually caused by stress experienced by chicken, immature or defective shell gland, nutritional deficiency, a glitch in the uterus and is common in new layers.

An egg becomes shell-less when no calcium has been laid around the York and albumen to form the hard shell which makes it lose shape or be immature.

It is mainly usually caused by calcium, phosphorus and Vitamin D nutrients deficiency notes the-chicken-chick.com

Low calcium is one of the most popular reasons your chickens might be laid without a shell.

This implies the chicken is low in calcium deposit thus not able to lay eggs with shells adds guidefreak.com

Vitamin D deficiency also makes hens not make use of the calcium in the diet.

Low phosphorus causes shell-less eggs while excess phosphorus leads to eggs with thin shells.

High temperatures can also cause thin-shelled eggs due to the hen’s decreased ability to store calcium in hot weather.

Too much salt in water also causes thin shells.

Solutions

The remedy to thin or shell-less eggs is to supplement the hen’s diet with calcium. Example of calcium sources is an oyster shell and bone meal states guidefreak.com

A farmer should ensure the layers get adequate Vitamin D.

Chicken feed formula should be checked to ensure the birds get the right amount of phosphorus.

Poultry farmers are advised to seek veterinary advice from your local veterinarian before applying any treatment or vaccine.

Enclosed chicken in cages have great uniformity in the shell and York colour compared with free-range hens which have to cope with different extremes such as extreme temperatures, stress from predator attacks or cocks and running around in the backyards or in the open highlights talkinghens.com

The egg’s shell construction, which happens in the Uterus or Shell Gland, takes a whopping 20 of the 25-hour egg production process adds talkinghens.com

A farmer should ensure that hens with an egg-laying the expectation is fed with a high quality balanced diet with all the necessary nutrients such as calcium to harden the shells and maintain good health.

Layers should also get the right temperatures and lighting that is conducive to eggs laying not too hot and the hen should be provided with adequate clean water.

The layers should also get the minimum disturbance as possible such as reduced pecking, vaccination against diseases and deworming on time adds talkinghens.com

 


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