As a hen ages, the whites (or albumen) in their eggs naturally gets thinner, and since it’s more difficult for the shell to encase a watery substance, the shell can end up with bumps and ridges. Heat stress can also cause a wrinkled egg surface, as can poor overall nutrition, or a defective shell gland.
If the white of an egg (or Albumen as it is correctly known) is watery, it is harder for a shell to be built correctly around it and can cause an egg shell to be wrinkled or have ripples on it. As hens get older, the whites in their eggs will get thinner.
One of the most frequent causes of laying thin shell or soft eggs is a diet low in calcium. While most quality layer feeds have extra calcium in them, you should still offer a supplement just to make sure your hens get enough. If your laying chickens aren’t eating enough calcium, soft eggs aren’t your only concern.
Why do chickens continuously lay unfertilized eggs?
In most other animal species, including the prolific rabbit, eggs are only laid once a male fertilizes them. However, the chicken can lay an egg almost every day whether there is a rooster present or not. Chickens lay unfertilized eggs because their instinct is to collect a clutch of them to prepare for nesting and raising a peep of chicks.
‘Those higher in sugar, like cake and biscuits, offer few nutritional benefits and are less filling than fibre-rich carbohydrates such as pulses and wholegrains, which also contain minerals and vitamins essential for health.’.
What are the 5 best chicken feeds for laying eggs?
Chickens enjoy all kinds of greens including grasses, leaves, plants etc. Fresh greens, tender grass clippings, table scraps, vegetables etc. are effective greens for your laying hens. Garlic or onions are strongly flavored vegetables. Avoid feeding your laying hens this types of vegetables because the flavor may transfer to their eggs.