Why are our chickens laying soft-shelled eggs? Do they lack minerals? We give them lots of kitchen scraps(ie. bits of vegetables, cracker crumbs.) They also get grit and oyster shell given to them. Any ideas?

Sorry, I have exactly the same problem, and would love to know the answer.

hi Our pet chicken has started laying soft shelled eggs which break as soon as they are layed or mis-shapened ones with soft shells. She sometimes lays them in the garden on the path or in the run, but at times they are laid in her nest but still soft shelled. She has plenty of grit and the run of our fruit garden all day.Is there a reason for this?
Regards Jeanne Hardwick

Hallo
Can you say what breed your chicken is, and how old? Is it a modern hybrid? Our problem - very similar to yours - turned out (IT SEEMS!) to be due to the fact that modern breeds are designed (yes, designed) to be productive for just one year. Crazy but true. After the first moult, modern hybrids lose fertility and their eggs lose integrity.
Richard Meyer

Thank you Dr. Richard Meyer, it seems our chickens came from a farmer who said they were just ordinary common of garden ones, they were given to my husband who has poor health,for an interest for him, they were from the farmers layers sic. This doesn't seem to be the correct spelling.
It seems there is no reason to worry, I thought we were doing something wrong, they are very active and seem to enjoy life which is really all we strive for. Regards Jeanne Hardwick

On the brighter side, ours took a while but gradually got back to more or less normal allbeit considerably less production. It might take a few months but if they're just for ornamental value, nothing to worry about (except the eggs are horrible to pick up, aren't they?!). Good luck Richard meyer