I’ve recently purchased six hybrid pol pullets and have had them two weeks. So far I have only had soft shelled eggs and today one of them has one eye closed and cannot stand. What shall I do?

Firstly it is important to ring the supplier of these birds and tell them of the problem and also ask if they have been vaccinated.

This reader is an experienced poultry keeper but the usual questions to check are is the diet a 16% layers pellet? Have they grit? Is there any history of disease in the previous flock? Can the range?

The sick chicken will require veterinary treatment which will most likely include an antibiotic. Isolate and seek vet help. . Sometimes new hens can arrive carrying diseases (such as respiratory disease) and these can become obvious two or three weeks after arrival, often brought on by the stress of moving.

For soft shells there are a variety of causes including disease. Egg drop syndrome—EDS virus is a naturally occurring infection. However, it occurs in flocks of apparently healthy birds that are already in lay.

Signs Egg drop at peak or failure to peak. Drops may be of 5 to 50% and last for 3-4 weeks.

• Rough, thin or soft-shelled eggs and shell-less eggs.

• Loss of shell pigment.

• Poor internal quality.

• Lack of signs in the birds themselves.

But soft shelled eggs are quite common in POL hens and should resolve naturally if birds are fine. The issue in this case is are they linked to the sick bird?