Soft shell eggs then normal eggs then soft shell again

Pats Poultry

Chirping
Oct 17, 2016
119
13
81
Colorful Colorado
Hi All,
Never had chickens before and have done a ton of research on this site, Here is my question, I have 3 pullets, one of which has been laying a normal egg for about 3 weeks now. She has only missed 2 days of not producing an egg. My other two just started 3 days ago( they are 4 weeks younger than the first). I got a normal egg from one of the two younger ones on Friday. The next morning I found a softshell egg on the poop board, I assumed that it was from the other one of the two young ones but I did get a normal egg from the oldest one. On Sunday I found a really small soft shell egg on the poop board and my thoughts were that it came from the same pullet that laid the first one and again I received a good egg form the oldest. Yesterday I got three normal eggs all different colors so all of the pullets laid a normal egg other than size. They were all tad small but the oldest has always laid small eggs as she is a really small bird. So I thought all was good. I went out this morning with fresh water and food and to clean out the poop board and found three soft shell eggs on the board. Two small-ish ones and a really small one. I am at a loss. I feed them Nutrena layer feed with access to oyster shells. With that said I also give them veggies and a small hand full of scratch everyday. Even with the veggies and scratch they are eating their food as I fill a quart feeder every three days. Is this normal. I am thinking not enough calcium but I don't know what else to give them for that. Any help would be greatly appreciated
 
Two options come to mind; First is their systems are firing up and it can take time for some to regulate.

Second is stress, will often cause eggs to come out before the shell is applied, so either your hens are stressed by the new feelings and sensations, or they are stressed over something else, like not likening the nestboxes, or because it seems to happen at night, I wonder if you have a predator sniffing around or rodents coming out at night.

If it straightens out in a few weeks it's the first, if it continues it might be the second.
 
Thank you for the reply. I don't think it is predators as they are locked up at night and my dogs don't seem to be sniffing around the coop and run looking for a strange smell of a predator but you never know. I will keep a close eye on that. I hope it is the new sensation and all will be OK in a short while. So I take it that the veggies that I give them are not the problem?????
 
The vegetables wouldn't cause any troubles. Too many extras can affect daily protein intake, so don't feed too much, or feed a higher protein feed, with 18-22% protein. Soft shelled eggs often have nothing to do with calcium intake so I wouldn't worry about that.
 
That is good to know. I give the three of them about a cup full of veggies a day. Lettuce, corn, peas etc and an occasional dandelion which they go nuts over. I hope that is not to much. If I may ask what feed has that high of protein that is good for our pullets. Thank you so much for the advise
 
I personally either continue to feed a non medicated grower year round to my bantams because it's a crumble, or I switch my bigger breeds to an all flock because it's a pellet either type of feed is fine to be fed year round.

I put out a separate bowl of oyster shells when they are near the point of lay for the extra calcium needs. I prefer them to self regulate their calcium instead of everyone getting the same amount.

My birds have been living longer since, so I won't ever use a layer ration again, which has lower protein and more calcium and is meant to be fed as the sole ration to actively laying hens.

I like to give out extra stuff, so the extra protein is a nice daily cushion so my birds don't become deficient in protein which can lead to feather picking, egg eating and cannibalism. Things I've seen in my birds years ago before I had any clue to what I was doing.
 
That is awesome. I will get rid of the layer feed and off to the store for a bag of all flock. This is great. Just a FYI, I did not think that I would get any eggs today since I had three soft shell ones on the poop board this morning but I got an egg from the oldest pullet today. I am learning by the minute
 
Congratulations. My thoughts are some hens feel cramps, and others feel like they just have a big poop coming when everything starts up and will push eggs out sooner than they should. They should straighten out soon, and give you normal eggs.
 
Just an update. All three pullets have started to lay normal eggs. This was the second day that all three had hard shell eggs. one of the EE'ers has a smaller egg but I think all in good time they will get bigger. No more worries
 

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