Question about egg laying

[Sylviaanne]

I went out to gather eggs and let the chickens out to forage, there were 3 sitting in nests so I had to come back a little later. When I went back I was just in time to see one lay an egg. Now, are eggs soft when first laid?

I saw my red hen check the eggs under her and she grabbed the "skin" off the one she just laid and took off with it. The yolk and white was left in the nest next to the other egg. The "skin" just peeled or popped right off.

 

[aart]

Instead of saying 'up the calcium'.....

....let's ask:

What are you feeding and do you provide oyster shell/crushed chicken egg shell in a separate container from the feed?

and...... How old are your chickens?

 

[aart]

I free feed a 20% protein flock raiser crumble to everyone from chicks to oldest rooster and provide oyster shell and crushed chicken egg shell separately for the layers.
The higher protein is diluted by scratch and other food scraps I like to give.

Sometimes a hen will just have a hiccup in the old egg machine.....especially if there's been a major stress, like a predator attack.

Or she could be older than you think and her machine is just breaking down, especially if she's a production breed bird.

 

[BayBay Peepers]

Sometimes in the beginning eggs can be soft. Add some oyster shell free choice, it has extra calcium that will help keep the shells stronger. To make an egg they deplete quite a bit of calcium from their bodies and need a way to replenish it.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I went out to gather eggs and let the chickens out to forage, there were 3 sitting in nests so I had to come back a little later. When I went back I was just in time to see one lay an egg. Now, are eggs soft when first laid?

I saw my red hen check the eggs under her and she grabbed the "skin" off the one she just laid and took off with it. The yolk and white was left in the nest next to the other egg. The "skin" just peeled or popped right off.

Depends on what you are aksing - if you are asking if eggs are laid soft and harden as they are exposed to air, no. Complete eggs are laid with the hard shell in place. If you are asking if the first eggs for a new layer are sometimes laid without an outer shell (or a misformed shell), then yes. Sounds like your girl's "shelling" station on the assembly line is not quite up and running just right yet so you got an egg with membrane, white and yolk.

 

[abserbean]

Sometimes in the beginning eggs can be soft. Add some oyster shell free choice, it has extra calcium that will help keep the shells stronger. To make an egg they deplete quite a bit of calcium from their bodies and need a way to replenish it.

X2
She laid a shell less egg, they should be hard as soon as they come out. Up her calcium, and she should straighten out.

 

[Sylviaanne]

We are feeding layer crumbles and she's about 2 years old. We bought her last year at a feed store and they said she was about a year old but I remember something: She was molting. Doesn't that mean she was over a year old? No, we haven't had trouble with soft eggs before but I have found one on the porch where it looked like someone had an accident and it was a soft shelled egg. I was afraid to pick it up, that it would squish so I went in to get something to roll it into and when I got back it was gone.

if you are asking if eggs are laid soft and harden as they are exposed to air, no. Yes, this is what I was asking but I saw the color of the "shell" and it was brown, not white like a membrane.

 

[abserbean]

aart is right, not always so straight forward, should have asked for more info! Shell less eggs can also come from new layers just getting started, older hens, hens with a problem in the shell gland, recent stress (predator attack, moved the coop, etc), and many other reasons that I probably don't know about.

 

[abserbean]

Molts can happen at different ages, I have some two year old hens that have never had a full blown molt, a 13 week old that is currently having a heavy juvenile molt, and one who molts once a year like clockwork. Are you providing extra calcium free choice? And if the covering was brown, it could be a soft shelled egg instead of a shell less eggs, slightly different things but I think about the same causes. Is she currently molting or any other signs of ill health?

 

[Sylviaanne]

aart is right, not always so straight forward, should have asked for more info! Shell less eggs can also come from new layers just getting started, older hens, hens with a problem in the shell gland, recent stress (predator attack, moved the coop, etc), and many other reasons that I probably don't know about.

Well, she has been laying just fine but we have also just been going through some rough times with a predator raccoon.