4 soft shell eggs today ☹️

[cktap62]

We have 7 hens just over 20 weeks old. We started getting a couple eggs 3 weeks ago. We’ve been getting 1 or 2 soft shell eggs on the poop shelf for 10 days. Now today 4 soft shell on shelf. I am so discouraged! They have oyster shell in the run, they have a nice woodsy area to free range and dig around in, I dry egg shells and crush them up, I ferment their mash. I bought some Tums but unsure if I should give it to all of them, since I don’t know which chicks are doing it. Or am I being impatient and should just wait it out?

 

[RubelliteRose]

New pullets often take a couple of weeks before laying normal shelled eggs consistently. It sounds like they have more than enough access to calcium, so if I had to guess, your 4 soft shell eggs are from girls who were not laying before. Are you getting any normal eggs or are they all soft shelled?

 

[cktap62]

We are getting one or two hard shelled each day. I’m pretty sure 2 are not laying yet—combs not super red, not squatting. They are smaller/skinnier type. I know one is a cream legbar, not sure about the other.

 

[RubelliteRose]

They are beautiful
Since you are getting some hard shelled eggs, the soft shell eggs are probably just the other girls working the kinks out of their system. I would wait a week or so before giving them tums. It won't hurt them, but if they aren't calcium deficient, it won't help either. However, if anyone starts acting lethargic, puffy or looks like they are straining to lay an egg, give them a tums because it may mean that a soft shell egg broke internally. The shot of calcium from the tums will help them expel any egg material from their body. It is somewhat rare, but it does happen.
Also, if you have a camera, either security or trail-cam, you could put it in the coop to see who is laying what. I need to do this in my own coop too. I know one of my pullets laid a couple of soft shell eggs, but a different pullet than the one I suspected just laid her first hard shell egg yesterday.

 

[cktap62]

Thank you for your comments! We are going to try switching to Kalmbach feed instead of Sprout from Fleet Farm. We do have a camera in the coop but the soft ones are sitting there after I wake up! Plus not great quality camera. One hard and one soft so far today. When I scooped it out it felt halfway hard/soft. We were just so excited to finally get eggs! Will wait another week and see if it resolves.