A soft shelled egg I found in the coop this morning (pic)

[M To The Maxx]

I went out to open the coop door to see if there was any bloody poop and under the roost I saw a really soft shelled egg. Our BCM stepped on it an it broke easily. I cleaned up the yolk and I took a pic of the egg. Should I be worried?

The thing that is sticking right out at the far right is just part of the underside of the egg. It just stuck straight out like that when she stepped on it. They have been fed layena, flock raiser, scratch, yogurt and scrambled eggs for the last couple of days. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

[M To The Maxx]

Anyone?

 

[Ridgerunner]

If it is a one off occurrance, no I would not worry, especially if you have one just starting to lay. Even one that has been laying a while could do this. Since it was under the coop, I'd suspect this was a pullet's first egg. Mine sometimes lay their first egg or two while on the roost, until they learn to control their egg laying factory.

If you see some more hens doing this that have laid good eggs for a while, I'd suspect a disease.

If the other hen's eggs have good egg shells, you do not need to feed more calcium or anything like that. This one will get her delivery system straightened out pretty soon.

 

[M To The Maxx]

Quote:
OK. This was the first time it happened. Also all of my hens have been laying. We have not had any hens that still haven't layed yet.

 

[Bird Collector]

I have had a couple of hens drop a soft one within the first three months they started laying. It is kinda freaky at first. From information on the forum I now have a dish with oster shells availble at all times and they do eat it. I just had to fill it back up this morning. I have not had another softy. They are on the layena too. I would imagine a soft egg feels much better coming out then a hard one.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Keep an eye on it for sure but don't panic. Sometimes, rarely but sometimes, a second egg will start through the hen's egg laying factory too soon after the previous. She does not have enough shell material ready for it. Maybe this happened? I don't know. But certainly don't panic and see if it happens again. Once it repeats, it is something to investigate.

If you are not doing it, you can offer extra calcium as free choice. It won't hurt. But if the previous eggs and all the other current eggs have good shells, they are getting enough calcium from the layer and the yogurt. That's not your problem.