Slowly but surely, my 20 week old pullets are becoming hens.....and starting to lay......hooray!!!! My BCM started first, about 2 weeks ago.........and right from the get-go, her eggs have been beautiful! She usually lays around 10ish in the morning, and will go into the coop herself, if she is out, and into one of the nest boxes to do the deed......................this is followed shortly by a 10 minute "egg song" on the coop steps! (I find this soooooooooooooo darn cute and endearing, even tho' I laugh when I hear it! I feel like shouting down to her...."You go, girlfriend!") Then 2 nights ago, my 2 Sussex pullets started laying very soft-shelled eggs..........while they are on the roost, sometime during the middle of the night! I have found 2 each morning, plopped down (usually in poo!) onto the droppings board.......one of them has usually squished open upon landing as well! They are being fed organic layer pellets, and free-range most of the day. They have crushed oyster shell available 24/7. Is this normal egg-laying behavior.........this middle of the night thing, that is...........????? Also, will the shells harden-up eventually? Are they soft because that's just the way "their" first few eggs are..... unlike the BCM's first eggs were? Or are they lacking something? Will they eventually figure out that they need to eat the oyster shell? Will they ever figure out the nest box method of egg laying? (or at least stop laying in the middle of the night while they are roosting!?!) Perhaps they think they have to poo, and an egg just happens to fall out? What's up with all of this silliness?
From what I've read it is common for the first eggs to not have a lot of substance to the shells but they do harden. I haven't had any lay over night but often I've found eggs outside the coop on the ground. I figure since mine just started laying that they are not aware of what was happening and poof, egg appeared. Haven't found any recent ones on the ground outside...all inside and in the nesting boxes or floor nests.
