Hi, I have a chicken that is broody (at least she appears to be -she does come out every now and then to eat, drink). I also have 3 other chickens. Two of the chickens started laying last week and after one gelatinous egg, the eggs were tiny, but seemed good. This week, I've found a gelatinous egg every day. They have been in the coop, but not near the brooding chicken. I'm wondering if the egg is gelatinous because of the brooding chicken OR because I've been feeding them oyster shells? For the brooding chicken, should I keep her out of the coop during the day? Perhaps put her in a cat holder under a tree (to keep her out of the sun?), so she can continue to brood and the other 3 chickens will have a place to lay their eggs? Thanks for your help!
If your broody isn't going to hatch eggs, the best thing to do for her sake is break the broodiness. If she is, then yes, she needs her own space, or at least you're more likely to get chicks if she has one. Once the chicks hatch, you can turn mama and chicks loose within the flock again. The gelatinous egg (soft shelled egg, or shell-less egg) isn't because of the broody or the oyster shell. The purpose of oyster shell is to be sure they get enough calcium to make nice hard shells. If your chickens just started laying, that is probably the cause, as they tend to lay more odd eggs during the first month or so of laying. Once in a while you get a chicken who only lays soft shelled eggs, due to an internal defect, but usually it's something any chicken will do occasionally. Here is a link that tells about the causes of various egg defects. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/common-egg-quality-problems
