Cracked eggs

[itsmyguess]

I have three Buff Orpingtons and a Red sex link the sex link started to lay her first three were small as I expected one was a rubber egg that was weird but she also breaks them maybe when she gets out of the nesting box? When I let them out this is morning she stayed in the nest I wasn’t sure if she was done yet and didn’t want to bother her so not sure what if anything I can do so she doesn’t break anymore. The three buffs haven’t started to lay yet. Any ideals.

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

Make sure your nesting boxes are lined heavily with hay or pine shavings. If she continues to lay on the eggs, reach under her and grab them! She may be going broody......

 

[feathermaid]

What are you feeding?
Do you offer oyster shells?
It takes a lot of calcium and protein intake to produce eggs with hard shells. I feed a 20% protein Flock Raiser feed with oyster shell on the side, both always available free choice.

Also make sure the nest boxes are well padded. I used wood shavings for a short time once and found a couple cracked eggs... maybe because my birds scratched away most of them to make a deeper "nest" but the hard floor was revealed. I switched back to my excelsior nesting pads and never had another problem. Lots of people (and chickens) prefer straw too.