did I scare the egg out of my hen? (log post)

[bethandjoeync]

ok yesterday we put our 5 week chicks into the coop, they have their own section without physical access to my 4 older hens. and of course we have to check on them because it's their first night out of the house. (bare with me)
okay starting from thursday: we had the chicks in the coop so they can get more familiar with it as we have done all week a few hours a day. and we let the big girls come in so they can see them (and peck at them occasionally) and familiarize themselves with new ones in the coop. and we have the hens food in the run, and the chicks food in the coop. well the hens ate the chick food, enought that they were full. but all in all they are fine, acting normal and pooing normally.
FRIDAY afternoon: we went to check for eggs, and we had one that had a growth on one end (kind of like the open end of a balloon but smaller), and you could see how the egg must have been a little soft and dried and harden slightly as it sat in the nest. well I figure this was from one of my hens that isn't consistantly laying yet, I think she is the youngest of the group (lowest girl on the pecking order too). I started to wonder if it was all that chick food she ate yesterday affecting her egg today?
FRIDAY NIGHT: so we go in and check on the chicks and turn on their light because it was starting to get chilly outside and wanted to make sure they didn't get too cold. and all the older girls were asleep, but when we came in there they were slightly startled (I imagine not liking to be woken up at an odd time). and we turn around from facing the chicks and their on the floor (under the roost) was a busted egg, super soft shell-never had a chance from falling that high off the floor from the roost) so I hurried up and scooped it up and took it out of the coop (no need to encourage an egg eater). this hen also ate some chick feed yesterday, but I have never had a problem with her eggs being soft, only cracked because she scoots all the straw away in the nest and lays on bare wood

and I should mention that they have plenty of oyster shell in their own food, and a nice big run to eat lots of dirt and grit.

so is my theory on the soft eggs true? that the lack of calcium and other nutrients contributed to soft shells? or did we just startled the egg out of her?
(sorry for such a long post, I'm wordy

)

 

[Judy]

Maybe this will help:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=148409

 

[bethandjoeync]

well I am upset and worried a little. I went in the coop today to let the girls out and another softshell was laid, busted and mostly eaten. the shell was semi-soft, one end was slightly harder and held it's shape more than the other end. my girls that lay the larger eggs are eating and drinking just fine.

could it be from stress? we just moved the chicks into the coop friday afternoon, and we got the softshell friday night (midnightish)

none of them seem to be losing weight, I put more oyster shells in the run in a pile so they could pick at them and get more calcium, also they have some in their food too. I just don't understand it. Pepper (one of my mutt ee's) laid a normal egg, not soft or anything, and my other ee laid yesterday and the egg was very normal.

could it be the heat? this sudden rise in temperatures, could that stress them out?

I am going to give it a few days and see if maybe it was just a hick up in her system, and we'll go from there.

 

[bethandjoeync]

well we haven't had a soft egg today, and my girls seem to be eating and drinking and scratching out in the run like normal. I am hoping this was just a glitch in her system and everything is back to normal. I have laid out oyster shells everywhere, so they can eat them at will. my ee's are champs, still laying nice hard shelled eggs. my golden sex link (not sure if that exists but I don't think she is a particular breed) laid an egg today and it was kind of hard, not as hard as my ee's but it definitely wasn't soft. I am waiting on my last girl to lay (suspected soft egg layer), if she does today...so I can put my mind at ease.