Egg issues

[awagnon]

I have 3 Red sex-links that are about 4 months old. None of them seem to be acting any different than usual. Very alert, active and friendly. One girl has been laying an egg per day since Monday except for one day- no egg at all. Her egg shells have all been fully formed and hard. She exhibits all the signs of laying - deep red comb and wattles and squatting behavior when I reach down to pet her. The other two's wattles are not as developed or red and they don't squat when I reach for them.

So far it has been easy to know who way laying, but when coming out of the run this evening I noticed two egg shaped objects on the ground in the run. I picked them up and one has a fully formed shell but is VERY soft and pliable and another one had the full egg shape, but it was only the membrane surrounding the white and yolk, no shell.

Is it possible the hen that has been laying good eggs has laid these two eggs? (That would make her having laid 3 in one day.) or could it be the other two have begun to lay but are a bit early? Or, could this be because it has been unbearably hot in the low 100s this week here in TX?

I don't seen any signs to speak of that the other two are ready to lay yet, but I could be wrong. We are just this week transitioning to a layer 16% protein pellet feed from the chick feed. I did put some egg shell in the run for them, but it was from store bought eggs as it was all I had at the moment. They are all eating some of it however.

Wish I knew an easy way to tell which egg was whose, but they are all brown. lol TIA!

 

[Wicked Storm]

Sounds like they need to be on some calcium! Tsc sells ground up oyster shells (maybe depending on area it might be something else for you) but they have a lot of stuff that is ground up you put in their feed. Your ladies are not getting enough calcium to form that hard shell layer and it just produces a squishy membrane layer

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Sometimes when chickens start laying they take a while to get things working properly. I would just keep an eye on it. What are you feeding? I use all flock with oyster shell on the side and sometimes my new layers still lay an odd egg. I wouldnt worry unless it happens consistently

 

[awagnon]

Sometimes when chickens start laying they take a while to get things working properly. I would just keep an eye on it. What are you feeding? I use all flock with oyster shell on the side and sometimes my new layers still lay an odd egg. I wouldnt worry unless it happens consistently

They are all on a transitioning combo of chick starter and layer pellets. We use an organic brand Nutrena I think. It has 16% protein. They seem to be eating it well despite the fact it's a crumble pellet mix right now. I will increase the layer ratio as it has been a week now since the new feed was introduced. Right now I only have egg shell from store bought eggs, but will be getting the oyster shell now. I read on other blogs that layer feed should have enough of everything the hens need. Um, apparently not so much. lol

I really didn't expect the other two to start laying yet as they still look like younger pullets, but maybe it was their eggs and not the hen that has been laying all week. Who knows.

 

[Wicked Storm]

Sometimes they Need a little extra help with nutrients, those oyster shells will help whichever lady laid those eggs

 

[awagnon]

Sometimes they Need a little extra help with nutrients, those oyster shells will help whichever lady laid those eggs

how long does it usually take to correct this issue?

 

[Wicked Storm]

how long does it usually take to correct this issue?

Now that I’m not entirely sure, maybe 48 hours? Maybe someone else who knows can answer that for sure.
Here’s some links that might help https://grubblyfarms.com/blogs/the-flyer/calcium-needs-for-hens
https://thefrugalchicken.com/chickens-laying-soft-eggs/
They don’t say anything about how long it would take to fix though

 

[aart]

Sounds like a new layer glitch to me....give it time.

how long does it usually take to correct this issue?

Chickens will teach you patience....or not
New layers can take up to a month for the system to get all tuned up.

 

[awagnon]

well I can now report that all 3 of my girls are laying and the calcium supplementation worked like a charm 2 had normal eggs the next day and the other 48 hours later.