Egg Shells, sometimes soft, sometimes hard ??

[Stella1964]

My hens started layinig a couple weeks ago. They are all laying now which is great. A couple times I've found eggs without shells...just the membrane holding it together. But then the next time, all is well again and the eggs all have strong shells.

Why does this shell problem fluctuate? They're all fed the same foods. I would think if one of them had a calcium problem, then the eggs would always have shell problems.

 

[Chirpy]

Do they have access to oyster shell 24/7?

 

[Stella1964]

No, not yet. I wanted to be sure they were all laying before I put it out. I do have it though.

The bag of pellets I'm feeding them says there is enough calcium in there that they shouldn't need any additional supplements...I'm guessing the bag is wrong?

 

[CarriBrown]

The bag isn't wrong but there may be things in your environment that deplete their calcium and require them to have more. For instance, the water in my city has more than the usual amount of floride, and because of that, I have to take calcium pills, drink more milk, etc. and the chickens need oyster shell.
Another thing you can do is save their egg shells. Dry or microwave them then crush them into little pieces and add it to their food.