yesterday i got 4 eggs from the nest boxes . it got dark around 4pm so i turned lights on in coop. went out to turn lights off at 830 pm and there was 2 eggs on the floor of coop .one was hard shell other one was soft and spongy any ideas why one of them was spongy. maybe from one of my new layers.
I too hope you find an answer to that q uestion. I have one hen.. who lays an egg with shell so thin that it breaks in the nest EVERY time she lays one. It is not soft, it is like old thin egg shell and it can be broken just by picking it up. I cant isolate her or id have chicken dumplings tonight she sure makes a mess. oh she uauslly gets in a nest that has several eggs to lay it.. and it covers all the eggs, sometimes 4 or more with egg yolk and mess.. ugh she is not a young hen.. this has been going on for months..
Some of my first pullet eggs had soft shells. Since then I built a small wall mounted feeder and filled it with oyster shell. They can get it as they need it and will strengthen their egg shells. You can get the oyster shell where you buy feed.
I have also heard you can rinse out the shells of the eggs you use, grind them up, and add them to their feed. Some one on here would be able to tell you if that were true or not.
That happened with my leghorn when she first started to lay. She laid a couple soft-shell eggs and she also laid a couple eggs on the floor instead of the nest.
oyster shell offered freely, take every egg shell and put in microwave for a very shott time (or it will burn). Just long enough for them to be dry. I just crush them up in a bowl using the bottom of a glass. I add it to my girls mash everyday. I have yet to get a thin shelled egg. Give it a try for a few weeks.
I hope your hen that is laying on the floor of the coop eventually learns to lay in the nest box. Sometimes when they lay their eggs on the ground the eggs can accidently get cracked and the hens can learn to eat eggs when this happens!
I have it happen occasionaly. I'll find an egg under the roosting area. Nothing wrong with it, but I think one of my girls might be laying eggs while she sleeps!!!
I have a new layer that started about a month or so ago. She has never layed a hard egg shell. All of them have been soft. The last one had no shell at all. They have oyster shell available 24 X 7 and none of the other 20 hens lay soft eggs. Just the one. She even had one break while laying it a couple of weeks ago and the white dried and glued it to her vent. I had to soak her bottom and then gently pull it out - only to find there was another right behind it. She won't eat when I isolate her, so I can't figure out how to up her calcium intake And I'm not sure why she's the only one with this issue. If you leave the oyster shell down for them 24 X 7, hopefully she'll ingest more calcium and start laying hard eggs. I also feed the egg shells back to my hens - I lay them on the wood burning stove to dry them a bit and then crunch them in my hand and scatter them on the ground outside. They love it! Even the little soft shell layer gobbles them right up. Hopefully yours won't be like mine and will start laying hard shelled eggs! As for laying on the floor of the coop, every now and again I find one there too. I had a Phoenix that insisted on laying in the corner of the coop on the floor when she first started laying, and I just had to pick her up and put her in the nest box for 2 or 3 days. She finally figured it out and now lays in the nest boxes. Take care, Penny
