Finding cracked eggs :(

[joyofok]

We were so excited the other day when we found our very first egg!! We knew it would be any time now that my girls would start laying, so we've been checking their coop often. When we found the first egg, we also found a soft shelled egg that had been stepped on and broken. From reading posts on here, I knew that this was quite common when they first start laying eggs. The next day, Bam, there was another egg, but it was cracked. Oh well, I knew we would start getting more. Today I went out and found an egg that was perfect, but later when I checked, there was another egg, but it looked like it had been pecked, or maybe when she laid the egg, it broke, but the membrane was still in tact. So my question is this: how can I tell if the broken eggs are being caused by the chickens, or if it is happening when they lay them? We just put a nesting box in, so they haven't been using that yet, they have been laying them at the bottom of the coop. Any suggestions would be helpful!
Thanks!!

 

[chippysmom327]

Have you been giving them calcium such as oyster shells? That could be the problem.

To encourage nestbox usage, you can put golfballs and things that look like eggs in the box. Just not excessive. Maybe one or two items.

Maybe they just need time to regulate their bodies and eggs.

 

[joyofok]

We just started giving them oyster shell and so far, all but the one egg have been hard. I'm just trying to figure out if it's the chickens, or if it's happening when they lay them. The one I found today was cracked, but it was a circle, so I was thinking maybe they might have pecked at it after it was laid? We are working on getting them to use the nesting box, so hopefully they will start using it soon!!

 

[Pureupto99per]

Three of my hens stated laying last week and I'm not sure why either (I've been giving them oyster shells for a month now and the eggs they are laying aren't soft) but some of the eggs I'm getting are cracked on the top/bottom... not like a peck-hole but more like an impact crack as it was laid. They're using the nesting boxes... Is there anything I can do to keep this from happening? My chickens kick all the bedding I put in their coop outside.... also, are these eggs safe to eat? or should I toss them?