First egg, sort off

[Redstone]

My chickens are no more then 4 months old. I found a "egg" that I am assuming was dropped from there roost. The yolk and white looked fine. The inner shell skin looked ok too. But there was no evidence of a harden shell at all. (See photo)

Like I mentioned, they couldn't be more then 4 months old. It is my understanding that eggs shouldn't appear until about 6 months.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[krista74]

I'm no expert, but I did have a similar egg to this two weeks after my BO started laying.

Like yours, her egg was 'laid' under the roost, and the yolk and white of the egg were fine. The shell, however, was like a piece of soft ribbon. I assumed at the time that since it had no shell it must have simply 'slipped' out of her as she was roosting.

I have read in many books that when chickens first start laying they can have all sorts of egg anomalies occur: soft shells, no shells, no yolks, small sizes for example.

I would think that this egg of yours is evidence that your girl will soon be laying proper, shelled eggs Just as some chickens start laying late, there will always be others who start early. Yours could well be one of them!

Make sure you have some nice nesting boxes prepared, and that your girls have free access to shell grit for calcium. Also, if I were you I would whip this egg off the ground and out of the coop ASAP, so that your girls don't get a taste for egg-eating!

Then all you have to do is sit back and wait! I suspect it won't be long Krista

 

[Redstone]

Thanks for your input, feeling better now. I thought that I had read somewhere that the first eggs can be unusual. But I was surprised seeing an egg this early.

 

[AmericanMom]

I have 30 pullets that are between 16-21 weeks old, I have gotten a few pullet eggs over the last few days and then one like yours above this morning. Its normal, they are trying to get the system up and running and figuring out this whole egg laying business, I expect to find more of these in the coop over the next few weeks and try and make a point to be out at first light (yeah, that means by 6am) to gather these broken /half laid eggs... Give them a week or so, they will figure it out.

I just gathered a double yolk perfect pullet egg yesterday, its so exciting to go out and find the surprises!

Aside from the newbie eggs, I also have 8 older hens.. 3 BA's that are going into their fourth year...One lays atleast 5 eggs a week but they are inedible, all have blood in them.. So throughout the whole hen laying years your going to come across many weird and unusual things, this forum is a great place to discover the reasons why.

 

[Redstone]

Ok, it happened again. I found another "egg" under the roost last night. I added some sand to soften the ground in hopes that I can get a whole egg to confirm if it shelless or soft. Time to add some calcium, but should I add it to the food or in a bowl by itself?

 

[krista74]

I always leave a tray of oyster shell in their coop so they have free access to it.

Also, what do you feed them?

Sometimes a diet of veggie scraps and wheat is not enough - they will need a good quality feed to ensure they get all the nutrients they require in order to remain healthy and lay well.

Other than that - don't panic! They will be ok!

As AmericanMom said - it is normal to have a few hiccups in the egg factory before proper production starts up Also, since your girl is quite young to be laying it might take her a little extra time to get it right.

Krista

 

[Fancychooklady]

It's not uncommon for them to take a few weeks to ' get it right '. I would only be concerned if an older hen started to lay ' rubber eggs '.
http://www.alltech.com/sites/default/files/alltech-egg-shell-quality-poster.pdf

 

[Redstone]

Thanks guys!

 

[Redstone]

Just thought I update ya all.

I'm still getting shell-less eggs about every 4 days. How ever I have another bird that laid our first real egg, but I don't know which one.

 

[CraterLakeChick]

So we got our first eggs (sort of) they were very small and one had a very soft shell, the other had been pecked open. And a couple of days after we got our second egg, again very small and soft shell. Is this normal for first eggs? And these were also layed from the roost, not in the nest box.
My girls do get oyster shells, I mix it in with their food (should I do this?)
So here are my questions
1- is this normal for first eggs
2- should I mix the oyster shells in feed or just scatter in run?
3-how do I get these silly girls to lay eggs in the box (boxes are raised they are on floor of coop)


this is a pic of the girls and their nest boxes, when they were chicks, the boxes have straw in them now