First Egg was soft shelled!

[MindyNE]

I have 2 barred rocks and one buff orph. One of my barred rocks laid 3 small perfect eggs (1 each day)so far and seems to be taking a few days off but my buff orph squatted by the door to the coop tonight and laid a small soft shelled egg with no yolk. I tried to get it out quickly but not before one of the other chickens had started pecking at it and broke it open. Should I be concerned about her eating eggs in the future and is this normal for a first egg for a buff orph?

 

[krista74]

Yep, normal. My BO has been laying for over two months now and still lays the occasional soft-shelled egg. It just takes a while for the egg factory to get everything right

As far as the egg-eating goes, it's unlikely that this one event will cause you to have a flock of egg-eaters. My thoughts are that this was just a case of "Wow! What's that?!" and curiosity getting the better of her. I doubt it will be an issue going forward.

If you want to add a little extra security you could try putting some ceramic or plastic eggs into their nests. Not only do these encourage laying in the appropriate place, but they also discourage egg-pecking. The idea behind them is that they will peck the plastic eggs, realise there is nothing nice to eat inside them, and therefore not bother pecking at the real eggs.

- Krista