First soft shelled egg

[Beccazon]

Well, got my first soft shell today. Or what WAS a soft shell. Apparently one of the ladies must have been caught off guard and layed up on the board they all insist on gathering on at night. (They rarely perch...dorks). Anyhow, so when I opened the coop today, there it was, squished from feet.

They have their all flock feed and oyster shell at will. And I have enough egg shells now to start offering them as well. Guessing it was a fluke since the girls are all starting to lay now. Four of my 7 are now laying. Or now maybe 5 lol.

Glad I put separate nesting boxes up high for my 2 bantams that I did integrate into the flock. They stay up and away from the big girls when necessary and enjoy "down" time while the others are all out free ranging for the day. But those boxes I added were just in time! 3 days later, one of the bantams layed!! Woohoo!

 

[azygous]

If these are all new layers, it's probably not a concern unless you see it happening regularly.

 

[TiaMaria413]

Keep us posted on what happens with your soft shelled layer (assuming it’s only one of your hens laying them and not multiple ones). My hen has laid two softies since she started laying a couple of weeks ago. This morning her lower feathers were covered in yolk from having accidentally sat on a soft one after laying it.

 

[azygous]

Thanks so much for the help. I'm pricing it now. Does the coroplast have to be protected by anything else or is it good as a stand alobw insulation material?

Keep us posted on what happens with your soft shelled layer (assuming it’s only one of your hens laying them and not multiple ones). My hen has laid two softies since she started laying a couple of weeks ago. This morning her lower feathers were covered in yolk from having accidentally sat on a soft one after laying it.

The only thing worse than dried yolk on dishes is dried yolk on a hens belly feathers.

 

[Beccazon]

Keep us posted on what happens with your soft shelled layer (assuming it’s only one of your hens laying them and not multiple ones). My hen has laid two softies since she started laying a couple of weeks ago. This morning her lower feathers were covered in yolk from having accidentally sat on a soft one after laying it.

Oh lovely! Yuck! I was lucky to avoid that mess lol. I assume it was a first time layer and she will be good to go next one. Never seen one though so was cool to personally get to check one out. Kinda glad actually that she wasn't in box!

 

[Lazy Farmer]

The only thing worse than dried yolk on dishes is dried yolk on a hens belly feathers.

-& an exploding egg under my backyard deck

 

[Beccazon]

Well, whoever it was, laid another sock show today. Or last night. But with more success today. It was twice as thick and brown vs yesterday's white. Clearly start-up glitches lol. My worry will be is she continues to lay at night in the heap of sleeping flockmates.

If I wake tomorrow and open the coop to find a smushed hard shell egg or an egg kicked off onto the floor, advise me how I encourage to the nest boxes?

Would a golf ball or ceramic egg in a nest help? Should I watch/inspect for whom it is laying these? I considered blocking their preferred night time huddle spot so they (she) have to choose a new space. Suggestions?

 

[blackandtan]

Soft shells suck!
I like using golf balls to hint at where eggs belong, I’ll also move eggs from the driveway, lawn, flowerpots etc to the nests to show the girls where eggs are supposed to be

 

[aart]

Would a golf ball or ceramic egg in a nest help?

Absolutely...and hopefully nests are comfy/'safe' and easy to get into and out of.

I considered blocking their preferred night time huddle spot so they (she) have to choose a new space. Suggestions?

Absolutely. I block off anywhere *I* don't want them to roost to 'force' them to use the roosts.

Post pics of coop interior showing nests and roosts for suggestions.

 

[Beccazon]

At ER right now so pics of boxes later. All the other's use them. In fact, one has decided she likes the bantam box 6 feet in the air with limited access...easy for bantams. Some turkeyneck just wants to be the oddball lol