Found soft shell egg in manure box this morning

[m.kitchengirl]

Do you give a lot of "treats"? I have read in other threads that sometimes feeding treats can be part of the problem.
I fed my young girls yogurt as a treat once a week or whenever I got to the bottom of the yogurt tub, but not much else. I added oyster shell at about 18 weeks & switched to layer feed at about 22. My girls didn't start laying until 28 & 32 weeks, and I worried they were getting too much calcium too early, but they are doing fine so far.

Good luck, by the way. I hope this helps to bump you up & keep you where an expert may be able to offer more ideas. I am VERY new to this.

 

[bobbieschicks]

UGH! Today was a wrinkled egg in the manure box. I cracked it open with a knife and inside it was perfect looking. So I scrambled it up and went out there to feed it to the older chicks. I tossed pieces to the ground and Snow White just about body slammed everyone to get to it - she ate about 98% the others hardly got any. I tossed it out to the others - but she would rush over and snatch it up.

Is this an indicator of what is happening with her?

Here is the egg in the manure box

Here it is cracked open

I give them mealyworms when they come into the run when I call them. I've been giving them cracked corn and "poultry treat" as special treats - but just a few. They freerange our yard only when it's nice and I'm out there.

 

[MassivelyScrambled]

In two of our hens we got a couple of soft shelled or just membrane eggs shortly after they laid there first real eggs. Sometimes if takes their internal plumbing a bit to get itself in order. But continuing soft shells usually indicate a lack of calcium in their diets. I wouldn't worry too much unless you get the soft/shel- less eggs consistently. A couple here and there during the start of laying isn't a big deal.

 

[MassivelyScrambled]

Also the soft eggs are certainly edible, as long as the membrane/shell is not broken. We cooked ours up the same day and they were fine.4

 

[bucky52]

for the last couple weeks i also am finding soft shell eggs.i have three hens and i'am pretty sure i know which one it is.they are around a year old.when they started laying in july i was finding soft shell eggs.which i read on byc that is normal.than after a couple of weeks they were laying fine.thinking maybe its that time of year for them to start slowing down.due to the shorter days and cool weather or maybe getting ready to go in to a molt.or maybe just need a break.i'am a worry wort when i see changes with my girls.lessor eggs really doesn't matter as long as they are healthy.

 

[CrazyCatNChickenLady]

Its not good for the ones not laying to have the layer(even the teens). This jump starts their system before they are ready to lay and can cause egg laying problems down the road. Also make sure your layers cannot get to the medicated feed. Its not good to eat the eggs then. When I have mixed ages I feed flock raiser (non medicated) with oyster shell free choice and feed all eggshells back to them. Now I never mix ages so everyone gets what they need and layers dont get layer feed until they are actually laying.

 

[bobbieschicks]

No egg at all today - not even softshell - so not sure if that's good or bad. Maybe it's all the cold and wet weather we've had lately. Maybe it's the tarp I put up. Maybe it's the fact that the earth is rotating and she just doesn't like it. I don't know. Hoping she works it out and will start laying consistently good eggs. I cooked up her only good egg this week and fed it to the gang - they gobbled it up.

I'll pick up some alfalfa this weekend - hopefully that will help. I put 3 pingpong balls in the nest boxes. I'll check again soon, but it looks like definitely no egg today.

 

[bobbieschicks]

YEAH!

Finally got a real egg - not a soft shell one! Found it laying next to the pingpong ball I put there yesterday. I think I'll keep those pingpong balls in there awhile - maybe it will help

Go Snow White!

Go Snow White!

 

[bobbieschicks]

Wow - big surprize - yet another soft shelled egg this morning

I won't bother to post a picture of it - you've seen enough of them from me lately. I did scramble it up and feed it to them - everyone loves their scrambled eggs.

 

[SagebrushMama]

Sounds like an age thing, but what has the weather been like? Whenever we have a strong wind storm I get soft shelled eggs. That or some critter has disturbed my ladies beauty sleep.