Freaky Eggs

[VintageLilFarm]

I got my first bunch of birds on December 9th. They are 2 years old. I got three more layers plus a few game birds on the 10th, who were all hatched in March I think. Nobody was laying. After a week I added supplemental lighting for their health, as we have lots of long gray days here. Within a week I started getting an egg per day, then 3, then 5 and yesterday I got 7.

A few days ago I got a very soft shell. I also got an egg that looked like it had a peck in it or had been dropped slightly.

This morning I got 8, and they were all laid earlier than normal (I've been getting eggs as late as 3pm). One was very think shelled with a pip and a crack. Today I went outside to do one last sweep at about 3 and found another soft shelled egg, I can see through one end of it, and just a plain yolk laying next to it. The yolk itself looked normal, normal color, etc, just no white and no shell. The yolk was intact also, before I moved it to better light to take a picture.





Nobody looks or acts sick. One BR has a poopy behind sometimes but she is fat and acts fine and happy and I'm pretty sure she gives me one regular egg per day. I don't see any weird looking poo anywhere.

My birds are on Layer Pellets at night, free choice grit and oyster shell, and kitchen scraps once per day if I have them. They free range all day.

Do you think these are new layers just getting with the hang of things and this was going to be a double yolker? Or could there be another problem? .

 

[americana-lover]

The soft shell thing happened to me too, when my girls first started to lay. All I did was make sure they had extra calcium, by crushing egg shells into their food. Within a day, my girls started to lay normal eggs. They just need to get the hang of laying eggs.

 

[VintageLilFarm]

Thanks for responding. I do add their shells, crushed, back into their diet, as well as oyster shell. I'm hoping it's the same as your birds -- just new layers taking turns getting the hang of things!

 

[donrae]

I often get funky eggs with new layers. As long as everyone's eating and active, no worries.

 

[VintageLilFarm]

I often get funky eggs with new layers. As long as everyone's eating and active, no worries.

Thank you, I feel better!

 

[melonball6]

Disclaimer: I have very little experience with chickens. But when I was little I grabbed my grandma's bantam chicken. It got scared and shot out a soft egg like that.

 

[VintageLilFarm]

Lol, and made a lifelong impression!

I haven't seen any predators around but I know they are present, or at least not far. I've been very fortunate that they have been free ranging all day for a month and not even one loss. But I have heard they can expel their eggs early when frightened. Thank you for replying!