Got our first egg yesterday, but........

[chickenstricken]

......it was kind of small and the shell was really soft, almost leathery. I will post a pic of it once I get it transferred to my computer. The DSLR didn't have a cf card in it so the pictures obviously didn't save. Fortunately DW took a couple with her phone.
We have 4 girls left from our original batch ( see my byc page ) which are almost 18 weeks old. We also have 4 girls we purchased from a feed store that are about 9-10 weeks old. We weren't expecting any eggs until x-mas time, so this was a nice surprise.
If we introduce crushed oyster shells into the coop , will it harm the younger pullets, or should we just wait until everybody is a little older?

 

[Chick1043]

hmm bump!

 

[LT]

I was under the impression that they won't eat oyster shell unless their bodies are craving calcium, so I think it would be fine to add some. I have my first flock, and all the girls are the same age, so I haven't had to deal with this issue. You might try supplementing with some spinach or other dark, leafy greens or even yogurt that would supply some calcium for the the older girls.

 

[DTchickens]

Quote:
Spinach isn't that great for calcium, it has a calcium inhibitor in it which makes it where I believe you will only receive about 5% of calcium from it. From my understanding, the same problem causes a reverse effect on birds (ducks in the case I heard) because birds already have difficulty absorbing calcium. Which resulted in soft shelled eggs; the hens may actually be fine. Young pullets will occasionally lay a soft shelled egg once when they start laying then do OK afterwards.

 

[LT]

Quote:
Spinach isn't that great for calcium, it has a calcium inhibitor in it which makes it where I believe you will only receive about 5% of calcium from it. From my understanding, the same problem causes a reverse effect on birds (ducks in the case I heard) because birds already have difficulty absorbing calcium. Which resulted in soft shelled eggs; the hens may actually be fine. Young pullets will occasionally lay a soft shelled egg once when they start laying then do OK afterwards.

That's good to know. My girls LOVE spinach, and I have never had any problem with soft shells. They free range quite a bit, and they get a good layer feed as well. I also sterilize and pulverize their shells and mix them into their pellets.

 

[Johnn]

my chickens eat oyster shells if number 1 they are wet number 2 if they are scattered on the floor

 

[DTchickens]

Quote:
Spinach isn't that great for calcium, it has a calcium inhibitor in it which makes it where I believe you will only receive about 5% of calcium from it. From my understanding, the same problem causes a reverse effect on birds (ducks in the case I heard) because birds already have difficulty absorbing calcium. Which resulted in soft shelled eggs; the hens may actually be fine. Young pullets will occasionally lay a soft shelled egg once when they start laying then do OK afterwards.

They free range quite a bit, and they get a good layer feed as well. I also sterilize and pulverize their shells and mix them into their pellets.

That is the approach I've always taken, and only recall getting one soft shelled egg in my life; which came from a black OEGB pullet

.

ETA: And I'll add also, I don't think spinach would hurt the birds in that situation. They're probably getting enough calcium from the egg shells/layer feed that it isn't a big deal.

 

[chickenstricken]

O.K. , another egg this afternoon. This one was firmer but it was also cracked open.
I cleaned the coop today while everyone was free ranging. She wouldn't leave me alone. She kept coming into the coop, and hopping into the nesting box while it was totally bare. I finally put some sawdust into one of the nesting boxes and put her into it, and left her alone for a while. 10 minutes later her 2nd egg.

Here is a pick of her

I'll upload pics of the eggs shortly.

 

[chickenstricken]

Here is egg #1

the inside

egg #2

We bought some Farmers Best D/P Poultry Crumble mix and put it into a pie plate in the backyard. When they free range they will be able to eat it. I will continue to put the medicated starter feed in the coop feeder for a while.
What do you think, is this ok?

 

[ekemily]

Those are perfectly normal first eggs. They can by small, huge, leathery, weird colors, crack easily, super hard, etc. Her body will eventually produce a more uniform egg.
I would add a dish of crushed oyster shell to the coop for her. As soon as the others are older/starting to lay, switch to layer pellets.