HUGE PROBLEM

[ChickenDude12345]

So I got my first egg from my chickens about two weeks ago. I just open the coop to clean it this morning I have an opened it in a few days and there were three eggs on the ground of the coop not in the nest box. Two of them were fine but one was a soft shell and it must’ve broke when she laid it. I thought they might be not getting enough calcium but I have a container of oyster shell close to the feeder out in the run. What should I do I don’t wanna keep losing eggs. I made the spot where two eggs were laid bare with no bedding

 

[aart]

What do your nests look like?
Have any of the birds been using them?
Guess you better open the coop for a looksee on the daily.

 

[ChickenDude12345]

What do your nests look like?
Have any of the birds been using them?
Guess you better open the coop for a looksee on the daily.

I would show you a pic but I am not home but will later

 

[ChickenDude12345]

What do your nests look like?
Have any of the birds been using them?
Guess you better open the coop for a looksee on the daily.

I have one bird that I know that is using the nestle boxes

 

[Ridgerunner]

So I got my first egg from my chickens about two weeks ago. I just open the coop to clean it this morning I have an opened it in a few days and there were three eggs on the ground of the coop not in the nest box.

This has nothing to do with your problem and is just my personal preference, but it's a reason I like my walk-in coop where I walk in every day to gather the eggs. I see things I otherwise would not see. I know others really love their nests where you collect the eggs from outside. With many coops you don't have a choice. As I said, a personal preference and nothing really to do with your problem.

Two of them were fine but one was a soft shell and it must’ve broke when she laid it. I thought they might be not getting enough calcium but I have a container of oyster shell close to the feeder out in the run. What should I do I don’t wanna keep losing eggs.

It's not unusual when a pullet first starts to lay for her to lay weird eggs. Putting an egg together in her internal egg-making factory is pretty complicated, some pullets take a few days to get all the kinks worked out of that system. No shell, thin shell, really thick shell, no yolk, no white, double yolked, or a perfect egg but tiny are just a few of the things you might see. I don't worry about a few weird eggs when they first start to lay and would not in your case. Since there were two good eggs she may have already got the bugs worked out. Or it could be a different layer.

I made the spot where two eggs were laid bare with no bedding

I'm not sure why those eggs were on the coop floor, could be different reasons. It sounds like they were all in one place. That means she sees that area as a nest. Sometimes when they first start laying they accidentally drop them wherever they happen to be, from the roosts or just walking around. For these, this is another kink in that egg laying process they need to straighten out.

They often like to lay where another hen or pullet is laying. Putting a fake egg in the nest you want her to use can sometimes help. I'm using words like "often" and "sometimes" because some do like to to follow the crowd but some like to do their own thing. I use golf balls but you can get ceramic or wooden eggs from a craft shop that look really real.

The way I'd approach this would be to make sure there is a fake egg in each nest you want them to use. I'd make sure eggs did not lay on the coop floor any longer than they have too, I've had a second hen start laying there too when an egg was scratched out of a nest onto the coop floor. I've never had any success blocking where they are laying with a box or something, they just move the nest to next to that box, but making it not look like a nest is a good thing. Then I'd give it some time. Photos of your nests and the coop might help give us some other ideas if she doesn't move on her own. It's hard for me to give too specific suggestions when I'm not sure what you are working with.

 

[ChickenDude12345]

This has nothing to do with your problem and is just my personal preference, but it's a reason I like my walk-in coop where I walk in every day to gather the eggs. I see things I otherwise would not see. I know others really love their nests where you collect the eggs from outside. With many coops you don't have a choice. As I said, a personal preference and nothing really to do with your problem.


It's not unusual when a pullet first starts to lay for her to lay weird eggs. Putting an egg together in her internal egg-making factory is pretty complicated, some pullets take a few days to get all the kinks worked out of that system. No shell, thin shell, really thick shell, no yolk, no white, double yolked, or a perfect egg but tiny are just a few of the things you might see. I don't worry about a few weird eggs when they first start to lay and would not in your case. Since there were two good eggs she may have already got the bugs worked out. Or it could be a different layer.


I'm not sure why those eggs were on the coop floor, could be different reasons. It sounds like they were all in one place. That means she sees that area as a nest. Sometimes when they first start laying they accidentally drop them wherever they happen to be, from the roosts or just walking around. For these, this is another kink in that egg laying process they need to straighten out.

They often like to lay where another hen or pullet is laying. Putting a fake egg in the nest you want her to use can sometimes help. I'm using words like "often" and "sometimes" because some do like to to follow the crowd but some like to do their own thing. I use golf balls but you can get ceramic or wooden eggs from a craft shop that look really real.

The way I'd approach this would be to make sure there is a fake egg in each nest you want them to use. I'd make sure eggs did not lay on the coop floor any longer than they have too, I've had a second hen start laying there too when an egg was scratched out of a nest onto the coop floor. I've never had any success blocking where they are laying with a box or something, they just move the nest to next to that box, but making it not look like a nest is a good thing. Then I'd give it some time. Photos of your nests and the coop might help give us some other ideas if she doesn't move on her own. It's hard for me to give too specific suggestions when I'm not sure what you are working with.

Thanks for the advice, I don’t have pictures at the moment but I do have a theory for the eggs placements. All three eggs were directly under a popular roosting spot for over half the flock so whichever hen is laying could have dropped it while they were roosting. I’ll let it play out for the next couple days and see what happens

 

[ChickenDude12345]

So I got my first egg from my chickens about two weeks ago. I just open the coop to clean it this morning I have an opened it in a few days and there were three eggs on the ground of the coop not in the nest box. Two of them were fine but one was a soft shell and it must’ve broke when she laid it. I thought they might be not getting enough calcium but I have a container of oyster shell close to the feeder out in the run. What should I do I don’t wanna keep losing eggs. I made the spot where two eggs were laid bare with no bedding

UPDATE: I went to the coop yesterday afternoon and looked in the nest boxes to find two egg, one from my first layer which was a beautiful egg and another egg that was strong enough to pick up but when I put it in the basket it cracked. The shell was super soft but it was billeted than the last soft shell egg I found. I also found a egg buried in the bedding the hard way I hit it with my shovel and cracked it. So over all I got 3 eggs and broke two. I’ll get there some day