ShotgunDog
Chirping
I have 10 RIRs, all are nearly a year old. One of them (and I don't know which one) is, well, maybe not quite as smart as the others. Or maybe she just has a reproductive issue. Every few weeks she lays her egg from the roost, either at night or very early in the morning before coming off the roost (I find the egg in the poop line below the highest roost--the poop and straw usually cushion the egg so it doesn't break). Her eggs, whether laid from the roost or in the nesting boxes, have a 'sandpaper' like texture, and sometimes seem to be a bit multi-shaded in color (swirls of dark/light brown). The shells seem more 'dry' and 'brittle' than those of her flockmates (which is even more surprising that they usually don't break when laid from the roost). I do occasionally find her eggs in other places other than the nesting boxes (one time she laid it on the perch in front of the laying boxes). The contents of her eggs are normal--no issues there. They are on Kalmbach layer feed, and I do offer oyster shell on the side (but they really don't eat it since they all are on layer feed now). Has anybody experienced anything like this, and if so, was it an issue that eventually worked itself out?