My RIR laid a strange "soft" egg

[PopVultureATX]

Hello everybody-

My RIR hasn't laid eggs in a couple of days (she's usually pretty regular), and this morning I went out to find that she'd laid a sort of squishy, soft egg. It seems like the shell wasn't fully developed or something of the sort. What's more, she laid it obviously while she was roosting, because it landed in her hanging feeder below.

I've had her for over two months, and I just ran out of her original feed. I bought the feed along with the chicken, however, and the guy I bought them from is about an hour and a half away. Since naturally I can't travel that far every time I need to get feed, I bought some organic stuff from my local feed store in Austin, Callahan's. It's very similar to the original feed I bought; it's the powdery kind with seeds etc scattered through it, as opposed to pellets.

I also just changed out the hay in her laying box, so I'm not sure if that would affect her behavior.

She seems to be perfectly healthy... normal, spunky behavior, talkative, all that stuff. Is this anything I should be worried about? It's also been VERY hot here, so I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it.

Any input would be much appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Wynette]

She should have free-choice access to oyster shell....that gives her the calcium she needs to make a good-quality shell for her eggs.

Also, I don't recommend hay in the nest box - they can eat the long strands and it can compact in their crops & cause them to not be able to digest food...a much better choice is pine shavings or straw.

 

[saddina]

Check your feed, my thought is you didn't buy "layer" feed, which has extracalicum to make eggshells. if so, you can still use it, but you'll need to grab a bag of oyster shells (feed store has this too) to suppliment her. Also does the bag you bought say "scratch" if so that's not quite feed (it's more like giving a dog jerky treats instead of kibble).

Go check your bag, and let us know what you bought, we'll tell you how to fix it.

 

[PopVultureATX]

It's Coyote Creek Feed Mill Organic, and it's marked as layer feed. I still have a smaller bit of the old feed (which was Micobe, I think), so I mixed that in with her food when I refilled the feeder today. Maybe it's just a matter of adjusting to the new stuff? We'll see.

 

[PopVultureATX]

And duly noted on the hay. I'll put pine shavings in the laying boxes

 

[saddina]

Ok since you did buy layer feed, and it sounds like it's her first "misfire" things should settle back in fast. Give it a day or two, and if she's not back to normal, ask again.

 

[PopVultureATX]

Thanks, that's what I expected. Since she seems perky and happy, I figured it'd just take a couple of days for her to get back into her routine and adjust to the new feed.