nasty surprise this morning! UGH!

[technodoll]

I was cleaning out the poop planks from the wood pallet the girls sleep on and found my first soft-shelled egg, just plopped between two slats of wood and cracked so that the yolk was seeping out -

SOOO GROSS!!

I had to put on rubber gloves to scoop it out with my fingers

Did one of them like, just have an urge in the middle of the night and PLOP! there it is!?

 

[canada-goose]

Something like that! One day one of my hens just squatted and a shelless egg plopped out! It was gross.

 

[kathyinmo]

My first egg was like that .... right on the droppings board!

I have been told it happens occassionally with new layers.
You might want to make sure they have enough calcium. Do they have free access to oyster shells? You could sprinkle some of the "flour" from it right onto the feed.

 

[AccentOnHakes]

Quote:
Ugh..looks like a turtle to me. :\\

 

[technodoll]

So could this mean that finally ALL my hens are laying???

I had one girl I wasn't sure about... waddles and comb still small and pinkish, even if her sister has been laying for a few weeks!

At 8 months of age, it's about freaking time!

PS: first weird egg of many, all girls produce strong-shelled eggs and get oyster shell, yes! Some eggs are TOUGH to crack open!

 

[PandoraTaylor]

I have several pullets still not laying. (13 of 36 still not )
Although all are now on layer feed and cracked corn used as a morning scratch.
Many times I have found unshelled eggs laying in the yard instead of the nest. ( I have only found one in the nest)
However most of mine are whole, so I feed those to my dog, as I would not want to eat them off the ground in the chicken yard.
I have oystershell freely fed in a dish in the yard, next to the other feeders.
I am unsure of the reason they start this way sometimes.

 

[ChickenMama8]

I've had a few of those. I thought they were pretty cool looking & even saved them untill my husband got home and showed him.
We didnt eat them though. I cooked them with another egg & fed it back to the chickens.
I heard the protien is good for them every now and then.