New pullet help!

[calicosmurph]

I have 3 chickens....a Houdan who has been laying for a while, a red sexlink who is 19 weeks and started laying cute perfect little pullet eggs at 17 weeks and a white leghorn 19 weeks and hadn't layed any eggs yet before tonight. My hubby went out at about midnight to tuck them in (because we forgot) and beckoned me to come out with him and Gracie, our leghorn was just standing there outside of the henhouse looking kinda stunned. Below her were two white globby things. They were soft shelled eggs. One was bigger than the other. I heard they can lay soft shells at first but TWO? At the same time?? Should I be concerned or will this likely pass?

 

[drumstick diva]

when chickens start laying it can take awhile to work out the kinks in the system. Soft shell eggs or very small eggs should be expected. Are you giving them layer feed now? Birds don't like to move in the dark, maybe that is why she looked stunned. She probably couldn't wait any longer to get to a nest box.

 

[calicosmurph]

I have not given them layer feed as I was trying to finish up a bag of grower feed first. I have been giving oyster shell freely and they partially range in their run area. Yeah she just kinda stood there til my red came out and showed her how to peck the eggs. So we grabbed them out quickly and destroyed the evidence.

 

[lazy gardener]

I have not given them layer feed as I was trying to finish up a bag of grower feed first. I have been giving oyster shell freely and they partially range in their run area. Yeah she just kinda stood there til my red came out and showed her how to peck the eggs. So we grabbed them out quickly and destroyed the evidence.

Congrats on your new layers. My BSL laid "rubber" eggs frequently. The girls are just finishing their first month of egg laying, and she has finally settled into a nice little pullet egg/day pattern. When she first started, she'd lay a double yolker followed by 1 - 2 rubber eggs in the same day. One time, late evening, I watched her lay 2 rubber eggs in a row within 5 minutes. If you get any more eggs without shells, you can cook them up and feed them back to the girls. It's perfectly fine to finish up that bag of feed you have on hand as long as they have a good supply of calcium. My girls prefer ground egg shell to oyster shell. I rinse the shells when I crack the eggs, let them dry, then nuke them for 30 seconds or so before taking my rolling pin to them. I don't think I'll ever throw an other egg shell away. If the girls don't get them, I'll give them to my garden!