HI ALL, Ok here ya go - We just got 6 chickens 2wks ago... a 9 mo silkie (she's sassy), a 9 mo polish, a 5 mo jersey giant, and three 5 mo brahmas. The silkie and polish are laying - yeah! The jersey and brahmas have not started yet. Last weekend, we added 4 RIRsex to the coop, they are about 9 months. We are loving the chickens and are so glad we made the decision. We have a good size 4x6 coop and a 9x12 run. we have not had them free range yet as we wanted them to get used to their new home. OKAY, question...in the week since we have gotten the 4 RIR we have gotten 3 brown eggs. Is their egg production lower because they are stressed about a new situation? Also, in the past week I have found a few yoke messes with a soft shell (brown) in the boxes or coop. I don;t know if these are RIRs or the 5 mo olds (new layers). I am a little paranoid that they have tasted these a little and may start eating the eggs. Since we have had them, we have given them layer crumbles, cracked corn, food scraps (breads, lettuce, fruit scraps) and some meal worms. I just bought some pellets and once the crumbles run out, i will be feeding them the pellets. I have oyster shells out for them. Any insights, advice, suggestions, or do/don'ts?
Soft shelled eggs happen for no real apparent reason from time to time. Just clean up all of the remnants as soon as possible. I wouldn't worry too much unless you start finding good eggs that have been partially eaten. Feeding too many scraps can contribute to thin or soft shells.