Odd egg

[Lynn Manes]

This is a pic of an egg one of my pullets gave us today. You can practically see through it,and the shell is super soft. You might be able to see the indentation in it & I made more with a very light pressure of my thumb. We have 7 hens & a rooster who all get along great. We normally get 6 eggs a day, but our weather cooled down here and production slowed for 2 days to just 2 eggs. Today this was among 6 eggs again. I'm sure it's inedible and will go in compost bin, but what caused this? We obviously think we have a hen who isn't laying since 6 of 7 is our daily count. Now I wonder if this is from the 7th hen just starting to lay.I suppose if I get 1 more egg before day's end, that will answer it. Otherwise, I don't get it. Any advice is welcome. Thank you.

 

[WindyHillFarm]

Uh oh! There are a few things that can cause this problem. Take a look at the chart here: http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publi...dbook/16/thinshelled-eggs-and-shellless-eggs/ and best of luck!

 

[Lynn Manes]

Uh oh! There are a few things that can cause this problem. Take a look at the chart here: http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publi...dbook/16/thinshelled-eggs-and-shellless-eggs/   and best of luck!

Thank you for that very informative article. I am hoping from what I read that the cause is my 7th pullet's just beginning to lay. I sure hope this was just a freak thing. We give our chickens an organic lay from TSC plus oyster shell, grit, & scratch about every other day. And to keep my chickens happy they get dried mealworms every third day and I just started placing a combo of fresh herbs and flower heads I read about on Pinterest in each nest box. The girls love those i just don't know which hen it is as we got all of them about the same time. Would be too hard bc if lack of space to do so to isolate each one but we might have no choice if this continues. It would make me sad if I had to do one of the girls in, but if so would that hen be ok to put in the freezer?

 

[WindyHillFarm]

I hope it's one of your pullets - that makes the most sense especially since you take such great care of your girls. If the problem continues beyond a few weeks then I guess you could eat her, as long as she's not sick. As for the eggs, you can probably eat them or use them to bake with as long as you use them immediately. If you don't want to use them yourself, you can cook them, chop them into tiny bits, and feed them to the hens to boost their protein intake. They need a little more protein during the beginning of the laying season anyway.

 

[Lynn Manes]

I hope it's one of your pullets - that makes the most sense especially since you take such great care of your girls. If the problem continues beyond a few weeks then I guess you could eat her, as long as she's not sick. As for the eggs, you can probably eat them or use them to bake with as long as you use them immediately. If you don't want to use them yourself, you can cook them, chop them into tiny bits, and feed them to the hens to boost their protein intake. They need a little more protein during the beginning of the laying season anyway.

I threw the egg in compost, but if we get another I'll take your advise and cook it and feed to the girls. I'm not that much of an egg lover to eat one like that I don't know which one laid this egg. All I can figure is it was a first egg for the 1 that hasn't been laying as we we're only getting 6 eggs a day from 7 hens. So that's what I'm thinking too. Thanks for your advice. I love this group