Question about egg

[Angel13]

This morning my husband went to let the girls out of the coop and found an egg that was soft and translucent. Is this normal for a first egg? We have one other hen that has been laying since the 13th but they have all been normal eggs. Also this new egg wasn't in the nesting box. Our White leghorn always lays in the nesting boxes how can we get the others to do the same? We have golf balls in the nesting boxes and straw. Anything else we can do?

Thanks,
Angel

 

[mortie]

We got our first egg this morning and it was dropped from the roost. The bird in question knows where the put the egg but this one either caught her off guard or decided it HAD to come when it was dark and she couldn't help but drop it from the roost.

I suspect something similar happened with yours...she will get the hang of it quickly since she has a mentor to show her how it's done. You've pretty much done all you can by providing inviting nests and baiting them with golf balls. I think she'll get it pretty fast. Mine is kind of on her own but she has been sitting in the nest box so I know she will get it right when the time comes and it's not dark. At least I hope so!

It is quite normal for a first egg to have some abnormalities, and being shell-less is pretty common. You should be seeing normal eggs out of her in the very near future!

 

[chickenfool17]

Where is the best place to get straw from? I've looked at local feed stores and other places but I have no idea where everyone gets it?

 

[One Chick Two]

Just wanted to add, make sure to have oyster shell available at all times in addition to your layer feed.

Also, you can feed back rinsed, crushed up eggshells back to the hens- also helps. Just no whole or unbroken partial eggshells as you do not want to teach hens egg eating. Broken eggshells do not look like eggs in their original form so the hens don't realize they are the one and same.

Instead of straw you can always use pine shavings. Straw can sometimes cause crop issues when they eat long pieces.

 

[Angel13]

Where is the best place to get straw from? I've looked at local feed stores and other places but I have no idea where everyone gets it?

We get our straw from a local garden center.

 

[Angel13]

Just wanted to add, make sure to have oyster shell available at all times in addition to your layer feed.

Also, you can feed back rinsed, crushed up eggshells back to the hens- also helps. Just no whole or unbroken partial eggshells as you do not want to teach hens egg eating. Broken eggshells do not look like eggs in their original form so the hens don't realize they are the one and same.

Instead of straw you can always use pine shavings. Straw can sometimes cause crop issues when they eat long pieces.

We started giving them oyster shell when our first hen started laying. We just ran out of the starter feed and are now giving them layer feed. Hopefully her eggs will start forming and looking normal soon and she finds the nesting boxes. Thanks for your help...

 

[Angel13]

We got our first egg this morning and it was dropped from the roost.  The bird in question knows where the put the egg but this one either caught her off guard or decided it HAD to come when it was dark and she couldn't help but drop it from the roost.

I suspect something similar happened with yours...she will get the hang of it quickly since she has a mentor to show her how it's done.  You've pretty much done all you can by providing inviting nests and baiting them with golf balls.  I think she'll get it pretty fast.  Mine is kind of on her own but she has been sitting in the nest box so I know she will get it right when the time comes and it's not dark.  At least I hope so!

It is quite normal for a first egg to have some abnormalities, and being shell-less is pretty common.  You should be seeing normal eggs out of her in the very near future!

Thanks for your post. I hope her eggs look normal soon and she finds the nesting boxes. It's so exciting to find an egg but not one that looked like that and not in the nesting box. They are still young around 17-18 weeks so maybe as the get a little older things will go better.