Questions about flock starting to lay

[Valgal25]

I have 10 backyard chickens. All are BSL & siblings, we believe all are gals. We got our first eggs on Monday & have had about 14 total. I know for sure at least 3 of my hens are laying & suspect it may actually be 5. 1 seems to lay very thin shelled eggs, ultra fine & leathery, that don’t seem to make it. I’ve found 2 shells like that so far & egg yolks & whites absorbed into the shavings of their coop. (I clean it every day & the yolks were largely intact so I don’t think anyone had been trying to eat those eggs.) Was wondering 2 things: 1) Do siblings usually all start to lay within a week or 2 of each other? 2) Are ultra thin eggs normal when hen just starts laying, & how can I help her get thicker shells?
The girls are already on a layer feed & it has added calcium. (They’ve been on that feed for about a month as we were told sometimes the BSL’s we got will start laying as early as 15 weeks. They are 20 weeks old today.) They get bonus treats (mostly scraps) & grit on top of that, but the grit is still just granite grit, Their water is changed 3x a day & they have 2 tanks so I don’t think it could be dehydration or lack of calcium.
Thanks for the help!

 

[JaeG]

You could also offer them coarse oyster shell grit in a separate bowl, but thin shelled eggs are common when pullets start to lay. It takes awhile for their systems to work out the kinks and operate smoothly.

I'm not sure if it is common for siblings to begin laying at a similar time but there could be a genetic factor to it.

 

[Valgal25]

You could also offer them coarse oyster shell grit in a separate bowl, but thin shelled eggs are common when pullets start to lay. It takes awhile for their systems to work out the kinks and operate smoothly.

I'm not sure if it is common for siblings to begin laying at a similar time but there could be a genetic factor to it.

One of my gals got injured at about week 12 & broke her leg. (We splinted it within minutes & she made it. Doesn’t even limp!) I’m expecting she at least will take probably the longest to lay because she needed extra time & calcium to heal her broken leg. She’s also on the small side compared to the other girls. But I’m wondering if I can expect the other gals to start laying soon.
I will be picking up grit with oyster shells on Monday. I usually mix about half the grit into their feed bags. They usually eat through a bag of feed every 3-4 weeks or so. I add a little in dishes for them to pick at too, which seems to be popular with them. All in all, they’re very happy & the heavily pregnant raccoon in our yard can’t make it into their run or coop so we’re really pleased with how this is working out.

 

[aart]

Do not mix digestive granite grit or oyster shell into the feed, put them in separate containers.
Also what protein percentage is your layer feed?
Nix any other 'treats' or 'scraps' to maximize layer feed nutrition.

 

[Valgal25]

Do not mix digestive granite grit or oyster shell into the feed, put them in separate containers.
Also what protein percentage is your layer feed?
Nix any other 'treats' or 'scraps' to maximize layer feed nutrition.

It’s 18% protein. I had mixed granite w/their feed per the bag’s instructions, but they also have a dish of it separately. (I noticed some of the gals preferred getting it out of feed bc they would try to scratch both mix the 2 then eat it together.)
They get an 8 oz cup of treats per day for the whole flock of 10. I don’t think it comprises much of their diet at all considering they eat about 128 oz of feed per day. Usually it’s bonus food scraps like leftover lettuce or spinach, scratching corn, or 1x a week they get some fruit.