RIR "pooping" soft eggs! HELP!!!

[towniefarm]

Please help....My RIR (hatched 2/10/10) is having an embarassing problem, laying soft shelled, opaque eggs. I have read that this is fairly common among teenage chickens who are getting everything in sync. However, she will sit on the nest and lay a perfectly good, hard shelled egg for two or three days in a row, then seems to regress and will simply "poop" out a funky jelly egg WHEREVER, not even looking back. This cycle has been going on since she began laying in mid July. She is not in distress. My flock of five are free ranged in the backyard and fed Layena, scratch grains, flax seed, table scraps, etc. She is robust with shiny plumage and bright red comb and wattles. I am a chicken newbie and hope for some advice from you experts. Things are reaching a crisis around here since my toy breed dog has learned to pal around with her, waiting for a scooby snack! YUK!!! Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[ADozenGirlz]

Quote:
You're right that these types of eggs are not uncommon until the girls can get their egg-making machines up to speed. You didn't say how much of her diet consists of 'treats' (scratch and table scraps) but it couldn't hurt to dial back her snacks until she gets her act together. Another thought I had was that you might want to offer oyster shell 'free choice' to all of your birds. It's a calcium supplement that THEY decide when to ingest; somehow they know when they are in need of a calcium boost. I have mine attached in a little bird feeder cup inside my coop next to the pop door (some people use empty tuna cans nailed to the wall, whatever works for you). You will find that all of your chickens' shells will be nice and hard with the addition of oyster shell to their diets.

Don't think of this as a problem, it's normal and will resolve soon. Good luck!

 

[Fergie]

I would make sure she's getting fresh layer feed and oyster shells. Calcium and Vitamin D are especially important for egg shell formation. If she's having trouble laying egg shells and is passing just the egg, she could be in danger of getting egg peritonitis.

 

[keeko]

I've had this exact issue with one of my RIR no less!! I was standing in the run with them, she ran around, and then all of a sudden :LUNK:: it pops out like a water balloon! She didn't sit or anything. (My girls were hatched March 5, not long after yours).

I don't think you should worry, but do provide them with oyster shells. Even though most people say to offer them free choice, I had to put a few in the feed and make a "bread crumb trail" to the goat feeder to show them where they were. I think they'll pick it up soon enough. I'm new to this chicken thing too, but I imagine it takes a few months to really get the gear working properly!!

 

[sunflowerenvy]

you could give her some oyster shells or hard boil some eggs with shell and feed it back to your flock.

 

[towniefarm]

Thanks everybody for the advice about oyster shells. I had not thought about that, since my Black Star is laying just fine. I picked up some oyster shell and will scatter it around thier favorite gathering places. Just knowing that other folks have been through this (even w/RIR's) makes me feel much better. My only other advice was from an elderly lady who raised chickens back in the day....She told me that any of her chickens that laid soft eggs for more than two weeks got put up for Sunday dinner.

She also said that the soft eggs are perfectly edible, as long as they don't get dirty, but .....eeeeewwwwww! Don't think I'll take her advice, the dog can have them.