Several Pullets Laying Shell-less eggs

[dalkeithowner]

I have 3 Pullets that have started laying between 3 weeks and 6 days ago. In the last week I have now had 5 shellless eggs:

• On Monday: 2 with the other chicken not laying at all, so I am not sure if it may have been punctured and they ate it or I could not see it.
• Today (Thursday) 3 - even though I also had 2 shelled eggs.
• On all other days all 3 were laying one egg each, with perfectly smooth and good quality shells.

I'm trying what it is that I do wrong if anything. I've spoken to other chicken owners or researched my actions online and they seem to be generally fine.

Feed

I am feeding layers pellets (2/3) and fresh soy bean pulp (1/3 by weight). During the evening they have access to the garden where they seem to eat grass, lavender and thuja shoots in addition to their feed.

They have access to a separate feeder with grit and shells for additional calcium.

To make them come to me I also feed them 5 raisins each every day.

They drink water with a teaspoon of Apple Cider vinegar per half litre.


Routine

They are in the coop without feed over night. I open the coop between 7 am and 8 am and lock it after dusk. Sunrise is earlier at about 5am But the coop is dark so they would not really see it. (We have the small eglu coop).

I open the run to give them garden access every evening at about 5pm. They will roam with my dog about, the dog does chase them if they come to close to him but he never touches them.

I take each one of them to sit on my lap for a few minutes as I want them to get used to me. They don't readily come and may try to jump off, but they usually now wait until I put them back down.

 

[dawg53]

There are several things you stated that may cause the shell-less eggs.
Feed them layer pellets only; no bean pulp, no raisins, no other treats not mentioned. Dont let your dog chase them. Stress can cause egg laying issues as well as other problems. Dont pick them up to put them on your lap, again, it's stress. However, if one or two jump up on your lap on their own, that's fine.
The small eglu coop might be too small for them, not enough space between them when they try to sleep. Time to build a bigger coop or buy a bigger eglu coop.
Finally, open up the coop at sunrise. You can go back to bed. Birds need sunlight, natural vitamin D which helps in absorption of calcium in order to produce eggs.