Shell less egg

[ElysianChick]

Two of my RSL girls have been laying for a week. Today one of them laid a shell less egg. She's been laying in the nesting box faithfully, but today this one appeared under the roost. One of my other girls (the Wyandotte) I think laid her first one today. Could the shell less egg just be a quirk of beginning to lay? Why under the roost?

 

[Adamschickfarm]

I know the shell less egg comes from not getting enough calcium. I suggest that you switch to layer feed immediately, and if you already have buy oyster shell and mix it in there food . I hope this is help full

 

[ElysianChick]

They're on layer feed and they have free choice of oyster shell. So I'm wondering if this is maybe just a "new layer" quirk? Still not sure about why under the roost when she's been faithfully laying in the nesting boxes, though.

 

[Pork Pie]

Agreed that layers feed is important (and possibly some free choice oyster shell also). IMO chickens new to laying take a while until they get their plumbing sorted out and it can be a hit and miss affair for a couple of months (for some of my flock at least). So if you are feeding them layers food, then don't worry about it - its part of chicken life.

CT

 

[Pork Pie]

Sorry, we posted at the same time (almost) and you beat me to it!

CT

 

[ElysianChick]

Great minds think alike. Well...something like that. LOL

 

[Ridgerunner]

The hen’s internal egg making factory has a lot of different parts. While most pullets get it right from the start, it’s not unusual for a pullet just starting to lay to have some strange eggs or strange behaviors. It just takes a while for some of them to get the kinks out of their system. This includes behaviors as well as strange eggs. When a pullet first starts to lay it’s not unusual to find shell-less eggs, soft shelled eggs, eggs with extremely thick hard shells, double yolked eggs, no yolk eggs, no white eggs, or other strange things.

Often a pullet has control of the first egg she lays. About a week before she starts to lay she will start looking for a good nest and lays her first egg there just like she should. But some just don’t see it coming. They might drop an egg anywhere they happen to be any time of the day, from the roost at night or just walking around during the day.

One of the things that often takes a while for a pullet to get straight is when to release a yolk to start the internal egg making process. There are certain triggers that tell a hen when to release a yolk to start an egg. One of those is daylight. It normally takes about 25 hours for an egg to go through her internal factory, so if she releases a yolk at the wrong time, it can be ready to lay at night. Thus you get eggs laid from the roost. If a hen releases two yolks at the same time you might get a double yolked egg. If she releases a second yolk too early, she may lay a normal first egg but the second egg can be strange. She normally makes a limited amount of certain material that goes into the egg so she may not have enough available for the second egg. One of those things that is limited is shell material. That’s why the second egg is often shell-less or very thinned shelled.

They normally clean this behavior up within a few days but some can take two weeks or so. If it goes on for more than two weeks you may need to address it. Until then, just live with it. It’s not unusual and does not signal that you need to change anything. Once they start they do need extra calcium to produce the shells. If you are not doing so already, either feed them a higher calcium Layer feed or offer oyster shells on the side. If you are already offering extra calcium there is no need to alter anything right now.

 

[ElysianChick]

I kind of figured it was just a new layer quirk. Thanks so much for the explanation. I'll just wait and see what tomorrow brings.

 

[aart]

I kind of figured it was just a new layer quirk. Thanks so much for the explanation. I'll just wait and see what tomorrow brings.

Yep, new layer quirk...not uncommon at all.
Softies often appear in places other than nests......the softness may make them harder to 'move down the pike', so to speak.

Have seen, a couple times, a pullet standing stock still for 30-40 minutes, then drop a softie.
Kinda freaked me out the first time, thought she was ill,
but went back to check on her and there was the softie on the ground where she had been standing.....whew.

 

[ElysianChick]

She more than made up for the dud yesterday. Her normal large egg is on the right. On the left is this morning's egg. Poor Clementine! I can't wait to crack this one. I'm curious to see if it's a double yolker.