Soft shell egg laid from the roost at night?

[cackle]

My DH has been finding an egg on the coop floor almosr daily. So this morning I went out to open the pop door I shined the flashlight into the coop and saw and egg so I opened the door and could tell just by looking at it that it was not right. It had kind of a nasty feel. (This was our first one). Our food has calcium and we feed back the shell but it seems like we need to add more calcium.

Why would after they have been laying hard shelled eggs? Could it be a change in the weather?

The egg was not there when they were let out to free range at 3:15. Can a hen lay at night? Could she have been the one laying from the roost all along? She is one of the smallest of my RIR. Could the others be keeping her from getting all the nutrition she needs?

I am also wondering if this has happend before and the ate the egg. But they would leave traces wouldn't they?

Thanks,
Susan

 

[Farmer Kitty]

If the others have been fine and this is the first soft shell egg you have found then it may have just been a glitch. As for laying from the roost, can she see in the coop at night? Or is it dark? Chickens don't see very well in the dark so that could be why she is laying from the roost.

 

[spook]

Maybe one of the girls thought she had a gas pain (JUST KIDDING)!!! But why not lay at night, where they are just starting to lay, that getting the times can be difficult when a chickens body is changing. (sounds like I was talking about the facts of life...6 grade body education) Also first eggs and the umpteenth egg accidents and odd looking eggs can happen. I had a 1 yr old lay a leathery one. Good luck and hope you get some nice eating eggs soon!

 

[ams3651]

my girls laid soft shelled eggs when they started occasionally. And they were always from the roost, I just thought maybe they slipped thu.

 

[LynneP]

I had some too, for a few weeks until the girls matured. Weird things happen, I had a hen jump out of a nesting box to greet me and lay an egg by my foot as I petted her...heh

 

[redoak]

My first hen to lay did the same thing. After 2 mornings of finding eggs under the roost she started to use the nest box during the day. I have ping-pong balls and golf balls in the nest boxes to help her get the idea.

 

[henney]

Wow! The same thing just happened to my RIR. I walked out to the hen house in the morning and found a soft shell egg under the roost. It was her first egg, now she is laying eggs in the nest box with a firm shell! Guess it takes awhile for some pullets to get their inside working properly.

 

[Cason]

I had a Buff Orpington who laid a soft shelled egg nearly every day... for months. She made a great soup!

 

[cackle]

This is the first soft shell egg but not the first one in that spot. My husband even put a nest on the ground hoping she would use it. A couple of them do but evidently not the one we want too. Guess that does not matter. Including the soft shelled one we got 13 eggs from 14 pullets today.

We have had golf balls in the nest since before they started laying. Guess this one is not fooled.

Susan

 

[govega]

Quote:
I found my first soft shelled egg today> Freaked me out! Looked weird to begin with an semi transparent, in fact, I could see the yolk right through it!

It was also on the pen floor, not roost or nest boxes. I thought it would harden up but so far I brought it in and it was still soft. I have about five hens getting ready to lay, I assume it was one of theirs, and they had no idea it was coming out!