soft shell eggs two days in a row, did I buy the right thing?

[frickenchicken1]

Hi, i have 3 5ish month old hyline hens that have just laid their first couple dozen eggs. I have one particular hen that has laid two soft shell eggs, two days in a row (today and yesterday) , I got really worried, i'm thinking maybe it's because she has just started but I also thought of the calcium deficiency case. I went into the shops and found a bag of 'shell grit'. I'm wondering if I got the right thing? The description says its to help with boosting calcium and is a supplement etc etc. I've read about soft shell eggs before I got my chickens and read that you should feed crushed oyster shell. The packet that i bought says that it's crushed shell grit but it doesn't say anything about it being oyster shell. I don't think that its the type of grit that helps with food digestion (because when I look closely its literally tiny shells and little crushed shells) so it may be the right thing.. i'm just not 100% sure and would like some re-assurance
(sorry if I sound like a complete worry wart, i'm new to all of this

)

 

[Mrs. K]

This is very common in new layers. And sometimes it shows up in older layers too, it is usually just a temporary glitch in the egg making set up. It almost always self corrects. At first, I was like you, very worried about the diet. And while I do feed layer feed, and often times have oyster shell out, I truthfully have not noticed a true correlation between the two and hard shells.

If you consistently get weak shells, then a lot of times, by adding either layer feed or oystershell, in a few weeks the shells do get harder. But in my opinion, that is not what really happens in a soft shell or paper shell egg. Those eggs are just laid too quick before the egg finishes forming.

I would really expect the hen to skip a day, and then lay a normal egg. She may have a few more of these episodes in the next two months, and then normal eggs from then on.

Mrs K

 

[frickenchicken1]

Thank you so much for the reply! yeah they are hybrids after all and I'm thinking maybe she laid her egg too fast before it even finished forming. I hope the shell grit helps with that

 

[Shezadandy]

I do know Purina has a product out there. Their site says min calcium is 36% and max is 41%. I'm providing the link below so you can compare the nutritional information on your product (% calcium) with a well known product intended for chickens, and maybe have a starting point for more cost-effective options. As Mrs. K said, that's a very common thing for the first few weeks while they get their production line in order. =)

https://www.purinamills.com/chicken-feed/products/detail/purina-oyster-shell