Soft Shelled Egg off Roost

Disheygirl

Songster
Mar 21, 2021
377
649
201
Indianapolis, IN
I have three pullets who are at POL - one has laid five eggs (pretty much every other day) which look normal. They’re small, but of normal consistency and always laid in the nesting box. The other two have been doing the squat for about a week now.

Four days ago, I integrated five younger pullets into the coop. They had been separated by a wire fence in the run for a few weeks, and now that they’re together, the older (by two months) girls now chase them around a little, but it’s been mostly fine (no injuries or other). The younger girls don’t have as much heft on them but they’re all sized similarly to the big girls.

Yesterday, I found a soft shelled egg below one of the roosting bars. This morning, same thing. No regular eggs And nothing in the nest box.

They are on layer feed with free choice of oyster shell, and I’ve been crushing up the shells of the one layer. Also, I saw some suspicious poop from one of the smaller ones two days ago so I added Corrid to everyone’s water.

Would stress cause the soft shell and/or the roost bar laying? I can’t tell if the layer is stressed so she stopped for a few days and this is a new layer or if it’s the same girl. Their butts look fine and they’re all acting normally. One has runny poop but it’s been hot here (watery but normal - just a lot in volume) so it could be increased water intake.

Do I just wait it out and see if they get used to their new coop mates and the laying goes back to normal? Anything else to try?
 
I have three pullets who are at POL - one has laid five eggs (pretty much every other day) which look normal. They’re small, but of normal consistency and always laid in the nesting box. The other two have been doing the squat for about a week now.

Four days ago, I integrated five younger pullets into the coop. They had been separated by a wire fence in the run for a few weeks, and now that they’re together, the older (by two months) girls now chase them around a little, but it’s been mostly fine (no injuries or other). The younger girls don’t have as much heft on them but they’re all sized similarly to the big girls.

Yesterday, I found a soft shelled egg below one of the roosting bars. This morning, same thing. No regular eggs And nothing in the nest box.

They are on layer feed with free choice of oyster shell, and I’ve been crushing up the shells of the one layer. Also, I saw some suspicious poop from one of the smaller ones two days ago so I added Corrid to everyone’s water.

Would stress cause the soft shell and/or the roost bar laying? I can’t tell if the layer is stressed so she stopped for a few days and this is a new layer or if it’s the same girl. Their butts look fine and they’re all acting normally. One has runny poop but it’s been hot here (watery but normal - just a lot in volume) so it could be increased water intake.

Do I just wait it out and see if they get used to their new coop mates and the laying goes back to normal? Anything else to try?
I wouldn't worry about them laying odd shaped eggs. Odd eggs are usually normal for hens that just started laying and their body is adjusting to their new routine.
 

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