Soft shelled egg.

[Soot the silkie]

This morning I found a soft-shelled egg below the roost of my young olive eggers who are at laying age. This is their first egg. Is it normal for the first egg to be soft shelled? Do they need more calcium in their diet?

Thanks for any feedback!

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

This morning I found a soft-shelled egg below the roost of my young olive eggers who are at laying age. This is their first egg. Is it normal for the first egg to be soft shelled? Do they need more calcium in their diet?

Thanks for any feedback!

It is entirely normal for there to be some soft shelled and/or oddly shelled eggs when a bird is coming into production (whether for the first time or after a break between laying cycles, though more common with the former). It is not an indication of a lack of calcium, rather an indication that her system hasn't quite gotten up and running on all cylinders just yet with regards to all the moving parts involved in building a perfect egg. There is sufficient calcium in their body to be drawn on for the first several eggs without extra dietary calcium - though it would be a good idea to go ahead and put out a dish of oyster shell now since you have seen the first egg.

 

[Soot the silkie]

It is entirely normal for there to be some soft shelled and/or oddly shelled eggs when a bird is coming into production (whether for the first time or after a break between laying cycles, though more common with the former). It is not an indication of a lack of calcium, rather an indication that her system hasn't quite gotten up and running on all cylinders just yet with regards to all the moving parts involved in building a perfect egg. There is sufficient calcium in their body to be drawn on for the first several eggs without extra dietary calcium - though it would be a good idea to go ahead and put out a dish of oyster shell now since you have seen the first egg.

Ok thanks! That's what I suspected. The machinery is a bit rusty.