Soft shelled eggs laid off perch

[13badgers]

Hi

I'm very new to keeping chickens so sorry for maybe asking an obvious question

We got 4 chickens 3 weeks ago - at point of lay - and have had normal eggs from them all. However one (no idea which though) has started laying soft shelled eggs off their perch.

Is this just a "getting used to things" problem or am I doing something wrong.

They are fed layers pellets with occasional treat of corn. They spend the day free ranging.

I assume that it's only one chicken laying the soft one as we tend to get 3 other normal eggs each day.

We did have problem with them know to use the nesting box, but some lovely plastic Easter eggs seemed to have solve that - well until these perch dropped ones!!

They have access to grit and oyster shell as well but don't seem to have touched that.

Any help gratefully received!!

 

[N F C]

Welcome to BYC!

I noticed my girls snacking on a lot more oyster shell once I moved it close to their water. You might try that.

Also, you may want to cut out the corn for a while. Chickens love it but it doesn't have much nutrition in it. Here's a chart that might be helpful listing treats that are good (and not so good):
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-treat-chart-the-best-treats-for-backyard-chickens

And this article about egg abnormalities from the Learning Center has been a good reference for me several times. It shows photos of strange eggs and the possible cause of each:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/common-egg-quality-problems

Good luck to you with your new flock. Nice to have you join us!

 

[13badgers]

That's so helpful. Thanks

 

[N F C]

That's so helpful. Thanks

You're very welcome! I hope things smooth out for you with the eggs soon.

 

[13badgers]

Hi.

I'm still having this problem and doan' t quite understand and it. I have 4 chickens all about 24 weeks old (or so I'm lead to believe) who have been laying for about 3 weeks. Every morning for the last week or so there has been at least 1 soft shelled egg dropped off their perch over night. Have no idea which chicken it is but then yesterday I also had 4 proper eggs laid in the nesting box. The girls go into their coop around 9pm and are let out at 7am and this is when we found the soft shell. All the hard eggs were laid by 11 am meaning one chicken has laid twice within 14 hours.

Is it more likely that one chicken has laid 2 "proper" eggs or that one has laid a soft shell and a hard shell one in a day?

I've only got 4 chickens it's got to be one of those options

Is this a common thing for the first few weeks or should I be worried. They have access to plenty of grit and free range. They are fed layers pellets and we've not been giving them any corn for the past few days.

Help!!!!

 

[aesch]

Hi, I also had this problem with 2 of my girls. I quit feeding them treats and gave them crushed eggshells that I had baked to kill any bacteria. After a few weeks they were fine. I think the problem is that they are very new at laying and their bodies haven't quite figured out how it works yet.

 

[rjohns39]

Hi and welcome to BYC We're so happy you've joined us

New layers often have a little trouble getting it right when they first start out. Make sure they have plenty of calcium (oyster shell) free choice and give her some time to work it out.