Three soft eggs in one night!!!

[rosemarythyme]

For sure I worried about the dairy but my chickens seem to have no problem with it. Sharp cheeses have most of the lactose fermented out of them anyway so if lactose intolerance was an issue the sharp cheeses I share with them should not be a problem anyway. Cheese is one of the highest calcium sources that is edible so I don't see any reason why their needs couldn't be met with cheese. There's certainly nothing in nature that can match it that a chicken would normally forage for.

Except they can't go to the fridge for cheese whenever they feel they need more calcium, and if it's high in calcium as you say then they also need to be able to opt out of receiving it. Not sure if the fat content is an issue but not going to pretend I know how to convert nutritional info for humans into chicken.

I just don't see why the oyster shell should be removed even if you didn't see them eating it, as it does no harm just sitting there. You can also save some eggshell and bake it if you want, and crush it up and add it to the oyster shell for another calcium option that some birds find more acceptable.

 

[Avocadoman]

well they can always opt out of cheese by simply not eating it which they occasionally do. Oyster shell does harm to my pocket book if its just sitting there. I certainly am not going to waste money on anything they refuse to eat. I might try ye old eggshell trick.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I might try ye old eggshell trick.

I didn't bother with eggshells until this past winter or maybe spring? It definitely helps stretch out the oyster shell (which I still use, but I need to buy a lot less of it now) and I find it encourages birds that were less likely to take oyster shell to at least intake some calcium, as they show a preference for eggshell overall.

I just load up the small toaster oven tray on top of my toaster oven with shells as I get them, and then put them in the oven whenever I'm preheating it for dinner. The shells get nice and toasty and easy to crush with the heat from the preheat cycle.

 

[Avocadoman]

Good to know, the birds and squirrels raiding everything in the chicken run is a problem, no reason for me to encourage them further. Maybe I'll just go back and try getting some oyster shell and quit being a cheap skate although I suspect they don't eat it. One more soft egg last night under the roost. I'm also going to keep better track of where each hen is roosting after they get settled in for the night and then see exactly which hen is dropping the soft eggs in her sleep but I suspect I already know.

 

[Molinarohomestead]

Hey everyone,
I have 6 chickens, 4 that lay brown eggs and 4 that lay colored. These girls just started laying last week. Yesterday I got 2 perfect little brown eggs, but this morning I found 3 soft shelled eggs that were laid off the roosting bar. Could this be because they are young? They are 17 weeks now, but started laying at 16 weeks. Could this also be because I just started them on layer feed and I do have oyster shell for them. We have had 5 eggs total in the nesting box. But we have had quite a few soft ones off the roosting bar too that I have been told could be because they are new. Help! I'm so worried. I had a girl last night with an egg stuck that we got out but it was also soft!

This happened to me a week after mine first started laying, but ours were completely shell-less. I also think the heat has something to do with it, heat stress can cause it

 

[Badger Farm]

My best layer has been suddenly laying soft shelled eggs from her roost at night for the last week, now her bestie friend who is a new layer is doing the same. I expect the new layer to do this, but my best layer doing it so often who has been laying for over three months consistently, is disturbing and impacting my egg supply. I took them off the oyster shell about three weeks ago because they didn't seem to be eating it and the laying food I've been giving them says it has oyster shell in it. I also like to give them cheese which they all love so I don't think it's calcium deficiency, plus the fact they are laying at night is odd. The eggs are normal size too so I don't suspect egg-drop-syndrome although I do have another hen that does exhibit egg-drop-syndrome symptoms (small no pigment egg with sometimes softshell), but my hen with egg-drop is laying pretty well now. Anyway all of my hens have reduced egg production over the last week, two weeks ago I was getting 4-5 eggs a day from six hens and that was including the young one that hadn't even started laying yet. I think I'll try the oyster shell again but I'm not confident that's the problem.

Last week, I found two soft eggs on the sh*t board - one had broken, leaving a mess on the board. This morning, same thing. We have three girls who are laying daily, with no apparent problems. The other four girls haven’t started laying yet. They’re all 20 weeks old. What could be causing this?

We have oyster shells available to them in the run, along with layer feed in the feeder.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Last week, I found two soft eggs on the sh*t board - one had broken, leaving a mess on the board. This morning, same thing. We have three girls who are laying daily, with no apparent problems. The other four girls haven’t started laying yet. They’re all 20 weeks old. What could be causing this?

At 20 weeks old they're still extremely new to laying, so problematic eggs, eggs dropped in the wrong place or wrong time, are all very normal during this period.