Update and question

[Brenda Jones]

My girl has now given me 4 eggs, the first one on the 22nd, then 24th, 25th and tonight. each getting a little larger. this last one though had a VERY soft shell and was laid around 6:30 pm she laid it in a different sot because her sisters were up in the roost where she normally lays, She has free choice calcium and grit. Is it normal to have a soft egg after laying normal eggs... and should she be laying every day??? I wasn't expecting her to lay this often

 

[LateBirdFarms]

What breed is your girl? Depending on what breed she is, yes, you can get 6-7 eggs a week. Being a new layer, they can be prone to some glitches, but I would definitely keep an eye on her future eggs. Is she laying while on the roost?

 

[Brenda Jones]

What breed is your girl? Depending on what breed she is, yes, you can get 6-7 eggs a week. Being a new layer, they can be prone to some glitches, but I would definitely keep an eye on her future eggs. Is she laying while on the roost?

LateBirdFarms, my girls are Sapphire gems. They will be 18 weeks old on Monday. I am surprised that my girl is laying nearly daily

 

[LaFleche]

My girl has now given me 4 eggs, the first one on the 22nd, then 24th, 25th and tonight. each getting a little larger. this last one though had a VERY soft shell and was laid around 6:30 pm she laid it in a different sot because her sisters were up in the roost where she normally lays, She has free choice calcium and grit. Is it normal to have a soft egg after laying normal eggs... and should she be laying every day??? I wasn't expecting her to lay this often

What exactly are you feeding? Sometimes in winter they lack sunshine/Vitamin D3 to process the calcium which can lead to softer shells, even more so during the first weeks of laying activity.

 

[Brenda Jones]

LateBirdFarms, my girls are Sapphire gems. They will be 18 weeks old on Monday. I am surprised that my girl is laying nearly daily

I also got to the egg literally as she was walking away from it.

 

[LateBirdFarms]

LateBirdFarms, my girls are Sapphire gems. They will be 18 weeks old on Monday. I am surprised that my girl is laying nearly daily

I'm personally not familiar with the breed, but if I'm not mistaken Sapphire Gems are a hatchery hybrid with a higher production rate than a lot of the heritage breeds. @LaFleche is right, I see this sometimes with my girls coming into lay during the winter. Hopefully she'll work out the kinks and you won't see many of these.

 

[Brenda Jones]

I feed them a raw organic grain feed and they have free choice oyster shells mixed with egg shells. she has chosen a spot in the roost area to lay her eggs, but it was already getting dark when she wanted to lay and I had pulled all the girls in for the night. and she didn't want to lay while the others were around. I do give them a treat of whole milk with DHA / OMEGA3 or some Greek yogurt with frozen blueberries about once a month. I also ferment their feed but they have gotten very picky and have not wanted to eat more than a couple bites... it also freezes where the dry stuff doesn't

 

[Brenda Jones]

Should I mix the calcium in with their food?

 

[LaFleche]

Should I mix the calcium in with their food?

You could add a supplement containing calcium+VitD3+VitK to their water once a week, and for the one with issues feed her a tablet for several days.

 

[nuthatched]

I feed them a raw organic grain feed and they have free choice oyster shells mixed with egg shells. she has chosen a spot in the roost area to lay her eggs, but it was already getting dark when she wanted to lay and I had pulled all the girls in for the night. and she didn't want to lay while the others were around. I do give them a treat of whole milk with DHA / OMEGA3 or some Greek yogurt with frozen blueberries about once a week. I also ferment their feed but they have gotten very picky and have not wanted to eat more than a couple bites... it also freezes where the dry stuff doesn't

Do you mean that the pellets are made of organic grain or all you are feeding is organic grain?
They need actually formulated feed, grains (i.e scratch) isn't nutritionally balanced. it's like you eating nothing but cheerios, there's some nutrition but its all carbs and you won't last long.