VERY Soft Eggs

[Mov1estar]

I"m new to this so I don't know the natural progression of a hen starting to lay eggs. I have 2 Rhode Islands I picked up from a feed store. One started laying immediately, small but daily, and the other now about three weeks later has started dropping a couple, plastic baggie thin, eggs out in their run area, not in the nest. When you pick the egg up your fingers squeeze into the egg. Kind of transparent too.
* Will this pass?
* Are the eggs safe to eat?
* Has anyone experienced this before?
* Does she know the egg is bad and not lay it in the nest?
Thanks, Robert

 

[1876 Farm]

Shelless eggs happen sometimes and perhaps it's because she's new at it. A small egg is definetly a sign of a new layer.

Are you giving them oyster shell? They need this to strengthen their shells. As our chickens lay, throughout their whole laying cycle, we watch for when the eggs start to get transparent and spotty looking. This let's us know it's time to add more oyster shell.

 

[Mov1estar]

Thanks for the reply. The one chicken has nice hard shells. I feed them a 20% Egg producing food and a little cracked corn for a treat. They also eat some grass. I throw egg shells in the pin and they eat that too. Can you eat the soft eggs? I've just been throwing them away.

 

[1876 Farm]

I get so many eggs that I don't tend to eat anything that looks odd. All winter long I got 3-4 dozen eggs a week, I am now getting around 11 dozen eggs a week. The only issue I see with eating them, is that since they are missing the nice hard shell and the bloom that keeps bad bacteria from entering the egg you might expose yourself to bad bacteria, like Saminella (if it is present).

Here's a good article on odd eggs:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/common-egg-quality-problems

The odd eggs I mix with water (1 egg, 1 gallon water) and spred it on my plants to keep the deer away.

I would caution on giving your chickens the cracked shell, unless it is pretty crumbled up. If they realize that it looks like the eggs they are laying they might start eating their eggs. That's a pain to stop.

 

[Mov1estar]

Thank you for the reference. I'll check it out.