What is this alongside freshly laid egg???

[BigBlueHen53]

The baked recycled shells may not provide enough calcium. I recommend purchasing a bag of crushed oyster shell and keeping a dish of that available in the coop for them to help themselves at all times. A bag will last a very long time.

 

[Kyng]

The baked recycled shells may not provide enough calcium. I recommend purchasing a bag of crushed oyster shell and keeping a dish of that available in the coop for them to help themselves at all times. A bag will last a very long time.

I can’t seem to find them here

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I can’t seem to find them here

Oh, whoops, you're not in the US. Hmm. We will have to think on it. Since your hens have just started laying I think they need calcium from a source other than their own eggs. Can you get shells from other hens, older hens that have been laying a while? Let me ask some of the Educators on here, they may have suggestions.

@coach723
@Ridgerunner
@Shadrach
Are you aware of any sources of calcium for this area of the world?

 

[Kyng]

Oh, whoops, you're not in the US. Hmm. We will have to think on it. Since your hens have just started laying I think they need calcium from a source other than their own eggs. Can you get shells from other hens, older hens that have been laying a while? Let me ask some of the Educators on here, they may have suggestions.

@coach723
@Ridgerunner
@Shadrach
Are you aware of any sources of calcium for this area of the world?

We buy eggs from the store. and I have a bowl for them available at all times on their coop. I bake them and crush them. They are eating them, and I refill it anytime it’s low.

I’ve asked some chicken owners from around here and they say they don’t give anything extra, just what’s in the food. I will find out exactly what’s in the food.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I think it’s one of the two I have that haven’t started laying, and this is the first egg. The third one I have already laid four eggs and they’re bigger.

I think Dobie has already answered this. When pullets start laying they sometimes have glitches, whether that is the first egg or they have already laid four eggs. The process of putting an egg together and laying it is pretty complicated, I'm surprised that so many get it all right to start with. Most of the time they correct these glitches in a few days but if they last more than 2 weeks then there might be something wrong with the pullet.

Chickens are 19 weeks about.

Still very young. The younger they are when they start laying the more likely they are to have glitches.

I understand this is frightening when it happens to you but this is not all that unusual.

I obviously do not know exactly what happened, it could have been any one of the three for many different reasons. One possibility is that the pullet that is laying produced a second egg one day. There was not enough shell material or other bits to make a regular egg so it was soft and smaller than the others. That kind of stuff happens with new layers.

My suggestion is to wait another two weeks or so. If it clears up great. If it is still regularly happening then we can discuss it.

 

[Kyng]

Thank you
Had no egg today.
Will see tomorrow !

 

[coach723]

I agree with what everyone has said already. New layers can have all kinds of glitches and anomalies. Not all will have them, but some do. It can take a bit of time for their bodies to get it all figured out. I had a new layer last year lay one in the yard right in front of me, mid air, as she was startled and freaked out and leaped into the air. As soon as it hit the ground all the other birds were on it in seconds. Sometimes, when they are just starting, they don't recognize what their bodies are telling them and they lay in odd places, on the roosts, in the run, in the yard, etc. I had a new layer laying shell less eggs and couldn't ID who it was until I saw her do it, in the yard. Sadly she was taken by a raccoon weeks later, but in her case I suspect she had a shell gland malfunction and would have continued to lay shell less eggs. I did a quick search for calcium supplements for poultry in the middle east and it appears there are powder forms and liquid forms available, rather than the crushed oyster shell we get here. I would look to see if you can find one of those products, I would think where ever you purchase your feed. Many birds do fine on the calcium content in feed, if it's for layers, but some birds may need more. And most of them need less when in molt or out of lay. It can vary a lot. Some birds don't absorb it as well as others. This may just be a glitch, it's not uncommon, but if it persists then I would try to supplement calcium to see if it helps. In an emergency, if a bird is egg bound or consistently laying softshelled or shell less eggs, you can use human calcium supplement tablets or capsules to help that bird, to try to reverse the deficiency, or help them lay a stuck egg.

 

[FrostRanger]

I can’t seem to find them here

Hmm, can you obtain some crushed limestone? I recall that being a good source of calcium too