[Njal]

:shock:

Our two hens started laying last week - aged around 17 weeks.

Day 1, Pickle laid a very small egg.
Day 2, Mavis laid a very small egg, Pickle a decent sized one.
Day 3, Mavis laid a normal egg, Pickle a very large double yolker!
Day 4, Mavis laid a normal egg. Pickle didn't lay until about 16:00 and the egg had no hard shell. She laid it in the run and they broke it by scratching around. At around 17:00 Mavis laid an egg with no hard shell! We rescued it but couldn't use it as it was seeping out - yuck!

I've never heard of this happening. Is it ok?
This morning Pickle laid a normal egg, Mavis hasn't yet.

[Kate and her Ducks]

My girls have laid a couple in their time. Make sure that they have enough calcium in their diet (layers pellets, oyster shell or limestone flour). Hopefully it is just a blip as they get the hang of laying.

[traceywacey]

My two girls also have laid a few in the past aswell. So just a little blip

[mother hen]

Sorry havent had this problem yet but might suggest that you stand by to intercept with the frying pan and have the bacon  :pig: ready

[Njal]

Hah, yeah. We almost thought about scrambling them straight away but they were covered in mud as they were laid in the vegetable patch (mostly disused at this time of year - the rest fenced off).

Anyway, nothing like that has happened since - just normal, delicious eggs!

[Mrs Sparkle]

Hi All
I am new to all this Hen keeping but really enjoying it so far,but this morning I have been out to see my girls and found an egg with a soft broken shell.Can anybody tell me why and what to do.I have 2 girls they were fully grown when i got them and have layed happily every day since July this is the first hickup. :?

[Vember]

Hi Mrs Sparkle

Welcome to the The Hen House


Do your girls have access to grit & oyster shell?
Have they got any other problems ie sniffling/sneezing?
What are you feeding them? Layers??

Soft shelled eggs can happen as an occasional blip, but it can be a sign that they need more calcium in their diet.

If possible get some limestone powder ( you can get it at horsey type feed places) and add some to their feed .

This is the amount Aunt Sally recommends :

But I'd get her some crushed oyster if I were you. They don't digest the harder sea shells (mostly cockle) so well and so don't get so much calcium from them. I use limestone flour too and add a spoonfull of two to their pellets, you can get it from the hores feed suppliers.
 

Here is a thread about soft shelled eggs that may also be of some help

http://www.chat.allotment-garden.org/viewtopic.php?t=24529&highlight=soft+shelled+eggs


Sarah

[Mrs Sparkle]

Hi
thanks for the quick reply.
Yes they are fed on Layers pellets,a few kitchen scraps and whatever they find in the garden.
Think I had better get some oyster shells.