Smart Feeder - Light sensor values

[Paulbest]

Yesterday one of my chickens, who I think may not have started laying yet, laid an egg in the chicken run that was just like a soft squidgy shell, I opened it up and all was well inside. I've just popped out to check in the girls and found two more, one small with like a white tail to it and just liquid inside and the 2nd with fully formed yolk and albumen. Any ideas ?

[good_egg]

Hello Paulbest. It's quite common to lay strange eggs as they are starting out. My black rock layed a couple then settled down, my RIR is still laying softies after a couple of weeks. You'll get some softies, some double yolkers some tiny ones with no yolk (wind/fart eggs) and all manner of craziness over their lives. Make sure they are on layers pellets (assuming all about same age) and have access to grit. Someone else with more experience will be along but it's all normal.

[Paulbest]

Thank you . I'm not giving them grit separately, person who I got my chickens from said the layers pellets were sufficient.. Do u think I should add extra grit? or I've read about grinding up their shells and adding to their feed.

[Paulbest]

Oooh also.. Is it ok to eat the softies? Ta very muchly from a dusky Sheffield

[good_egg]

Don't know about eating them. Would imagine ok if undamaged and soon but as mine have been deposited in the poop tray of my cube and I imagine are minus the bloom which keeps nasties out I have stayed clear. That's of the "space eggs" as we call them which we can hardly pick up, thin shelled we have eaten even when damaged (as long as membrane intact) just fairly instantly. By thin I mean you could gently tap your nail off and would tap even if might break!

 

As for grit I think it's best to provide some - they need it to grind up food and oyster shell etc for calcium. Think they can get grit for gizzard if FR but as mine don't get out all day we have a small tub of mixed grit that we replace if it gets waterlogged. Lasts ages and isn't expensive.

[Paulbest]

Thanks for the info

[jackian]

You can cook the eggs and refeed them if you wish (not raw) When one of my girls laid soft eggs it was suggested that limestone sprinkled on their food helped ..and it did .That provides calcium.

[dance in the dark]

I am having a real problem with soft shelled eggs at the moment as one of my hybrids who is a little under two years old is doing one every night in the droppings tray. I am giving mine egg shell improver, which is very cheap, but I wouldn't been too worried yet, as people have said, when hens are coming into lay, and when they are reaching the end of their laying life, they are more prone to things like soft eggs.

 

What I normally do with soft eggs is quickly fry them up in a pan with some of that one calorie frying spray, then sort of scramble it, just so they are cooked, but very quickly, then I chuck this in the run for my girls and it's very much appreciated, you just need to make sure that if you feed them eggs it doesn't look like anything resembling an egg, or it will encourage egg eating.

 

You can eat soft shelled eggs technically, but normally I don't bother, and as the shells are thinner they can't really be kept for any lengths of time.

[Paulbest]

Cheers for the replies... All's well today.. She's laid her first shelled egg!!!