Doreen

[lora4]

I have 3 sussex crosses and 3 speckeldys. They are all about 26 weeks and 1 of the speckeldys and 1 of the sussex are laying. I think the others are very nearly there though - come on girls.

The speckeldy is laying rock hard little eggs but about half of the sussex's are soft shelled. I'm giving them good quality layers pellets, oyster shell grit and baked egg shells. They have a handful of corn and sometimes some dandelions from the garden and they have the lawn to peck over.

But if one is laying solid eggs perhaps its not the diet?

Is it common for a chicken to lay soft shelled eggs to start with? The first two eggs she laid were double yokers the size of duck eggs and she still lays biggish eggs for a young chicken.

Do you think I should add calcium to their water?

Many thanks for any suggestions.

[Olly]

Hello, and welcome to the forum.

 

Yes, this is normal - as young hens begin laying it can take a while for them to get into a proper cycle, and so double-yolkers and soft-shelled eggs are not unusual. It's most likely that the eggs are just going through her system so quickly that no shell is being laid down, rather than any lack of calcium.

[lora4]

thanks Olly, that's reassuring. I'll not worry about it and wait for her to settle down.