We have had our 5 chickens for a week and a half now, and one of them, a speckled lady, has laid two papery eggs - one of which was devoured by them all.
Is this something to be worried about(we are worrying about it..)?
The light sussex has laid 3 eggs without blemish or problem.
Ours are like rocks, but I supplement their feed with a grit/shell mix, nothing scientific just put a handful of it on top of the food every now & again.
My worry would be that they get a taste for raw eggs... but it's early days, good luck!
p.s., we started adding the grit/shell mix because early on a couple of the eggs were a bit thin - not paper, but cracked when picked up. They still made it to the pan though!
If you have only ha dthe hens a short while and if they are young it could be that the hen isnt so good at making eggs yet, the first ones are often a bit dodgy!
As per the above post try the shell mix first
If the shell doesnt work try limestone flour (you can get a tub from horsey shops its pretty cheap) mixed with their food
If that doesnt work a calcium supplement lke Davinova C might be needed
I agree with peasticks,
It could also be them getting used to their new surroundings etc.
You can buy oystershell and grit mixed, it would be beneficial for the hens to have this freely available so they can help them selves.
I often scatter a handfull in the run but my hens free range every day so should get enough grit that way.
Yes I know this can happen when chickens are young.
But I have had mine for 18months now and suddenly one has laid a soft shell egg for a couple of days, and now eating the egg. I did notice that the shell was getting thinner last week, so this is obviously a lack of calcium, but the other hen is fine, I feed them layers pellets, oyster shell and grit and are always available (in the same place).
So why should she suddenly be low on calcium? I have recently gone from 4 hens to 2 so could it be that due to the high quantity of 'left overs' I feed them maybe she isnt eating enough pellets?
How can I make her eat shell? should I start sprinkling it over the left overs?
Or could there be another reason for this?
Any help appreciated !
When I gave them the shell in a different container they gave me that rather suspicious look that chickens do so well & left it well alone - that's why I put it in with the pellets in an attempt to outwit them!
Our hens are a bit older and have always layed eggs with really hard shells. My husband decided to keep costs down and do a 50/50 layers pellets and crushed maize. They have slowed down on their laying and their eggs have thin shells. The only time this happened before was when we changed their food. Keep on with layers pellets and grit. Ours have a large run with gritty soil so the pellets are normally ok. Bon courage.
Good quality layers pellets have all the calcium a hen needs for making good shells. You really don't need oyster shells at all. Grit is found naturally by hens with access to soil and is just to help them grind up hard seeds.
If hens start laying soft shells and its not just the start of a laying period (or nearing a moult) then its an idication that something is not right. I would check over the hen if you can for any other signs that its stressed.
The 2 hens that are laying are now producing hard-shelled eggs.
I think the problem may have been that they were avoiding the layers pellets and waiting to see what we gave them as treats - such as gooseberries, snails and compost worms, chickweed and fat hen, courgettes(at least the hens like them).
We have now also switched to layers meal and are mixing it with grit and any treats...
Thank you all for your help and advice
grit allows them to digest their food
calcium is required for shells.
adding grit will not help reduce paper eggs. calcium will be required in the form of oyster shell/cuttlefish bone/etc
mat