Yesterday I suspected that my young Isa Brown “Dolly” was going to lay her first egg.  She spent much of the morning in the nest box “nesting.”  I have 5 good egg layer pullets this year and I’ve been anxiously waiting for them to start laying.  So to have 1 of them start is really exciting!

After awhile, I found her first egg!  A soft shelled small one (see picture).

Soft shelled eggs are very common mostly in new layers.  Their systems are still adjusting to the fine art of egg production:)  If a hen is an established layer and lays a soft shelled egg, it could be an indicator that she has a calcium deficiency.  Calcium is very important to a hen’s diet for nice hard egg shells.  I offer my girls crushed oyster shell at free will.  Some people prefer to use crushed egg shells.  I do not offer them crushed egg shells because I’m too afraid it will encourage them to eat their own eggs, but many people do with no problem.  If you choose to use the egg shells, be sure to clean them, dry them completely and I would suggest microwaving them to kill any bacteria that may exist before crushing and serving to your ladies.

soft shelled egg