[starcana]

Hi, we have five new girls who are doing very well. We bought them as POL - two white leghorns, two light sussex x RIR and one is something called a Trelawney super black (which I highly recommend, beautiful large dark brown eggs). We're getting two or three eggs a day since we picked them up New Year week, so absolutely delighted with that. We have them in a Domestic Fowl Trust Half Way House (where previously, when we lived in Warwickshire we had three Rhode Island Reds)(we moved to Cornwall last August). They have a wonderful huge outdoor space all day where they roam free. However we've had a couple of cracked eggs over the past week and this morning there is one totally broken egg in the main part of the coop from where they were locked up for the night, not in the laying areas to each side of the main area, where they have been laying very happily. Any ideas why that is. Hope they're not overcrowded? Could it jsut be because they are young. All advice welcome and thanks for all the great info on this site.

[Birdie Wife]

Hi starcana, it doesn't sound like they're overcrowded - as long as there is a nesting space per 3-4 birds that should be sufficient, and it sounds like you have more than one. There's two options -
1. one hen has laid an egg overnight, which does happen sometimes (I read somewhere that hens have a 27 hour cycle for laying eggs - but I guess if the cycle takes them through to the night, they would hang on until morning when they could get to the nestbox). It would have fallen on the floor of the coop and cracked.
2. One hen has learned that if she kicks an egg out of the box, it will crack on the floor and she gets a tasty meal.

I hope it's the first option!

Either way, it's important to clear up the cracked eggas soon as you find it - if the hens get a taste for raw eggs it can be very difficult to break them out of it, and before you know it you get no more eggs 

[starcana]

thanks birdy wife. On closer inspections, whilst cleaning out the coop it seems they are not broken but soft shell eggs. Perhaps not getting enough grit (where DO you get grit from - I thought they'd get enough naturally in the garden as they're free range). So I'm now baking up some shells in the Aga from the 8 eggs used in the past few days. Does that do as a grit substitue and if so, how much do they need. Thanks again.

[Wellieboots]

Just a quickie in reply, remember that grit is for the chooks to help them "digest" their food in their gizzard, it has no bearing on the eggs (well except if their not getting enough food/nutrients etc). So if your chooks are really free ranging (as in all over the place...within reason I suppose although mine have 2+ acres to wander aboot) then they should be able to pick up enough grit to help with the mastication process.

You are probably thinking of calcium (oyster shell) which they do need to help form good, solid, hard egg shells. So easy solution is to get hold of a bag of crushed oyster shells and leave a wee tub (like the smallest plastic salad to go type size from yer local tesco's etc) for them to peek at.

POL's will occasionally produce soft shell eggs which is not a problem as they are just getting the hang of the whole egg thang so will occasionally produce a "duffer" for a few weeks but it will stop. If it doesn't, then (a) not enough calcium or (b) off to a vet me thinks.

Oh and the reused egg shells helps with the calcium but you should really get some crushed oyster shell and NO it doesn't help with the grit thang.

Most on-line retailers sell oyster shell which IMO is all you need. Free range chooks will find enough grit for themselves (mine are partial to a wee peek at the fallen bits from our harled walls en route to their various fields!).

Crips, that wasn't quick! Anyhoo oyster shell not grit methinks & give them time to mature

[northfifeduckling]

We had some problems with soft or broken shells and oyster shell grit seems to solve it. Most layers pellets do contain some lime, but I do add grit if needed. The birds seem to help themselves to what they need, you can't overfeed them with it. I also give them the shells of their own eggs and they love them! Now that's recycling!