Got our first egg today! Have some questions.

[TX Chick Noob]

Goldie, an ISA brown and one of my 16.5 week old pullets, is our first to lay an egg. It was a softshell, and I'm also a little worried that she seemed to have trouble with it.
I went out to turn off the misters and check on them late this evening. I noticed she kept sitting in the same place even when I raked the shavings to spread out the ones that were a little damp from the misters, even when everyone else was running around. So I picked her up to check her out and make sure she was ok. I noticed her vent was pretty red and swollen so was checking her out a little more closely when she strained a little and I thought I saw something that looked like the top of an egg. I put her in one of the nesting boxes and was trying to decide whether I needed to give her a calcium citrate but then she laid it a few minutes later. Does that sound pretty normal for one laying their first egg?

I decided not to eat it since it was so soft, but did open it and the inside looked fairly normal. I also tried to get her to east some oyster shell from my hand and she pecked at it but didn't eat any, not even when I mixed in some of their crumbles. Do I need to crush some up in a mash for her? I started putting the calcium out about a week ago since I knew some of them were getting close to laying and I have seen several of the others eating it.

I'm also not entirely sure how to give a calcium pill or anything else. How do I make sure it goes down the right way?

Here are pics of the egg.

 

[TX Chick Noob]

@azygous Any thoughts or tips?

 

[Floof]

I sometimes buy layer crumbles from Walmart that have the calcium already added. You could try switching to a similar feed where the calcium is premixed into their ration. I like ordering it from Walmart because it's like $14 per bag and they deliver it to my home for free; even my local mill can't beat that price or convenience.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

You can just put a calcium tablet in her beak and she will swallow it.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Also, the only reason not to feed a layer formula is if you have non-layers in your flock, like youngsters, oldsters or males. For non-layers, it's thought that a feed containing calcium can cause health problems related to too high levels of calcium, resulting in kidney failure. If you feed an all-flock formula and provide oyster shell separately, the layers will take what they need and nobody will be at risk.

 

[TX Chick Noob]

I have one pullet that is a few weeks younger, and several that are not close to laying yet. So I need to keep feeding what is appropriate for them. I also don't like the low protein level in most layer feed. That is why I am providing calcium separately.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I also tried to get her to east some oyster shell from my hand and she pecked at it but didn't eat any, not even when I mixed in some of their crumbles. Do I need to crush some up in a mash for her?

If you want to supplement calcium in that manner: serve a small bowl (like 1 Tbsp is fine) of wet or fermented feed with oyster shell mixed in. If she does not like chunks of oyster shell, crush it up or use the powdery remnants from bottom of the bag.

 

[TX Chick Noob]

If you want to supplement calcium in that manner: serve a small bowl (like 1 Tbsp is fine) of wet or fermented feed with oyster shell mixed in. If she does not like chunks of oyster shell, crush it up or use the powdery remnants from bottom of the bag.

I was thinking of trying something similar tomorrow. If I can't get a calcium citrate into her beak I will crush it and mix in a mash of her crumbles to see is she will eat that.

 

[3KillerBs]

It's fairly normal for new layers to drop a few softies.

I wouldn't worry about it unless it becomes an ongoing problem.

 

[TX Chick Noob]

It's fairly normal for new layers to drop a few softies.

I wouldn't worry about it unless it becomes an ongoing problem.

Thanks. I was really only a little concerned because she doesn't seem to want to eat she oyster shell. Not sure if not is too big or what the issue is. But we will see how she does.