Shelless egg,advice requested

Sandy80

Chirping
Mar 30, 2016
39
12
69
Upstate NY
Help needed- 1st shelless egg found today in nesting box.

Some background: I have 9 hens of mixed variety ( salmon favorelles, silver wyandottes, black australorpes & auracuana). All are almost 9 months old. Between them all this winter ( & has been a very cold snowy winter here in NY) they were laying anywhere from 1-3 eggs a day. They are fed organic layer pellets/ organic scratch grains / cabbage (1/4 head 4 out of 7 days) with oyster shells as supplements to food.

1 of 2 of my auracuana hens died last Friday; cause of death I think was she was
Eggbound. The hens aren't showing any signs of stress or unusual behavior / sickness.no signs of mites that I can see. Today one of the 2 eggs found in nesting box was a shelless egg( 1st one ever for these hens). Based on size of the egg I believe the hen that laid it is the remaining auracuana hen. I'm at a loss what the cause is & worried. Question: could she be in stress over her sisters death last week laying this shelless egg? Advice welcome.
 
Help needed- 1st shelless egg found today in nesting box.

Some background: I have 9 hens of mixed variety ( salmon favorelles, silver wyandottes, black australorpes & auracuana). All are almost 9 months old. Between them all this winter ( & has been a very cold snowy winter here in NY) they were laying anywhere from 1-3 eggs a day. They are fed organic layer pellets/ organic scratch grains / cabbage (1/4 head 4 out of 7 days) with oyster shells as supplements to food.

1 of 2 of my auracuana hens died last Friday; cause of death I think was she was
Eggbound. The hens aren't showing any signs of stress or unusual behavior / sickness.no signs of mites that I can see. Today one of the 2 eggs found in nesting box was a shelless egg( 1st one ever for these hens). Based on size of the egg I believe the hen that laid it is the remaining auracuana hen. I'm at a loss what the cause is & worried. Question: could she be in stress over her sisters death last week laying this shelless egg? Advice welcome.

Shell-less eggs are common---I keep having one but not often---having say 100 layers I might get one a month. """I""" would have had to see if the hen was egg bound----being she had passed---a sharp knife or razor knife and about 2 minutes can answer a lot of questions, plus a education. Just keep in mind if you ever cut a hen open its not unusual to find a complete egg in them---with them not being egg bound. Most egg bound hens can be checked with some Vaseline on the finger--pushed in to see if you feel the egg while they are alive.
 
Help needed- 1st shelless egg found today in nesting box.

Some background: I have 9 hens of mixed variety ( salmon favorelles, silver wyandottes, black australorpes & auracuana). All are almost 9 months old. Between them all this winter ( & has been a very cold snowy winter here in NY) they were laying anywhere from 1-3 eggs a day. They are fed organic layer pellets/ organic scratch grains / cabbage (1/4 head 4 out of 7 days) with oyster shells as supplements to food.

1 of 2 of my auracuana hens died last Friday; cause of death I think was she was
Eggbound. The hens aren't showing any signs of stress or unusual behavior / sickness.no signs of mites that I can see. Today one of the 2 eggs found in nesting box was a shelless egg( 1st one ever for these hens). Based on size of the egg I believe the hen that laid it is the remaining auracuana hen. I'm at a loss what the cause is & worried. Question: could she be in stress over her sisters death last week laying this shelless egg? Advice welcome.
Why do you think she was egg bound?
What are the nutritional levels of the feed(look on the tag sewn into the bottom of bag)?
And how much of each do they get each day?
 
@chicken juggler,
I feed my girls Nutrena organic layer pellets. Not really sure how much feed they go through- maybe 5 cups/week? They havent been eating as much this winter as they had summer/ fall.

Purina Organic scratch grains - (approx 1 1/2 cups ) mixed with 1/3 cup oyster shells thrown in outside coop run for them to peck at during day.

Thanks.
 
@chicken juggler,
I feed my girls Nutrena organic layer pellets. Not really sure how much feed they go through- maybe 5 cups/week? They havent been eating as much this winter as they had summer/ fall.

Purina Organic scratch grains - (approx 1 1/2 cups ) mixed with 1/3 cup oyster shells thrown in outside coop run for them to peck at during day.

Thanks.
I'd totally cut out the scratch grains for a couple weeks, maybe a handful a day.....
.....so they can get a good ration of the vitamins/minerals/amino acids in the layer feed.
They may be low in the micro nutrients that allow them to absorb the calcium they are eating.

Each morning I put only out as much crumble as they can eat in 24 hours...if some left over, I put out less, if they've eaten it all, I put out a bit more.
I measure roughly in so many scoops, doesn't have to be exact down to a quarter cup.
After a week or two you should be able to know how much layer feed they are eating each day.
Then you can keep their scratch grains, and other treats to less than 10% of their daily volume of crumble(or pellets or whatever).

They shouldn't even need any oyster shell with, but good to have it available in a separate container if they need it.
 
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Thank you ! I really appreciate the feedback & suggestions. I will try your recommendations on scratch grains starting tomorrow.
 

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