Chicken laying shell less eggs

[lindsayt44]

I have a one year old white rock hen who started laying in January. About one month ago, she became very ill and we took her to the vet. She was given a shot of calcium and an IV of electrolytes and she perked back up. Two days after that she laid an egg that was soft on the top. Then, two days after that, she laid an egg that was soft on the bottom. We assumed that the two eggs were stuck together and now everything would be back to normal. Well, she is now laying shell less eggs around every three days. I have been giving her tons of extra oyster shell and corn along with her normal feed. She acts perfectly normal except that her butt feathers are always wet from the egg. She eats, drinks, forages, and acts like everything is fine. Completely back to her old self. I thought maybe over time that she would get back to laying normal eggs, but it has been one month now. Any thoughts or ideas as to what is going on or what I can do? The vet suggested placing an implant in her that would stop her egg production for a year or so. Has anyone ever done anything like that with their chickens? It's not too expensive, but I just found that idea very strange. Also, a post from BC from 2008, a lady said she grounds her chicken's egg shells with a coffee grinder and puts it back in their food. She said her chicken's shells were hard as rocks. Lol. Has anyone ever done that before? Any thoughts would be helpful! Thanks!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Usually an egg with no shell isn't a lack of calcium and I wouldn't add any calcium to the feed, Extra calcium over and above what is in the layer feed should be in a separate container so the birds can choose how much they want/need. Phosphorous and vitamin D are important also.
What was the diagnosis when she was ill last month?
Often it is a respiratory infection that causes shell problems.
I'd lay off the corn. It has little protein and can make the hen fat, affecting egg production. Treats, including corn, should be less than 10% of total intake.
Good luck.

I've never heard of what your vet recommended but that doesn't mean anything. Is your vet an avian vet with poultry experience?

 

[lindsayt44]

The vet tested her for worms and she was negative. She also checked her for egg binding, but didn't feel an egg. She then wanted to take an X-ray, but we decided against that. We felt that if something came up on the x-ray, we probably wouldn't pursue it anyway. The X-ray was expensive on its own and the vet made it sound like if anything showed up on the X-ray, it would be expensive to treat. So, we basically left open ended. She called us a few days later and told us about the implant option. She also told us that we could put her on antibiotics, but that after you give a chicken antibiotics, you're not supposed to eat their eggs anymore. I honestly didn't know what to think about that either. I mean, the whole reason we have chickens is to eat their eggs. I of course would keep her regardless, I was just hoping for a different outcome.

The vet also told me that she was a little underweight. Not enough to freak out about, but that I needed to be aware of it. If I'm not feeding her corn, what else can I feed her that will add some weight and provide some protein?

Where do I get phosphorus and vitamin D?

I truly don't know anything about this vet. Her office is called Birds and Exotic Pets, so it sounds to me like she sees a lot of different species. Also, I live in the city, so I imagine she probably doesn't see many chickens.

I really appreciate your help!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The phosphorus and vitamin D are in the appropriate quantities in their feed which is why I said to quit the corn. Corn is very low in protein and vitamins. I would try black oil sunflower seed since it is high in protein, fat and has loads of vitamins. You can also easily sprout it making it even better.
Plain whole fat yogurt is great for protein, fat, vitamins and probiotics.
Meat and fish scraps, mealworms and crickets are good too.

With antibiotics you don't have to permanently quit eating the eggs, just while they're in their system.
Most of the things that affect chickens are viral or fungal so I'd be reluctant to give antibiotics unless it was a confirmed bacterial infection.

 

[lindsayt44]

Thanks so much for your help! I will try some yogurt and black oil sunflower seed.