Chicken laying shell less/ thin shelled eggs in the middle of the night on roosts

[rosemarythyme]

Does it matter what time I give her the pills, since the only time it "worked" the next day was when I gave it to her around 12pm, instead of 3 pm. but she's been getting pills for over a week now, and I thought she would be accumulating the calcium. Also, does it help if she eats food after she takes the pill, since I've heard some people say that? She always goes for a drink after the pill.

Shouldn't matter when you give her the pills, but just keep it consistent for now. Really what I want to see is if after 2 or 3, even 4 weeks of consistent pills, do her eggs become consistently hard enough for her to lay without issue? If there is no improvement at that time then you'll know the issue is internal, i.e. faulty shelling gland, so extra calcium will not fix it.

 

[Mrs. K]

I would assume that it is a faulty shelling gland much sooner that 3-4 weeks, but you can certainly treat her as long as you want. I would not expect this to improve, but I have been wrong.

 

[applethechicken]

Shouldn't matter when you give her the pills, but just keep it consistent for now. Really what I want to see is if after 2 or 3, even 4 weeks of consistent pills, do her eggs become consistently hard enough for her to lay without issue? If there is no improvement at that time then you'll know the issue is internal, i.e. faulty shelling gland, so extra calcium will not fix it.

my last update was Tuesday, when she laid a shell less egg. I gave her a full pill around noon, and yesterday Wednesday she laid a good egg, at the correct time! Still gave her a full pill yesterday, and she laid another good egg today! She got half a pill today because she shouldn't be laying tomorrow. The shells are a little bit thinner than her past shells, but they are still normal shells and not easily cracked.

I'll continue giving her a full pill for the next few days that she lays, and gradually ease her off of it. Hopefully she continues to lay good eggs! Thank you for your help!

 

[rosemarythyme]

I'll continue giving her a full pill for the next few days that she lays, and gradually ease her off of it. Hopefully she continues to lay good eggs! Thank you for your help!

If you begin easing her off and find that the shell quality starts deteriorating, plan on keeping up with the pills during the entirety of her laying season. I have a suspicion she'll need it.

 

[TN Chick Mom]

I'm having this exact issue with my Prairie Bluebell Egger (Willow), who was consistently laying 6 days a week at the start of the day. I noticed 2 things: I caught (on camera) my black Australorp (Rue) pecking Willow and chasing her away from the nesting boxes (5 hens, 4 boxes). Then today as I was refilling the calcium cup, Rue kept pecking at her when she came close. The mean girl shenanigans seemed to get worse when my EE died in March. Daisy really played interference for Willow with the other girls.

I'm going to try the calcium daily with her. I put out a 2nd tray of oyster shells and tossed a ton into the big run. I also flipped Rue today and gave her a talking-to.

Hope your girl keeps up doing better.

 

[Molinarohomestead]

I have an almost 1 year old ameraucana (Peach) that has laid three soft shelled eggs (a little bit of shell development) in the middle of the night. I found one last Tuesday (3/21) morning under the roosts, and that egg was supposed to be laid around 12 pm Tuesday, so it was laid hours early. I gave her half a pill of calcium citrate that afternoon, and she still sat in the nesting box around 12 pm thinking she would lay.

Wednesday, she laid a normal egg at the correct time. Thursday was her off day, and Friday (3/25) she laid a normal egg early in the morning.
Last Saturday (3/25), I found another soft egg under the roosts. This one is supposed to be laid around 10 am. (Brown dots on it is dust from the coop floor)

And then she laid all normal eggs, until Saturday (4/1), another soft shelled egg in the middle of the night.

They all have free choice calcium/ oyster shells, and I've seen her eat them. Peach’s shells are usually softer than my others, but they’re still harder than grocery store eggs. But they usually have small calcium deposits on the end. She also lays pretty big eggs for her size. Also, the egg contents are normal. As far as I checked, no mites, lice, vent prolapse; crop, comb, and over physical appearance looks normal. Haven’t found parasites in poop. She seems fine other than those soft eggs. She does sometimes have runny poops after she drinks a ton of water, but the next poop would be normal.
Those eggs are soft because they’re laid several hours early, but I’m not sure if this is a sign of another problem.
Does she have problems holding her egg in? Have any of you have experience with this, or know what’s wrong? Anything I can do to help her out?

Is it hot where you are? Because heat stress can cause soft shell or shell-less eggs.

 

[arubio92]

my last update was Tuesday, when she laid a shell less egg. I gave her a full pill around noon, and yesterday Wednesday she laid a good egg, at the correct time! Still gave her a full pill yesterday, and she laid another good egg today! She got half a pill today because she shouldn't be laying tomorrow. The shells are a little bit thinner than her past shells, but they are still normal shells and not easily cracked.

I'll continue giving her a full pill for the next few days that she lays, and gradually ease her off of it. Hopefully she continues to lay good eggs! Thank you for your help!

Do you have any update? I have a hen that is having this issue.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Do you have any update? I have a hen that is having this issue.

How is she doing now? Mine just laid a lash egg today. She's 8 months old and has been laying for a couple months now. I think one yolk broke inside her

@arubio92 Welcome To BYC

I see that one of your hens may be having some difficulties and you've quoted posts for responses on several threads that are months old and the Posters may not even be active and see your questions.

Often to get responses, it's best to start your own thread - include information like symptoms, age of bird, what you feed along with photos of the hen, her poop and any material she has expelled -like the lash egg.

If your hen did indeed lay a Lash Egg (Salpingitis), then you you can try treating her with an antibiotic. You also mention you think a yolk broke inside her - so there's 2 problems or events? She laid lash material, then yolk (no albumen/whites or membrane) was expelled from the vent?