First egg is rubber???

[OliviaDeHav]

Our one chicken has been laying now for a few weeks... VERY nice eggs! nice thick shells, dark yolk, good whites!!! Our other hen looked like she was trying to lay for 3 days now! would sit down and put her back end up... she was in the nesting box this morning trying for all she was worth...nothing..... she was lathargic the rest of the day and would not move much... she was just on our deck and PLOP went the egg... pure rubber...... We have oyster shells as a part of their regular food...not a ton, but a bit in there with kale and laying hen pellets and they get their treats of walnuts or whatever for the day... our other hens shells have been fine...
is this just a first egg snafu for this younger hen just starting out? Is is possible she was really trying to lay it for 3 days???
thanks for any assistance.......
poor girl is really having a hard time of it

Update: In case anyone else has this issue.... just to let you know it is Jan 5 and Georgie laid a perfect egg today... nice thick shell, medium in size, and she had no issues at all... She did get in the nesting box and when i came into the run to do something she got back out to see what i was doing... not sure if her egg boundness was from the fact that she gets distracted and STOPS laying?? if they can even do that.... but her eggs are fine and she was not egg bound again

 

[nobodyherebutuschickens]

Poor hen! When our chickens first started laying, some of the RIRs laid eggs with very, very thin shells, even though the rubbery membrane was rather strong. The insides were fine, and after a few weeks they started laying normal eggs. Perhaps your hen was just eager to lay an egg, but wasn't ready yet?

 

[OliviaDeHav]

would you beleive she just laid another one??? that poor thing must have been backed up for days! she's been trying to lay for 3 days now...
Have you ever heard of such a thing??? She didn't even want to walk... brings back all those child birth pains!!

that is 2 eggs in 10 minutes.... is it possible that they were stuck?? and in being in there ready to come out for days they got rubbery like when you put an egg in vinegar?
I took a couple pictures of them......the second one was odd looking!

 

[OliviaDeHav]

Quote:
thank you for sharing...maybe hers will get better shells... love your quote!! my favorite is.... 'i think so brain, how do we get the toothpaste back in the tube???"

i think i get it....
her shells were essentially gone.......nothing left but the rubbery membrane....... maybe from being in there for a few days ready to come out...... hmmmmm

 

[Carolyn]

Strange eggs, lethargic hen, laying 2 in 10 minutes after trying for 3 days to lay??? That sounds like a problem that could be serious. I doubt it has anything to do with what she's eating (other hen laying good eggs). I have had eggs with just the membrane with young hens but this sounds pretty unusual. I don't remember similar problems being posted.

Hope someone can help you out. In the meantime I would give your girl some TLC. You might want to check her for being egg bound though I am not positive how you go about it as I have never had a reason to check. Maybe someone else can help you more.

 

[OliviaDeHav]

Quote:
Thanks Carolyn:
We've been outside most of the afternoon checking on her... I was wondering if she was having problems 3 days ago as she plopped down and looked like she was going to lay... then didn't...
Our other hen started off doing every other day... so wondering if 3 days ago, she tried, couldn't lay.....then today would have been her second egg and it was stuck behind the first....the second egg was really oddly shapped... I am hoping someone can see this and let me know what should be done... other than tlc and keeping a close eye on her..... she is on the roosting bar with her buddy right next to her for the night... one of the hens, who is her best bud, has been right with her all day! She henned her in when she was falling asleep on the deck making sure no other hen got near her.....
if she isn't better in a day or so, will get her to a vet... but i am sure she is tired after having eggs stuck in there for 3 days......
I'm concerned with infection from possibly the shells deteriorating inside? not sure that is what happened....

 

[OliviaDeHav]

I looked up egg bound....and she actually didn't behave this way until today... 3 days ago, she was fine, did plop down once and look as if she was going to lay... but didn't....was fine yesterday...today was in the nesting box this morning...did not lay, but acted ok... within 2 hours was lathargic.... puffed up and drowsy... within 1-2 hours laid her egg, then still was lathargic..... my hubby carried her back to the run, she went into the nesting box and laid the second one..... she is still acting odd.....but it is night time and she is already tucked in for bed..... i read a list of things that cause egg binding and would guess genetics for her if anything because the birds do not have any worms and the feed is fine.....
is it possible she might have another one, or is she just worn out??? My concern now is i read they can die from being egg bound... Will get some KY jelly to have on hand should this happen again......
any other advice????

 

[Carolyn]

I don't know if you can find the articles on line but Backyard Poultry magazine has had some articles on unusal eggs and egg bound chickens. It might also help if you posted the pics of eggs. Did you open an egg? Were they rubbery thru out or was that just the surface with normal yolk inside?

Good luck. I still think someone else on here might could help you figure out what is going on.

 

[feathersnuggles]

Get that hen an emergency calcium treatment. Crush up 2 Tums in some plain yogurt and feed it to her. And make sure she has oyster shell and other calcium things to eat (like fresh kale and dark greens). Some hens don't absorb calcium the way others do, so you have to help them along, somehow.

She can end up with a broken egg inside, or a prolapsed uterus (where her oviduct gets pushed outside her vent) by pushing so hard in order to lay a soft egg. That's terribly hard on them. Their muscles are meant to push against the hardness of the egg shell, so a series of rubber eggs is NOT good for her system.

Does she have access to sunshine to make Vitamin D, which is critical for calcium absorption?

 

[OliviaDeHav]

Quote:
Our chickens free range..... if you go back and read what they eat... they get their laying hen food, kale, oyster shells daily and they get plenty of sunshine as they are outside most all day.... also the other hen who is laying has VERY thick and healthy shells... also they get "treats" which consists of their dried meal worms and any ORGANIC table food that they can have....
Thanks for the advice though...but we are already doing everything listed...
Georgie is fine today... is not puffy, lethargic, is drinking, eating.......
will keep a close eye on her for the next week or so to make sure she is laying ok and her eggs are up to standard