Freqent shell-less eggs

[Spikes Chooks]

Two of my four chickens are regularly laying straight off the roost (as if they don't even recognise it as an egg coming) and the egg has absolutely no shell whatsoever. The membrane splits on impact and there is a normal egg yolk & white ruined on the poop board.

They are 34 weeks old and have been laying for about 8-10 weeks (it's summer here). The RIR and Australorp lay an egg a day, fairly much without fail, and in the nesting box. Lovely.

The Barnevelder started about 8 weeks ago and generally lays 1 egg per week in the nesting box - and 3 shell-less ones off the roost. The Silver Campine generally lays 4 in the nesting box and 1-2 shell-less ones off the roost.

I understand this happens ocassionally - especially as they are young and just getting into the swing of things. But this has been the pattern for well over a month now. Is this unusual?

They have free access to layer mash. Breakfast wet mash of layer mash, rolled oats, grated veg and 1/4 tsp poultry spice (mustard, garlic, fenugreek etc). 2-4 times per week there will be extra protein (non-fatty meat scraps or cat food). Once or twice a week I add yoghurt. Once a week I give Soluvet vitamins and Kelp liquid. I put ACV in their water from time to time. Bedtime scratch of creacked corn and wheat. They have free access to shell grit, though I see the two good girls eating more of it than the slow learners......

For three days this week I have added Calcivet liquid calcium & VitD to their wet mash. I use the individual bird dosage so they get roughly 1/4 dosage each day. Should I keep this up? For how long? Increase the dose?

There's been no change since I started the Calcivet - except the Barnevelder did lay an egg with a shell - outside in the run, rather than in the nesting box - but a better effort than usual!!!

If this is longer than usual to get it right, what are the chances I have 2/4 hens with reproductive glitches?!?!

They are wormed, treated for mites etc and very healthy and happy flock, hardly even an obvious pecking order they are so calm. So I am lucky in many ways - except this one. Any advice would be appreciated.

Katrina

 

[azygous]

I sure hope Two Crows sees this because I took the advice about giving Caltrate to a hen who was consistently laying shell-less eggs. It works!

I have a seven-year old SLW hen named Irene who has been passing soft eggs from her perch in the coop early before I get up. It's remarkable in itself that she's still laying at all, and I thought I have nothing to lose by trying the Caltrate. About a week ago, I started giving her two quarters of a pill wrapped in raisins each morning. A couple days ago, Irene was in the nest box and she laid a very thin-shelled egg! It had a shell, even if it was thin! A big improvement.

I continued the Caltrate and this morning, Irene was again in the nest box. I noticed her coming off the nest, and took a look. There was a very warm, perfect egg, still wet on the pointy end!

So, the Caltrate therapy definitely works! I had my doubts that it would help because Irene is definitely very old, but she's in good health otherwise, so apparently all she needed was some help assimilating her calcium! I have another seven-year old SLW hen Lilith who is still laying, too, but with the same problem, though not as bad as Irene's eggs were. I'm putting her on Caltrate, too.

Thanks, Two Crows!

 

[TwoCrows]

@TwoCrows
Do you have an update on your Black Astra? I have one that is doing the exactly same thing. I am going to try the water supplement.

You know what I found to work like a charm?...Human Caltrate. This stuff has all the right minerals to calcium for even the most troublesome shell less layer to put a shell on.

1/2 a pill a day. What I do is cut this 1/2 pill into a few small pieces and put the pieces in raisins. The bird will never know they are being medicated. They should put a good shell on within the next day or two.

Keep up with the 1/2 pill a day until you start to see a lot of calcium bumps on the shell, which means they have a bit excess calcium, then you can cut back to every other or every 3 days. Then use as needed.

This should work for your hen, however if this hen is getting really up there in years, (over 5 years old), her uterus may not be functioning well enough to form a shell.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[azygous]

Here are Lilith and Irene, my two geriatric egg layers.


They are benefiting so splendidly from the Caltrate, and I use the Walmart inexpensive brand, they are each laying an egg every other day, and mostly they are perfect eggs.

As soon as I notice a thin shelled egg under the roosting perch in the morning, and I found two this morning under each of these two old ladies, I give them half a tab of Caltrate for several days until the eggs are showing up in the nest boxes intact. Then I suspend the Caltrate as long as they lay good eggs.

By the way, they quickly caught on to the raisins disguising the pill quarters and simply liberated the raisins and left the pill fragments. I now smear a tiny dab of peanut butter around the two quarter tabs, hold it under their beaks and they, hee hee, think it's a rare treat. See, I'm smarter than a chicken.

 

[TwoCrows]

Here are Lilith and Irene, my two geriatric egg layers. They are benefiting so splendidly from the Caltrate, and I use the Walmart inexpensive brand, they are each laying an egg every other day, and mostly they are perfect eggs. As soon as I notice a thin shelled egg under the roosting perch in the morning, and I found two this morning under each of these two old ladies, I give them half a tab of Caltrate for several days until the eggs are showing up in the nest boxes intact. Then I suspend the Caltrate as long as they lay good eggs. By the way, they quickly caught on to the raisins disguising the pill quarters and simply liberated the raisins and left the pill fragments. I now smear a tiny dab of peanut butter around the two quarter tabs, hold it under their beaks and they, hee hee, think it's a rare treat. See, I'm smarter than a chicken.

Awww....they are adorable!! Yeah, they sure are smart. I was using dried cherries for a while as they are bigger than raisins...my girl figured it out too! I have been crushing the tabs and using Gerber Baby food to get it down her throat now. LOL I have her on Hawthorn for her heart too, so it is easier just to mix it all together in baby food. Hey, no matter what you have to do, get it in them anyway you can! And I use the generic Walmart calcium too! Ha! Enjoy those geriatric hens!!

 

[TwoCrows]

This could or could not be normal. I am not an expert at this, however I had/have a similar situation going on in my flock.

I have a Black Australorp hen that is now 2 years old. She also began laying very thin shelled and shelless eggs at a very young age, although not frequently. When she was about 1 1/2 years old, the frequency became regular. Eggs with just the membrane and even just a yolk. I would find these eggs in the run, or in the morning beneath the roost bar and sometimes she managed to get them in the nest box.

She was and is on a good layer feed and eats well, with plenty of free choice oyster shell always available.

Well, I thought maybe she might grow out of this, but it just continued to the point of her constantly going into the nest box trying to force eggs thru her system. Day after day, week after week this was the scenario. So I talked to my avian/poultry vet about it.

He says that this can stem from a few things. It may be as simple as an imbalance of the minerals and amino acids in the feed....the calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and amino acids must be in the proper proportion for the hen to get the shell on correctly. (Consuming more oyster shell was not the answer in this case). This issue could be caused by genetics, as it was passed down to her from the parent birds. Or this issue could stem from a defect in the shell gland which can also be genetic. If the hen is carrying a genetic issue, there is only so much you can do.

So, he sent me some solution of liquid calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and amino acids to put into the water. She has improved to the point of at least she can now put a shell on the yolk. I thought over time, (it has been several months) that this stuff would have built up enough in her system to have her laying harder shelled eggs, but they are still coming out funky and thin. She still goes into the nest box and strains, only to NOT have laid an egg. But when she does lay one, it has a shell on it. I am not sure how this will effect her as the year or years go on. One of these eggs may be the death of her. But I have not found any shell less eggs or yolks anywhere around. (thankfully none of the other chickens have found then either...LOL I hope they all stay dumb to this egg thing. LOL)

So in your case, if these two birds do not grow out of this, and they are eating a good diet, and they are related, it is possible that they both have a genetic disposition for laying shell less eggs. When I figure out what the cure is, I will definitely let you know!

Good luck with your hens

 

[azygous]

I just tried the Caltrate this morning with a seven-year old GLW who has been laying regularly, only shell-less eggs. She's also my most recalcitrant hen, who is never cooperative, no matter what I need to handle her for.

I tried the raisin trick and she gobbled the pieces of Caltrate right down. I realize she may be so old that her body no longer is able to make an egg shell around her egg, but this is worth a try.

I appreciate the tip.

 

[lynnehd]

You know what I found to work like a charm?...Human Caltrate. This stuff has all the right minerals to calcium for even the most troublesome shell less layer to put a shell on.

1/2 a pill a day. What I do is cut this 1/2 pill into a few small pieces and put the pieces in raisins. The bird will never know they are being medicated. They should put a good shell on within the next day or two.

Keep up with the 1/2 pill a day until you start to see a lot of calcium bumps on the shell, which means they have a bit excess calcium, then you can cut back to every other or every 3 days. Then use as needed.

This should work for your hen, however if this hen is getting really up there in years, (over 5 years old), her uterus may not be functioning well enough to form a shell.

Good luck and keep us posted!

I sure hope Two Crows sees this because I took the advice about giving Caltrate to a hen who was consistently laying shell-less eggs. It works!

I have a seven-year old SLW hen named Irene who has been passing soft eggs from her perch in the coop early before I get up. It's remarkable in itself that she's still laying at all, and I thought I have nothing to lose by trying the Caltrate. About a week ago, I started giving her two quarters of a pill wrapped in raisins each morning. A couple days ago, Irene was in the nest box and she laid a very thin-shelled egg! It had a shell, even if it was thin! A big improvement.

I continued the Caltrate and this morning, Irene was again in the nest box. I noticed her coming off the nest, and took a look. There was a very warm, perfect egg, still wet on the pointy end!

So, the Caltrate therapy definitely works! I had my doubts that it would help because Irene is definitely very old, but she's in good health otherwise, so apparently all she needed was some help assimilating her calcium! I have another seven-year old SLW hen Lilith who is still laying, too, but with the same problem, though not as bad as Irene's eggs were. I'm putting her on Caltrate, too.

Thanks, Two Crows!

Great thread!!!! Thanks for the follow up posts, both
@azygous and @TwoCrows

I have a NN Turken who is petite and has had a similar issue after laying eggs daily through the winter. She was laying soft shell or no shell eggs, but then appeared to be ill.
She is better after seeing the vet (she probably had some internal egg laying and was on antibiotics), but I suspect will need monitoring and some maintenance supplementation.
The other 3 hens are fine.
There are a few different types of Caltrate tabs (some have added minerals, etc). Is this the version you use (generic brand)?



Thanks again!!!!!

 

[TwoCrows]

I sure hope Two Crows sees this because I took the advice about giving Caltrate to a hen who was consistently laying shell-less eggs. It works!

I have a seven-year old SLW hen named Irene who has been passing soft eggs from her perch in the coop early before I get up. It's remarkable in itself that she's still laying at all, and I thought I have nothing to lose by trying the Caltrate. About a week ago, I started giving her two quarters of a pill wrapped in raisins each morning. A couple days ago, Irene was in the nest box and she laid a very thin-shelled egg! It had a shell, even if it was thin! A big improvement.

I continued the Caltrate and this morning, Irene was again in the nest box. I noticed her coming off the nest, and took a look. There was a very warm, perfect egg, still wet on the pointy end!

So, the Caltrate therapy definitely works! I had my doubts that it would help because Irene is definitely very old, but she's in good health otherwise, so apparently all she needed was some help assimilating her calcium! I have another seven-year old SLW hen Lilith who is still laying, too, but with the same problem, though not as bad as Irene's eggs were. I'm putting her on Caltrate, too.

Thanks, Two Crows!

I am so happy the calcium worked out for your hen!!! Yay!!! At some point however, in some birds the shell gland can stop working all together and no amount of added calcium will fix this issue. But keep using it as long as it is working! You could probably increase the calcium to one full tablet a day if the shells start to get thin again. I wouldn't go over one full tablet though. I have a 5 year old hen that also was laying thin shells and yolks off the roost bar a few weeks ago, she too is on 1/2 a tab a day and has been laying really nice shelled eggs every couple days since getting her on the calcium. As we speak is in the nest box laying an egg!! (hopefully with a shell on it!

)

Quote: Yes, that is perfect! Caltrate is a brand name, however this has the exact same ingredients. Any calcium that also contains Vit D and Magnesium along with the Calcium is what they need to put on a nice shell. Good luck and I hope it helps your bird as well!!

 

[rosemarysugar]

You know what I found to work like a charm?...Human Caltrate. This stuff has all the right minerals to calcium for even the most troublesome shell less layer to put a shell on.

1/2 a pill a day. What I do is cut this 1/2 pill into a few small pieces and put the pieces in raisins. The bird will never know they are being medicated. They should put a good shell on within the next day or two.

Keep up with the 1/2 pill a day until you start to see a lot of calcium bumps on the shell, which means they have a bit excess calcium, then you can cut back to every other or every 3 days. Then use as needed.

This should work for your hen, however if this hen is getting really up there in years, (over 5 years old), her uterus may not be functioning well enough to form a shell.

Good luck and keep us posted!

I saw your old post regarding caltrate for hens. What type of caltrate?