Godzilla's egg!

[welovechickens]

Has anyone ever had an egg like this? My EE laid very nice eggs up until last fall, then she molted and stopped laying for awhile. She started laying again a couple months ago, but her eggs have all been soft. No shells.

Today I opened the nest and found this gem!

 

[Tuhmu]

I can honestly say mine have not laid an egg like that, haha. Wow that thing is crazy!

 

[Original Recipe]

Looks like a head of cabbage.

 

[welovechickens]

It's big, too! Almost fills the palm of my hand. Looks like about 3 layers of shell haphazardly spread over the outside, and it's covered in tiny, rough bumps! Poor girl!

 

[Searsmom]

Ouch. I've sometimes gotten eggs that have that "grit" on them (usually one of the first eggs), but not one that looks like that, or is that big.

 

[bantamcrazy]

It's called ridging and it's basically a build up of calcium, it's caused by a calcium and protein difficiency in the chicken... I don't know what feed you use but compare the protein and nutrients in it to make sure they are sufficient levels, and extra clean waterers help a bunch!

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

 

[welovechickens]

I feed them Purina Layena crumbles. I often mix in ground-up eggshells for calcium, plus they always have access to oyster shell. Is there anything else I can do to help? I have started giving them all vitamin D3 about once a week. She's the only one having a problem.

 

[welovechickens]

Guess I should ask how much protein do they need each day? I'm happy to feed her scrambled eggs or whatever else might help her protein levels.

 

[bantamcrazy]

Sometimes to much protein can be an issue too, I feed late a crumbles and a mix of corn in winter for extra heat and a can of oyster shells once a week in the summer and I've never had a ridge or calcium deposits