White Leghorn Struggling To Lay, Only Laying Soft Shelled Eggs

[Whatthecluck99]

Happy Monday chicken community, I hope you and your feathered friends are doing lovely!
For the last nearly two weeks my white leghorn has been laying soft shelled eggs. She was a very very consistent layer, sometimes two large white eggs a day! The eggs are certainly not my concern, honestly I wish I had the resources to get her reproductive system removed, and just let her live a happy life egg-free!
I’m just very concerned about her health. Some days she looks great, has a bright red comb, is eating, drinking, pooping, and acting as healthy as can be(scratching, not hanging by herself, dust bathing, etc.). I do know they are VERY good at putting on a facade, though. Other days, right after she would try to lay and couldn’t, her comb would turn purple/black at the tips(which I know is a lack of oxygen getting to it), she would huddle under a bush, and keep to herself. This has been happening every two to three days. When this happens, I give her a soak in a warm bath with some lavender oil and Vaseline to help anything pass easily. She has been able to pass the soft shelled egg every time she has a soak, but has not laid a hard shelled egg in around two weeks(since it all started). Yesterday, I put her in the bath, and after about a half hour she passed a very small, white only, soft shelled egg. She was still having very watery poops after that, and when she defacated, a small white clump came out. It wasn’t the normal white that they poop, it was almost skin like, and calcified. I know Leghorns are prone to reproductive issues and cancers because they’re such hardy layers, and kidney failure as well. I’ve tried doing research, but haven’t found anything that really matched exactly what was happening to my girl. I was wondering if anyone that has any experience in that might be able to shed some light on my poor girls situation. Am I just keeping her comfortable at this point? She seems great a lot of the time, but there’s definitely something very wrong with her reproductive system. Any help would be greatly appreciated, I’m at a loss.

 

[nuthatched]

What's her diet? Age?

 

[Eggcessive]

Did you manage to take a picture of the object that came out in her dropping recently, or cut it open? It sounds possibly like lash egg material. How old is your chickens, and what do you feed her? Does she have access to crushed oyster shell for extra calcium when she needs it?

I would worry that she may be having a calcium deficiency, or developing a reproductive disorder. Get some human calcium citrate 600 mg with vitamin d tablets. Give her one daily into her beak to swallow daily for the next week. If her comb turns bluish take a picture.

 

[Whatthecluck99]

Did you manage to take a picture of the object that came out in her dropping recently, or cut it open? It sounds possibly like lash egg material. How old is your chickens, and what do you feed her? Does she have access to crushed oyster shell for extra calcium when she needs it?

I would worry that she may be having a calcium deficiency, or developing a reproductive disorder. Get some human calcium citrate 600 mg with vitamin d tablets. Give her one daily into her beak to swallow daily for the next week. If her comb turns bluish take a picture.

I apologize for the delay on my end, but I want to thank you for your quick response! My hen is only 3, and about 6 months ago I switched them to from layer pellets to nutrena all flock pellets. I had been concerned the layer pellets I was giving them was putting too much stress on their reproductive systems (sounds silly, I know) and I didn’t want the focus to be on laying. I had just lost my other leghorn to peritonitis, and a barred rock to what I think might have been kidney failure, so I wanted to try something different. I didn’t realize all flock pellets were low in calcium, though, and I hadn’t been offering them a supplement that would provide them extra calcium other than the occasional mealworm snack and their own cooked eggshells every now and then, which I realize now was foolish. Last week I added an oyster shell feeder, so they have a constant supply of extra calcium now, and I’m going to try to find the best and safest food I can that focuses on overall health rather than production. I really like the nutrena line because it has the added oregano.

I looked up small lash eggs, and I do feel like what she laid is likely that. She has still not laid a hard shelled egg, and hasn’t laid a soft shelled egg since Sunday. Her energy is fantastic this week, though, and her droppings are completey normal. She’s eating, drinking, foraging, roosting, everything she should be doing. Her comb has been it’s usual red, not turning blue and purple like it had been last week when she was struggling to lay. She hasn’t even attempted to lay since Sunday, as far as I’ve noticed. I don’t feel like this would just be an end to her laying cycle though, as much as I wish it was, as she’s still kind of young to just stop laying.

Thanks for the help and sorry again for the delay!

 

[Eggcessive]

When one experiences soft or shell-less eggs, a week of human calcium citrate with vitamin D, can sometimes boost the calcium if they are deficient, and if it doesn’t, may show that the problem is with the shell gland in the oviduct. Hopefully, she is okay. This time of year, molting happens too, and they may stop or have some laying problems. Let us know how she is doing.

 

[Deezer]

Happy Monday chicken community, I hope you and your feathered friends are doing lovely!
For the last nearly two weeks my white leghorn has been laying soft shelled eggs. She was a very very consistent layer, sometimes two large white eggs a day! The eggs are certainly not my concern, honestly I wish I had the resources to get her reproductive system removed, and just let her live a happy life egg-free!
I’m just very concerned about her health. Some days she looks great, has a bright red comb, is eating, drinking, pooping, and acting as healthy as can be(scratching, not hanging by herself, dust bathing, etc.). I do know they are VERY good at putting on a facade, though. Other days, right after she would try to lay and couldn’t, her comb would turn purple/black at the tips(which I know is a lack of oxygen getting to it), she would huddle under a bush, and keep to herself. This has been happening every two to three days. When this happens, I give her a soak in a warm bath with some lavender oil and Vaseline to help anything pass easily. She has been able to pass the soft shelled egg every time she has a soak, but has not laid a hard shelled egg in around two weeks(since it all started). Yesterday, I put her in the bath, and after about a half hour she passed a very small, white only, soft shelled egg. She was still having very watery poops after that, and when she defacated, a small white clump came out. It wasn’t the normal white that they poop, it was almost skin like, and calcified. I know Leghorns are prone to reproductive issues and cancers because they’re such hardy layers, and kidney failure as well. I’ve tried doing research, but haven’t found anything that really matched exactly what was happening to my girl. I was wondering if anyone that has any experience in that might be able to shed some light on my poor girls situation. Am I just keeping her comfortable at this point? She seems great a lot of the time, but there’s definitely something very wrong with her reproductive system. Any help would be greatly appreciated, I’m at a loss.

We’re dealing with the exact same issue. Same breed and close to the same age. The soft eggs are a recent occurrence. The discharge sounds like a reproductive tract infection. The vet gave us amoxicillin and it cleared up in a couple days. We may be taking her back in for the same issue again. Good luck, keep us updated!!!

 

[Deezer]

Did you manage to take a picture of the object that came out in her dropping recently, or cut it open? It sounds possibly like lash egg material. How old is your chickens, and what do you feed her? Does she have access to crushed oyster shell for extra calcium when she needs it?

I would worry that she may be having a calcium deficiency, or developing a reproductive disorder. Get some human calcium citrate 600 mg with vitamin d tablets. Give her one daily into her beak to swallow daily for the next week. If her comb turns bluish take a picture.

I didn’t take a photo. She’s just about 3 1/2 years old. My guess is a deficiency and infection.

 

[Eggcessive]

Calcium citrate 300 mg plus vitamin d3 is very good to give for a few days orally when laying soft eggs.