6-Month-Old Hen Spacey and Laid Shell-less Egg

[The Dim Side]

Hi, all, I just noticed one of my 6-month-old Golden Comets seeming dazed and spacey, walking slowly, and not really eating. I watched her for a couple minutes then saw something leak from her butt (I think a little yellow), and then she walked a bit more, loosened her wings from her side, and laid either a shell-less egg or a soft-shelled egg. There was at least a membrane or something on the outside of it, but it was underneath the coop (which is raised up and mobile), and the rest of the chickens rushed up to eat it before I could take a good look. She continues to be spacey now and went into the coop to roost.

We have them on a layer crumble, as well as free choice of oyster shell, aragonite, and kelp. I think she did peck a little at the oyster shell and then the kelp inside the coop, but not much at all. We also feed them various treats periodically, like hardboiled eggs, scratch grains, and recently, some hamburger/hotdog buns that a neighbor brought some bags of over.

We have 11 hens and 1 rooster. Also worth noting, until a few weeks ago, we were only getting 10 eggs out of the 11 hens. And we thought one of our 3 Comets wasn't laying an egg, but we couldn't tell who it was. And then a few weeks ago, we started getting 11 eggs I think on and off. So she could be the one who recently started laying. And it's not the first time we've seen a shell-less egg generally in their pen. But it's the first time I've noticed her being listless.

I haven't noticed any issues with poop, but admittedly, it's hard to know which poop belongs to which chicken. We haven't dewormed anyone yet, and everyone else seems to be in good spirits that I've noticed.

Any suggestions on what the issue could be or what we should do for her? Or if it's just because of that egg? We're new to raising chickens, and we (thankfully and knock on wood) haven't come across any health issues with them until now. So any advice is appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Crazy Maizie]

New layers will have blips. It sounds like you're doing all of the right things. One other thing I add sometimes is citracal which has vitamin d that helps absorb the calcium.
When they lay a shelles egg, they do go through a daze and some weirdness before and after laying the shelless egg. It must really zap their energy.

 

[The Dim Side]

New layers will have blips. It sounds like you're doing all of the right things. One other thing I add sometimes is citracal which has vitamin d that helps absorb the calcium.
When they lay a shelles egg, they do go through a daze and some weirdness before and after laying the shelless egg. It must really zap their energy.

Thank you for replying! Learning that this behavior happens when they lay one is really comforting. I only briefly checked on them this morning, but they all seem to be more alert so far today, so that's good! And thanks for the recommendation of Citracal, I'll look into it!!