Almost 1x2 inch thick blob of shell material inside egg.

citychicks2

Chirping
14 Years
Apr 20, 2009
8
0
60
Chicago, Illinois
Chicken mid-molt. Posted on egg laying forum but no responses. Worried I am heading into egg bound issues. She is acting totally normal, eating, drinking, running around but this is the second strange mass of egg shell type material she has passed inside a thin shelled egg that is broken when I get out there. I am offering oyster shell all the time. I know its a strange time to molt but both my birds are molting and a few years ago the same breed - Isa Browns - molted at this time of year. I had the same problem and one of them died from egg binding. So far she is obviously passing material out of her body but I am worried it is building up and will cause a blockage. She did lay a good egg last week but since then has been egg free - I think. Hard to tell with two birds. The other seems to be having less feather loss so I assume she is the one laying every other day or so. Someone did lay a very small egg with no yolk during the past month.
 
That is worrisome, internal layers can have "backups" of shell material like that. I'm trying to figure out--why is she molting now? and why is she laying while molting? Do you use any supplemental light? Where do you live?
 
Chicago. She is not laying regularly. Only once a week or so. She has no other signs of distress at this point. She is an Isa Brown and they are very heavy layers. This is her first molt and she is two in two weeks. Both are molting now and my last set 4 years ago molted at this time as well.
 
Well I guess all you can do at this point is make sure she has plenty of protein, (to help with molting), and access to oyster shell (I would provide it even if you have them on layer feed). And cross your fingers....
fl.gif
 
Thanks. All seems good still. No eggs since Monday. Everyone seems happy and healthy but I will feel better when both are up and running again in the laying department so I know all systems are working properly.
 
BTW, I have learned that Isa Browns do molt end of Feb. if not in the fall so this is not a symptom of a problem. They tend to stay in molt till June. I also learned that Isa Browns do not live very long which I did not know when I purchased. They are bred for heavy laying and as a result it takes a toll on their bodies. Think I will try a different breed next time although they are great layers! Feel a bit guilty like I have a turkey with such a big breast it can't walk. The article I read says that the lifespan is only 2-3 years. Yikes. I am coming up on 2 years.
Thanks for your thoughts.
 

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