Bad eggs and bald chests

[redheadedhens]

We have two red stars who are just over two years old. One of them has intermittently laid the odd egg (usually no shell) then she skips a day, then she returns to normal.

However, recently she started to lay thin shelled repeatedly and her counterpart started to lay wrinkled eggs.

There is no known cause of stress. They have oyster shell (although I can’t say they consume it). They have appeared healthy, EXCEPT, about a week ago I noticed one of them went from lightly feathered to fully bald on her chest. She is not broody. I don’t remember when they molted last, but it hasn’t been 12 months since they did.

I don’t see any signs of lice or mites but it’s possible I’m missing a mild case? No signs of respiratory illness. My only thought is maybe worms? I don’t see any evidence of that either but I’m not inspecting poop on a regular basis.
Two doesn’t seem very old to me, but I suppose it’s maybe age? Would anyone recommend deworming as precaution, and if so, what should I use? I have two new 6 week olds in with them now (this started before their arrival) but they can be removed if need be.

 

[redheadedhens]

What do you feed?

The bare breast - check her crop first thing in the morning before she eats/drinks to make sure it's empty.

Have you ever had respiratory illness in your flock?

If possible, getting a fecal float to check for worms is best. If not, then worming may be helpful, the wrinkled egg reminds me of birds that have had Infectious Bronchitis or other respiratory illness - have they been sick in the past?

For worming, I would use either Fenbendazole (Safeguard) or Valbazen. Both are given by weight and dosed orally, so no need to separate out the chicks.

Dosing for Fenbendazole is 0.23ml per pound of weight - give orally once, then repeat in 10 days to treat Roundworms only. If you feel there could be other worms (capillary, cecal, etc.) then give for 5 days in a row.

Dosing for Valbazen is 0.08ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeat in 10 days. This takes care of most worms.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/common-egg-quality-problems.65923/

I feed Nutrena Country Feeds Layer (16%). To my knowledge, I have never had respiratory illness in the flock.
These two are pretty small, but my previous red stars have always been small birds. I did rehome a maran recently (bullying the other two) and she was huge, dare I say, even overweight? Which is why worms had never crossed my mind up until I started troubleshooting.

I had initially blamed her for the eggs, thinking her bullying was stressing them. But she has been gone for a few weeks and I’ve seen no improvement.

i’ll manually close the automatic door, so I can check her crop in the morning. I never see her stretching or opening her mouth, so I hadn’t considered that.

Thank you for your informative reply.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

What do you feed?

The bare breast - check her crop first thing in the morning before she eats/drinks to make sure it's empty.

Have you ever had respiratory illness in your flock?

If possible, getting a fecal float to check for worms is best. If not, then worming may be helpful, the wrinkled egg reminds me of birds that have had Infectious Bronchitis or other respiratory illness - have they been sick in the past?

For worming, I would use either Fenbendazole (Safeguard) or Valbazen. Both are given by weight and dosed orally, so no need to separate out the chicks.

Dosing for Fenbendazole is 0.23ml per pound of weight - give orally once, then repeat in 10 days to treat Roundworms only. If you feel there could be other worms (capillary, cecal, etc.) then give for 5 days in a row.

Dosing for Valbazen is 0.08ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeat in 10 days. This takes care of most worms.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/common-egg-quality-problems.65923/

 

[Wyorp Rock]

A Marans would be larger than the Red Stars, but I bet they have been egg producers too!

Sounds like feed is o.k. Do you provide oyster shell free choice?
I would just check them out well.
While 2 doesn't seem "old" with production birds, sadly it can be. A lot of times reproductive problems start showing up at this age. Frustrating! If it's just now started and you've re-homed the bully, then it could be a glitch - chickens reaction to change. Hopefully it will straighten out.