BO hen consistently laying shell-less eggs

[Ryguy3684]

One of my young hens, a 15 month old Buff Orpington, has been laying a shell-less egg every other evening, just before bed. I've been out there to see her squatting most nights. They are perfect, except no shell at all. It's been about a month. I orally fed her calcium supplements for the last two weeks, with no changes. She's not molting yet. My youngest three skipped their molt this fall because they weren't quite a year old by then. Other than that, she's perfectly healthy, eating & drinking, with a bright red comb.

Any thoughts??

 

[Countryhippie]

How many mg of calcium have you provided her each day?

How long has this shell less egg laying been happening?

Is there an avian vet in your area? She could have some type of illness not allowing her to produce shells, or if she has chronic calcium deficiency? What else do you feed her?

 

[Ryguy3684]

How many mg of calcium have you provided her each day?

How long has this shell less egg laying been happening?

Is there an avian vet in your area? She could have some type of illness not allowing her to produce shells, or if she has chronic calcium deficiency? What else do you feed her?

I'll have to look at the dosage to double check, but I kept to the recommended mg/kg in an avian book I have.

It's been about a month now.

I do what what I can to keep my birds healthy, but a vet isn't one of the options.

They get 20% kalmbach all flock feed. There's always tons of Oyster shell available.


I'm leaning towards some chronic issue. She's been getting plenty of calcium the last few weeks since I've been supplementing it. I had a hen with egg bound/shell-less issues a couple years ago. Funny thing is, when she finished her first adult molt everything was working perfectly. Hopefully this one will molt soon and be able to reset her system.

 

[Mdavchicks]

I'll have to look at the dosage to double check, but I kept to the recommended mg/kg in an avian book I have.

It's been about a month now.

I do what what I can to keep my birds healthy, but a vet isn't one of the options.

They get 20% kalmbach all flock feed. There's always tons of Oyster shell available.


I'm leaning towards some chronic issue. She's been getting plenty of calcium the last few weeks since I've been supplementing it. I had a hen with egg bound/shell-less issues a couple years ago. Funny thing is, when she finished her first adult molt everything was working perfectly. Hopefully this one will molt soon and be able to reset her system.

Hi. Did you ever find out what was going on? I have a hen who is doing the same thing.

 

[Ryguy3684]

Hi. Did you ever find out what was going on? I have a hen who is doing the same thing.

Sorry, I never did. She ended up molting in April, and after she was done molting things appear to be back to normal. I'm assuming there was a glitch in her reproductive system. I've had this corrected by molting with a hen a few years back. I think the break in laying eggs can give their system a reboot. Hopefully it's temporary for your hen as well. As long as she's passing the eggs, it's not a huge deal. Make sure to keep an eye out if she's acting weird just in case one of them gets stuck. Mine always seem withdrawn and lethargic when one is egg bound. Good luck.