Broken Soft Shelled Egg

[Courtnan]

My 5 month old Buff Orpington just layed her first egg. I went outside, saw her running with something, grabbed it and it was a broken Soft shell. She had yolk all over her face and feet I think from eating it. Checked her backside and there was yolk coming down her vent. I think the egg broke inside her as she was laying maybe and the soft shell came out and she ate whatever yolk was left.
She does seem a little lethargic but I haven't seperated her as she was kind of freaking out when I tried to put her in a dog kennel by herself.
Is this a cause for emergency? I'm nervous about an infection or if this might be common in new layers. Should I give her calcium? Should I separate her?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

It can happen with new layers. I do not think you need to separate her. Do you have oyster shell available where your birds can help themselves? You might want to give her a calcium pill every day for about a week just to be sure she has enough. You can get this at any store that sells vitamins and supplements. Just pop one in her beak in the evening after she has gone to roost, she can swallow it easily.

 

[Courtnan]

It can happen with new layers. I do not think you need to separate her. Do you have oyster shell available where your birds can help themselves? You might want to give her a calcium pill every day for about a week just to be sure she has enough. You can get this at any store that sells vitamins and supplements. Just pop one in her beak in the evening after she has gone to roost, she can swallow it easily.

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Thank you! I do not as my chickens won't eat it and I live a hour away from town so won't be going in until Friday. I do have Kirkland calcium + D3 and egg shells from my other chickens. Would that work? The pills are big though and hard. Should I crush it up?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Do not crush the pill, trust me, she can swallow it. Just pop it in her beak. I've done it myself.

You may think they do not eat the oyster shell but they do. They don't need much so you don't see the amount go down in the dish except over time, maybe a couple of months you may realize it is slowly disappearing. They do need it. Providing egg shells is not enough, the amount of calcium diminishes as they recycle them over and over. Think entropy, it's unsustainable.

 

[Courtnan]

Do not crush the pill, trust me, she can swallow it. Just pop it in her beak. I've done it myself.

You may think they do not eat the oyster shell but they do. They don't need much so you don't see the amount go down in the dish except over time, maybe a couple of months you may realize it is slowly disappearing. They do need it. Providing egg shells is not enough, the amount of calcium diminishes as they recycle them over and over. Think entropy, it's unsustainable.

Thank you! I just went and gave her one! I had to break it in half because she kept spitting out the full pill but she ate both halves fine.

And good to know we've kept oyster shell out over most of the winter but all they did is knock it everywhere and I never once saw them eat or peck at it, but I'll go grab some more then on Friday just in case! Is there anything else I should know or should I just wait and watch her for any signs of her feeling unwell?

 

[Perris]

She had yolk all over her face and feet I think from eating it. Checked her backside and there was yolk coming down her vent. I think the egg broke inside her as she was laying maybe and the soft shell came out and she ate whatever yolk was left.

my guess would be she got it all over her face trying to clean up the mess round her vent; otherwise I concur with your assessment.

we've kept oyster shell out over most of the winter but all they did is knock it everywhere and I never once saw them eat or peck at it,

they wouldn't have eaten it before they started laying as they did not then need it.

 

[Courtnan]

Oyster shells were for my 3 yr old hens I just switched from pullet developer to layer a few weeks ago when I got the first egg from one of the newer chickens. I'll definitely get oyster shells again though for newer and older hens

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Sounds like you need to put the oyster shell in a heavier dish or something they can't knock over. How many hens do you have? I have 20 and I put the grit and oyster shell in gravity cat food feeders, lol. I only have to fill them up about once a year. But I bet yours peck at it once they koick it over.

Yeah, I'd keep an eye on her, watch for those soft shell eggs. The danger is her and the others learning to eat eggs from eating them. Check for eggs often during the day and get them out of there quickly if you can. What do you have in the nests? Straw? Pine flakes?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

@Perris is an Educator; I am not. Her advice and suggestions definitely take precedence over mine.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Oops, I'm wrong. But she certainly knows more than I do.