Chicken laying eggs with no shell! Stress? Heat? Help!

[eggs for days]

Hello all, I am new to BYC and am a little unsure about my situation right now. We got three hens back in May, a Barred Rock, a Buff Orpington and an Ameraucana. They started laying straight away and we had no problems. Last month, our Buff went broody, so after a week of sitting on golf balls, we got her some fertilised eggs (6) and let her do her thing. On Saturday, 5 out of the 6 hatched but one of our other hens pecked one chick to death and attacked another one, which we thankfully got to in time and could save. It was a pretty stressful and we decided to move our Buff, Nelly, and her chicks (and the one remaining egg, which still hasn't hatched, so is probably a dud) into an upturned dresser in the garage. Nelly seems happy enough with her chicks and is doing a great job at being a mom. We are planning on moving the mama hen and her babies out into the backyard (still in their dresser) this weekend and will add a run so that they can see the other hens, but they can't get to each other for the time being. The pecking incident kinda scared me and I'm not sure I trust the other two around Nelly or the chicks just yet. When the chicks are older and bigger, I plan on integrating the flock slowly, perhaps keeping them separate at night and keeping a close eye on the other two hens, just in case.

My first question is, am I doing this right? I'm new to backyard chickens and want to do right by all of them, but felt it was integral to keep mama and chicks separate for a bit.

My other dilemma is that my Barred Rock (I think) has laid a rubber egg the past two days. They do have access to oyster shells and I read rubber eggs can be a symptom of stress or heat. We live in Northeb California, it's been close to a 100° these past few days. Would Nelly's recent departure to the garage be causing her stress? I was hoping the rubber egg was just a one off, but found another one today smashed all over the coop.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated because these birds are stressing me out right now!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Yes, you did right...removed Nelly and the chicks to protect her with plans to carefully integrate later.

Some flocks accept momma and babes right into the flock. Some hens are very aggressive with babies. Since you have the latter, you must keep them separate until they are old enough to integrate, and then do slowly since you have an aggressive hen. (If said hen remains really aggressive, I personally chose to re-home them or make soup....nobody needs to be that aggressive.)

As to the rubber egg...stress, flock changes, heat, end of laying season, can all cause that. Just keep an eye out. If it keeps happening, it may be cause for concern. It can be a sign of an aging shell gland or even disease (Newcastle or Infectious Bronchitis)...but don't jump to disease or internal structure problems....an occasional rubber (shell-less) egg is normal during transitions.

Congratulations to Nelly and her little clutch. It is so fun to watch momma and babes. Enjoy.
LofMc

 

[Paulette Duhe]

My girls just started laying despite the Louisiana heat. One egg great...then this morning two shelless eggs...later two normal eggs. I going to take due to first tries and heat! Fans on hot sunny days...