Chicken laying shell-less eggs for past 5 months

[Bokbok3570]

I have scoured the forums on this website, consulted an online vet, exchanged countless messages with other local backyard chicken keepers, tried so many treatments and I have yet to cure my Rhode Island Red hen “Princess Laya” from whatever is making her unwell and resulting in her laying shell-less eggs.

I’ve had her since May 2025 (for the past 5 months), brought her home with 2 other hens. Being a beginner backyard hen keeper, I made the mistake of not asking the seller how old she was, just whether she was laying yet, which he assured me she was. She is the most confident/ social chicken of my small flock, and her behaviour in terms of her energy level and eating/drinking has never indicated sickness or illness. She eats and drinks just as must as the other birds. Other than laying shell-less eggs at an irregular frequency, having what looks like diarrhea or runny poo sticking to the feathers around her vent, and exhibiting a bit of a wheezing /sneezing sound once in a while.

None of my other birds are exhibiting these symptoms. My Cochin that I bought at the same time as the RIR has been laying almost daily, and they are eating the exact same thing and are in the same environment.

When I consulted the online vet, they suspected internal parasites so I treated the flock with Panacur which the vet prescribed. This didn’t change anything.

After messaging with other local chicken keepers, I learned that it might be vent gleet. I put Princess Laya in quarantine for a week in my basement and treated her daily with Epsom salt baths and applying Monistat 7 externally around the vent, and orally either mixed with yogurt or mashed in bread. Her vent was never bloody and didn’t look inflamed in any way — just caked on poo on her feathers that would come off in the bath. Her poo quality seemed to improve during her quarantine period, and I noticed she layes 2 shell-less eggs during that time. Her shell-less eggs often have little to no membrane, so is just a puddle of white and yolk which she madly attempts to eat. I returned her to the flock, and the running poo started again shortly and the shell-less egg laying (maybe only 1 per week or every 1 weeks).

I think in the past 5 months I’ve only ever gotten 1 intact egg from Princess Laya, with a shell intact. It was a big beautiful brown egg. It happened once that I found an egg with the membrane intact (no shell). Otherwise it’s always just been a very thin membrane and a pool of egg white and yolk (see photos below).

I know that calcium deficiency can be a thing that can impact quality of shell, but the flock has free access to crushed oyster shells and crushed egg shells at all times, so I don’t suspect that’s what is affecting Princess Laya.

I feed them layer feed enriched with the “breakfast of champion layers” recipe by Lisa Steele in her book Fresh Eggs Daily.

They roost in the Eglu coop and have a run with hemp bedding.

I’d like to treat her myself if possible. Her comb has been looking faded in colour these past few days, so she may be starting to molt as 1 of my other hens has started doing so.

She is still the most peppy and social and sassy bird of my small flock (yes, I’ll admit she is my favourite!), and I’d love to be able to nurse her to health so she can lay intact eggs like the other birds in my small flock. Any tips or advice you can share would be much appreciated, as I’m starting to feel at a loss of what else I can do. Thanks in advance.

 

[AshVau22]

This is not a problem I've had to deal with yet. But I did come across this discussion so hopefully it has some helpful information for you. If other things you have tired haven't worked I'd go to a calcium treatment next. I do know that some hens with oyster shells on the side still don't get enough calcium.

Thread 'Sometimes it takes a lot of calcium citrate to help an old hen build an egg shell' https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...o-help-an-old-hen-build-an-egg-shell.1522766/

Hope this helps. Best of luck with your hen.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Hi, welcome to BYC. Generally when hens lay shell-less eggs, we advise giving them calcium citrate +D3 once or twice a day for about a week. Basically it's Citracal or its generic equivalent, which you can get at any store that sells vitamins/ supplements. I find it easiest to administer at night on the roost so I don't have to chase. Just pop the tablet in the beak, they can swallow it no problem.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I think sometimes even with plenty of calcium, they need a boost of Vit D to help their bodies process it properly.

 

[Perris]

She is the most confident/ social chicken of my small flock, and her behaviour in terms of her energy level and eating/drinking has never indicated sickness or illness. She eats and drinks just as must as the other birds. Other than laying shell-less eggs at an irregular frequency, having what looks like diarrhea or runny poo sticking to the feathers around her vent, and exhibiting a bit of a wheezing /sneezing sound once in a while.

To me, this indicates a respiratory infection of a relatively mild kind that her immune system is trying to fight off.

None of my other birds are exhibiting these symptoms. My Cochin that I bought at the same time as the RIR has been laying almost daily, and they are eating the exact same thing and are in the same environment.

If it is an infection then they've all been exposed, and this suggests that the others have better natural immunity or got over it quicker.

She is still the most peppy and social and sassy bird of my small flock (yes, I’ll admit she is my favourite!), and I’d love to be able to nurse her to health so she can lay intact eggs like the other birds in my small flock. Any tips or advice you can share would be much appreciated, as I’m starting to feel at a loss of what else I can do. Thanks in advance.

I would give her as much TLC as you can. She may well turn this round during her moult. I'd offer her whatever treats she'll eat during this time; whatever the cause, her body has repair work to do to fix the problems, as well as all the other metabolic demands of the moult.

 

[Altairsky]

I had a senior lady who laid shelless eggs for a month right before she started molting.
I fixed the problem with Calcium citrate+d3+k2 (800mg a day) and by feeding her beef liver (raw or rare).

the flock has free access to crushed oyster shells and crushed egg shells at all times, so I don’t suspect that’s what is affecting Princess Laya.

This is not very relevant. Some birds might be old or have some sort of condition where they're unable to absorb the nutrients they need. She might be eating oyster shells and still not have enough calcium. She might be eating the vitamins in the feed and not have enough vitamins to move calcium around her body. If she's fighting an infection, she most likely need more vitamins and more proteins than whatever is in her feed. This is why feeding her beef liver and beef heart is important. Liver is an incredible multi vitamin, heart has plenty of protein.

 

[Altairsky]

"breakfast of champion layers” recipe by Lisa Steele

Don't believe in anyone who is trying to sell you something in the name of health. This recipe is based on products that she sells directly! Never trust anyone who talks about health and then sells you their own health products. Their priority is not you or your pets, but their wallet. It's like asking Nestlè what's best for my child's health. - Nesquick will be their answer, obviously-.
Just an example: flock flax is half a scam. The omega 3 in flax seeds will start degrading and oxidizing as soon as the seed is broken and exposed to air. O3 products should be preserved in the refrigerator to avoid oxidation.
If you want the benefits of O3, just feed your chickens whole flax seeds! Those have all the O3 intact, they're super cheap, and they last forever at room temperature. But you know, you can't "®" a seed! You need to grind it, add preservatives, and turn a healthy whole seed into ultra processed garbage in order to turn it into a brand, justify the humongous price, and make money out of it.
Flock flax is one of those products which the mere existence burn my soul.

Chickens are not vegan. They need animal protein to get the nutrition typical of their species. Chickens eat mice, lizards, snakes, an infinite variety of invertebrates, and if they find a carcass of something bigger, they'll eat it.
If a chicken is young and healthy, it can survive on vegan layer feed. Commercial layer feed is formulated for birds that are culled at less than 2 years of age. It's not formulated for longevity.
But if a chicken is old and sick, then this chicken needs real food, and real food is animal protein. We can't go in a grocery store and buy mouse meat or lizard meat, but I'm quite confident that some beef organ meat is closer to mice and lizard than it is roasted and processed soy.
You know what the true "breakfast of champion layers" would be? A fistful of either ground beef or whole sardines every morning.