EE Emergency?!?!?! *UPDATED w/ Pic**

[loralei]

I posted a week or so ago under "Chicken Behaviors and Egg Laying" regarding one of my EE's laying misshapen eggs. Someone mentioned she could have an underlying health issue causing the irregular shapes. Does anyone know what could be causing this and is it serious? I have used the eggs and aside from their shape they are normal with nice healthy shells.

I had gotten 3 misshapen or "slab-sided" eggs and then they stopped... or so I thought! I read that "many abnormalities occur as “accidents” (no specific cause)" so when I didn't get any more weird shaped eggs I was relieved but yesterday I found remnants of a blue-green egg in one of the nesting boxes which started me thinking. Would a hen with some sort of health issue eat her own egg perhaps knowing there is something wrong with it or her or perhaps to compensate for a nutritional deficiency?

My hens are given a high quality feed, calf manna (I read it would encourage them to lay and it's worked great!), BOSS, oyster shell and treats galore. Diet seems unlikely unless maybe the calf manna is too much for her/them?

I only have 3 EE hens in my flock of 30. It's entirely possible I have 2 problems: a sick EE and an egg eater but it seems a little too coincidental to me since the only evidence of an egg eater are remnants of a blue-green egg. I am thinking about isolating my EE's one at a time until I determine which one is laying the misshapen eggs if it is indeed still going on and perhaps I will identify my egg eater but I am at a loss as far as what would cause the misshapen eggs. I read (I read a lot) "the incidence is much higher in hens subjected to stressful management conditions, rough handling, or vaccination during production". We did combine flocks about 2 weeks ago. Would this type of stress cause eggs of irregular shapes?

I hope this makes sense and that someone has some answers for me.

Thanks y'all!

 

[chookchick]

I don't think she would eat her own egg because she "knows" she has something wrong with her, but she might with a protein deficiency (sounds unlikely). If she lays an egg that is soft or weak-shelled, she or another hen would likely eat it, but they would not be likely to eat an egg that had a hard shell. These are young layers? If so, I would just keep an eye on them, bad eggs are not uncommon and will get eaten. Their diet sounds good, though I am not sure what "treats galore" means?

 

[loralei]

Thanks for the info! My original flock is 7 months old so most have just started laying. I'll keep a close eye on em'. It might straighten itself out. I'm not so sure about the egg eating tho.

Treats galore.... They get kitchen scraps, scrambled eggs somewhat regularly, warm mash on really cold mornings and they love bananas! I even dig around in the dirt to find worms for them! They are just so fun to watch with a worm! It's pretty clear they own me! lol!

 

[OhMyItsAndyy]

They certainly have a VERY loving home with a VERY loving owner! Lucky lucky chickens!
As for the egg's, if they're young, for now, i wouldn't worry. So long as the actual egg's are good and healthy, i see no reason to see it as anything other than new to laying.
Maybe up protein for softer shell's? May stop egg eating if the shell's are harder? Just a thought.

 

[loralei]

Ok... this morning I found the egg pictured below:

The yolk was unbroken so I must have interupted the culprit! I hope you can tell from the picture how the shell is lighter in color in the area surounding the depression. The shell in this area is also thinner. I have only had problems with the blue-green eggs and it seems to be just one of my 3 EE's since I usually get a blue-green egg every day. I think I only have 2 laying.

Sooooo do I have a protein problem for which I need to treat the entire flock or do I have a sick EE hen? Since the eggs went from misshapen to having soft spots I'm inclined to believe the later.

 

[jerseygirl1]

How old is the hen - did she just start laying??

 

[loralei]

She's 7 months. I've had one EE laying for 2 months and the other started maybe a month ago.

 

[chookchick]

I think you are lucky in that my hens would have scarfed that up in nothing flat! I would by lucky to find a piece of shell! Make sure that they have plenty of oyster shell available, and not just the "dust" that falls to the bottom--that is what makes the shell good and hard. Are they on a laying ration that contains calcium? Might want to make sure of that. And most important--collect eggs at least twice a day (but now you know that). I had problems with egg-eating, but if the eggs are good and hard and I collect them, it is not a problem. BTW, I had NO luck with the mustard egg, and soap eggs are not good for them, putting in a rock-shaped egg might deter them a bit (ouch!)