egg bound with broken egg

[Olda Bat]

I have a red star that is only just over a year old...and my most consistent layer....1 a day. Her eggs are HUGE too. She has been egg bound 2 times now. Is this because her eggs are so big and she is laying so frequently? First time we were able to pull the soft shell from her. Second time, she laid a shellless egg and then an hour or so later, laid another oddly formed egg.

I can't imagine the ladies eating any better than they do....all organic food and veggies and fruit, keifer or greek yogurt, oyster shell, scrambled eggs, crushed egg shells, and all the bugs in the yard they can eat....what gives? It is stressful for all of us. She is one of my favorites. Her name is Lois and she is in LOVE with our german shepherd. In love I tell you. He even lets her stand on his back when snow is on the ground. And she follows him around and scratches right next to where he lies. She won't let the other dog near him. I would hate to lose her. Also, my two black hens (an Australorp (runt) and a black star) have been molting since March. Is this normal for their first molt? They look a hot mess. But are still laying and seemingly happy. Thanks for any thoughts.

 

[burbankchix]

It all sounds good, but you may want to take her to the local chicken vet to make sure there were no cuts, etc. If it was a really soft shell, this may not be a problem. Should be good if she starts laying again in the next week or so, but you never know.

 

[LibertyChick]

I have a red star that is only just over a year old...and my most consistent layer....1 a day. Her eggs are HUGE too. She has been egg bound 2 times now. Is this because her eggs are so big and she is laying so frequently? First time we were able to pull the soft shell from her. Second time, she laid a shellless egg and then an hour or so later, laid another oddly formed egg.

I can't imagine the ladies eating any better than they do....all organic food and veggies and fruit, keifer or greek yogurt, oyster shell, scrambled eggs, crushed egg shells, and all the bugs in the yard they can eat....what gives? It is stressful for all of us. She is one of my favorites. Her name is Lois and she is in LOVE with our german shepherd. In love I tell you. He even lets her stand on his back when snow is on the ground. And she follows him around and scratches right next to where he lies. She won't let the other dog near him. I would hate to lose her. Also, my two black hens (an Australorp (runt) and a black star) have been molting since March. Is this normal for their first molt? They look a hot mess. But are still laying and seemingly happy. Thanks for any thoughts.

Ok, here is what I've experienced...

When you have chickens laying shell-less eggs and soft-shelled eggs, the feed is either nutritionally deficient or they are eating too many other foods and not enough layer feed. It's actually a lot more complicated than just a lack of calcium. The organic feed I was using, the manufacturer changed the formula and didn't tell anyone...until people started to complain about bad health and shell-less eggs. The manufacturer owned up and claimed there was only a 4% difference in calcium, but it turns out it was a 30% deficiency in calcium and a major difference in protein. I wonder what other nutrients were missing.

Here is the link to the thread I started about my chicken problems with what they are eating, nutritionally deficient food and problems with my rooster so I don't have repeat myself.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/796170/help-chickens-forgot-they-like-greens-and-weeds

So, what is weird, is that it's not just a calcium deficiency which causes shell-less eggs, silica, boron, magnesium and Vitamin D3 also play a roll. I was adding extra crushed egg shells to their food, giving homeopathic silica, food grown horsetail extract caplets (silica), and Vitamin D3 and my SS would every other day egg lay an egg with a very thin shell and the next egg would be shell-less. What was weird is that when she laid the egg with the thin shell, it had lots of bumps on it, which is actually from TOO MUCH calcium, go figure.

Very cute with Lois and your dog, those types of friendships among the different animal species always blows me away. I'm glad your dog is good with chickens. I've been looking into a livestock guardian for my chickens (Great Pyrenees) as most dogs won't guard them but usually chase and kill them...with a few exceptions that were trained.

I don't know about the long moult but I heard that some chickens can take months to moult and some do it quickly. My SS moulted this year (she is now 2) and it took her about a month. She didn't completely lose her feathers but got sparse in several areas.

Now, there is another blog that I found out how to deal with a chicken who is egg bound. I actually used this technique and it works. My SS is such a trooper and had gotten so used to laying shell-less eggs, she does a great job of getting them out. But, I had one of my year old Welsummer just die 2 weeks ago that I suspect was egg bound. This is the link.

http://thechickenkeeper.wordpress.com/2009/09/05/egg-bound-treatment-works/

My roo died this morning. I believe the whole health problems he had was that he was weak because of nutritionally deficient food. Law of the terrain shows that when we are nutritionally deficient, we are susceptible to the viruses, bacteria, fungal and parasites and anaerobes out there that will make them sick.


I hope this helps,
LibertyChick

 

[gibsterl]

Oh no! So sorry you lost him-<hugs>

 

[LibertyChick]

Thanks Gibster,

At least I knew I hade him happy for a short period of time before he died. I'm glad his suffering is over.

LibertyChick