Egg goo in nest, chicken “off”

[azygous]

That's great news. She's escaped disaster this time. Hopefully, a few days on the calcium will firm up her shells and she can go on to have a normal egg laying career.

 

[Cedargrove]

That's great news. She's escaped disaster this time. Hopefully, a few days on the calcium will firm up her shells and she can go on to have a normal egg laying career.

Thanks so much for your help!!

 

[Cedargrove]

That's great news. She's escaped disaster this time. Hopefully, a few days on the calcium will firm up her shells and she can go on to have a normal egg laying career.

Ok-I got a good egg today. Keep it up or do I stop the calcium?

 

[azygous]

You can stop the calcium. Start it again mmediately if you see any sign of shell issues.

 

[Cedargrove]

You can stop the calcium. Start it again mmediately if you see any sign of shell issues.

Well I guess I need to start again because I found a perfectly formed egg with no hard shell on it on the roost this morning…not even the nesting box?!? I asked my son who was perched there last night when he locked up and it’s the same hen. They have good layer feed, free choice oyster shell (plus we’ve mixed some in to food the last few days), no stress I’m aware of (though we are gonna set the trail cam up today to see what’s happening at night), no signs of lllness or injury in anyone, plenty of coop space and multiple nesting boxes, a large interesting yard, and occasional free-ranging.
The first flock I had was like a 1960’s kitchen appliance that would go on forever with zero problems and this flock feels like the most delicate little thing I ever saw! What am I doing wrong?

 

[azygous]

All my 1990s appliances are still humming along trouble-free.

Yes, everything we do can be perfect, and still we can have a hen that can't make a shell around her egg. Mystery. But we do know that therapeutic calcium can fix it. It's easy to do, and it works.

When I was still new to chickens, I had such a hen. It was @TwoCrows who took me in hand and instructed me on calcium tablets to fix this issue. I'll never forget her help, and it inspired me to go on and learn more about calcium and laying hens.

Oyster shell is the all around best calcium source for layers, and that is in addition to feeding high calcium layer feed. We don't know why, but sometimes this type of calcium can be difficult for a layer to absorb, and shell issues result. But shell quality is only the lower end of serious health issues this can cause. The next thing poor shell quality can cause is egg binding, and at the upper limit is sudden death syndrome from low blood calcium causing a heart attack as the hen draws on the last drop of calcium to make a shell. That is the most likely cause of death when we discover a dead hen in a nest box.

So, continue one tablet of calcium citrate per day (since it absorbs easiest of all forms of calcium), until the eggs have solid shells with just a "dusting" of calcium pimples.

 

[Cedargrove]

@azygous What if you give it to a chicken who doesn’t need it? I.E. what if I think it’s her and it’s actually a different one? I have two who lay the same color and the second one has me concerned today,

 

[azygous]

It won't hurt. At least you have a chance of it helping the right one.

Your best method of finding the hen who has the egg problem is to be watchful for a hen that is not quite herself. These eggs are much more arduous to get out than a normal egg. The hen will be slow, maybe just standing and watching the others without much real interest. She won't be vocal and bossy and opinionated and competitive at the feeder. She may be slumped in a nest box for an hour or more without producing anything. That's the one with the problem.

 

[Cedargrove]

It won't hurt. At least you have a chance of it helping the right one.

Your best method of finding the hen who has the egg problem is to be watchful for a hen that is not quite herself. These eggs are much more arduous to get out than a normal egg. The hen will be slow, maybe just standing and watching the others without much real interest. She won't be vocal and bossy and opinionated and competitive at the feeder. She may be slumped in a nest box for an hour or more without producing anything. That's the one with the problem.

Well the suspect this morning was just standing with her head pulled in for awhile but then she started pecking in the straw with the others and pecked at another hen (she’s at the top of the flock) but then while the rest still happily played around, she went back to standing with her head in. I’ll give her a tablet too. Anything else you recommend? Again, thank you so much. It’s hard to believe I’ve had chickens for 14 years and all the problems are this year