Egg issues ! Paper like egg, consistently.

[GardenAndRoost]

Hi everyone, I have a 1.5yr old Naked Neck that I recently acquired. She integrated really well in our flock, and seems to be happy and comfortable. BUT she keeps laying these “paper shells” with no moisture, or actually egg. This is how it’s laid from her. She always pushes it out every 2-3 days, I have not yet gotten a good egg from her. I’ve had her for over a month now and have oyster shell available for free choice and she’s on layer feed - my other hens are laying without issues.

Her vent is clean, poops are normal, I’ve checked for mites and lice. Looks entirely healthy otherwise.

Looking for advice as to why this is happened and how I can help with it!

Thanks in advance !

 

[rosemarythyme]

Have you tried supplementing her directly with calcium? Either mixed in with feed (what I call a private breakfast) or in the form of a tablet? She may need more calcium than the others and might not be taking in enough to form strong shells.

Conversely, it's possible there's something wrong with her shelling gland (do you know why she was being sold/rehomed?) so she might not be able to utilize calcium correctly, but you can confirm that by increasing her calcium intake for a couple of weeks.

 

[GardenAndRoost]

Have you tried supplementing her directly with calcium? Either mixed in with feed (what I call a private breakfast) or in the form of a tablet? She may need more calcium than the others and might not be taking in enough to form strong shells.

Conversely, it's possible there's something wrong with her shelling gland (do you know why she was being sold/rehomed?) so she might not be able to utilize calcium correctly, but you can confirm that by increasing her calcium intake for a couple of weeks.

The reason for Re homing was difficulty integrating new chicks in the flock with her present as she would attack them. She laid beautiful blue eggs when they had her but only 1-2 a week at best- their flock was never high egg producing, which leads me to think that possibly it could be from deficiencies long term for the last 1.5yrs of her life.

What would you recommend as a calcium supplement?! I have tried mixing oyster shell in the feed for the last two weeks, as well as free choice.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Two options:

1) Calcium tablets: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/soft-damaged-eggs.1452762/#post-24179334

2) "Private breakfast":
If you know exactly which bird is the problem bird, isolate her for a private breakfast. 2-3x a week serve a small bowl (like 1 Tbsp is fine) of wet or fermented feed with oyster shell mixed in. If she does not like chunks of oyster shell, crush it up or use the powdery remnants from bottom of the bag. Should only take her minutes to eat and after that she's free to go.

Assuming her issue is simply insufficient calcium intake, you should see results in a week or two, and you can try reducing it to 1-2x a week and should hopefully continue getting good results.

 

[GardenAndRoost]

Thank you so much I will try this!

 

[Chikenshiken]

Had the same problem with my bantam. Offered oyster shells and nothing but I put her on calcium d citrate pills for about 5-7 days and she was back to laying after 2 days of taking the pills. I crush them up into a powder and mix them into wet cat food she’d eat all of it no problem

Here’s what I used:

https://www.amazon.com/21st-Century...eywords=calcium+citrate&qid=1684171612&sr=8-8

Hope this helps you out