Egg pigment disappearing and broken egg

[Perris]

Hi. My same little hen that seems to have all the problems is still having egg problems. Originally it was a bunch of calcium deposits, now, the past few days her eggs have been basically white (normally they are tan) and today I walked into the coop and her egg was broken, sitting next to another egg

These are three reasons to suspect shell gland issues. If feed has anything at all to do with it, it is how her body metabolizes calcium, since none of your other birds are affected, so I would carry on feeding what you're feeding and not mess with the other 3 birds' diet while trying to fix this one's issue, which probably has nothing to do with feed.
You might find this useful
https://poultry.extension.org/articles/poultry-anatomy/avian-reproductive-female/

 

[Rockergirl]

This might be a shelling gland issue, but to know for sure you could try directly supplementing her with calcium to see if that at least helps with shell strength.

Since 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. If you still have the same issue, then you might need to try pills of calcium citrate instead for a faster, bigger calcium boost.

Thank you. Do you think it would be okay to feed her scrambled eggs instead of feed with calcium, when I pull her away for private breakfast? I worry she may be too nervous to eat if I separate her but if it's eggs, I don't think anything will stop her from eating that. If yes, okay, one egg or is that too much. I typically give 1 egg for the 4 to split once a week (sometimes 1.5)

 

[rosemarythyme]

Thank you. Do you think it would be okay to feed her scrambled eggs instead of feed with calcium, when I pull her away for private breakfast? I worry she may be too nervous to eat if I separate her but if it's eggs, I don't think anything will stop her from eating that. If yes, okay, one egg or is that too much. I typically give 1 egg for the 4 to split once a week (sometimes 1.5)

Yes, a little bit should be fine. Anything that she'll reliably eat. If you normally give them a quarter of an egg, I'd stick with that much.

Actually, I rethought this... scramble 1 egg and mix the calcium into it as it cooks. Cut it into fourths and you can refrigerate or freeze the rest for later. It'll make it faster in long run as you only cook once for 4 "servings", so 2-3x a week all you need to do is thaw it and feed it to her.

I have a very easy time separating my birds for a private breakfast, as my run is split in half. I lure the one hen over, then close the gate behind her. You might be able to set up something similar with cheap temporary fencing if this turns out to be a solution, and you find you need to continue doing so longer term.

 

[ChickNanny13]

I found "calcium flour" on Amazon, in the garden section. I purchased some when I had a hen that was having an issue, mixed it with her scrambled egg "treat". Another thing I did was "sifting" or saving the Oyster Shell fines, mixing into the scrambled egg or the FF when feeding.

 

[Rockergirl]

Yes, a little bit should be fine. Anything that she'll reliably eat. If you normally give them a quarter of an egg, I'd stick with that much.

Actually, I rethought this... scramble 1 egg and mix the calcium into it as it cooks. Cut it into fourths and you can refrigerate or freeze the rest for later. It'll make it faster in long run as you only cook once for 4 "servings", so 2-3x a week all you need to do is thaw it and feed it to her.

I have a very easy time separating my birds for a private breakfast, as my run is split in half. I lure the one hen over, then close the gate behind her. You might be able to set up something similar with cheap temporary fencing if this turns out to be a solution, and you find you need to continue doing so longer term.

I'll try that. I do have two runs. A covered/protected run and an outside run (with netting on top). I can move her out there. I do worry the head lady will get jealous and bully...but we'll see. I'll actually try to hold her back into the covered run since the head hen loves the outdoor one better.

Another question - I think she either stopped laying since that egg or she is egg bound. Her cycle has always been the same. Day 1 - lay first in the morning, Day 2 - lay in afternoon, Day 3 - take a break. Yesterday was "Day 2" in her cycle, no egg. So, since she didn't lay at all yesterday (although it was her lay day) I would have expected first thing this morning....Nothing....Is it possible she stopped? or could it be stuck? She is acting normal? Something I should be doing?

 

[Rockergirl]

I found "calcium flour" on Amazon, in the garden section. I purchased some when I had a hen that was having an issue, mixed it with her scrambled egg "treat". Another thing I did was "sifting" or saving the Oyster Shell fines, mixing into the scrambled egg or the FF when feeding.

Great thanks! I'll check it out. I do also have some oyster "dust" from the crushed up shells, I'll grab some of that too

 

[rosemarythyme]

Another question - I think she either stopped laying since that egg or she is egg bound. Her cycle has always been the same. Day 1 - lay first in the morning, Day 2 - lay in afternoon, Day 3 - take a break. Yesterday was "Day 2" in her cycle, no egg. So, since she didn't lay at all yesterday (although it was her lay day) I would have expected first thing this morning....Nothing....Is it possible she stopped? or could it be stuck? She is acting normal? Something I should be doing?

If she's acting normal than I wouldn't worry, even if she misses several days. Very few chickens lay completely consistently.

 

[Rockergirl]

If she's acting normal than I wouldn't worry, even if she misses several days. Very few chickens lay completely consistently.

She ended up laying yesterday afternoon, pigment pretty much gone and very thick layer of calcium deposits. Then she laid again during the night last night while sleeping because an egg must have dropped out of her while she was on her sleeping roost. It hit the poop board. The shell was very translucent and of course broken all over the poop board. Then this afternoon she was laying in the nest box for some odd reason, on everyone's eggs but I don't think to lay (she didn't lay, if she had it would have been 3 eggs in 24 hours....). Very strange that she laid twice in 24-hours. I did give her scrambled egg yesterday with oyster shell in it and I also saw her eat the oyster shells from the container I have out for everyone.....not sure what to think....I'll keep giving her eggs and shells and hopefully it gets better. Or should I go straight to the calcium citrate? Is there a specific one to look for or specific amount I should give her?

 

[rosemarythyme]

I'll keep giving her eggs and shells and hopefully it gets better. Or should I go straight to the calcium citrate? Is there a specific one to look for or specific amount I should give her?

I find the private breakfast thing easy enough that that's what I do, but if you want to try calcium citrate, you can use tablets for humans, such as this: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/soft-damaged-eggs.1452762/#post-24179334 Just open up her beak and pop it in, they can swallow something like this without issue.

 

[Rockergirl]

I find the private breakfast thing easy enough that that's what I do, but if you want to try calcium citrate, you can use tablets for humans, such as this: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/soft-damaged-eggs.1452762/#post-24179334 Just open up her beak and pop it in, they can swallow something like this without issue.

Thank you, I prefer the private breakfast as well, because it's natural. I was just thinking the calcium pill may be quicker, to at least kick start her...and then maybe move to the breakfast