Egg with No Shell

[Barry Natchitoches]

Somebody in my flock laid a perfect egg -- all except it had no shell whatsoever. The membrane sac was intact, but there was no shell on the egg at all.


What causes this?


What should I do about this?


It only happened once -- today. Is it just a fluke, or is this the start of something?

 

[can you hear me now?]

Do you supplement oyster shells? How long have they been laying? If thy are new sometimes it just happens. If thy are older give them calcium via oyster shells. I just mix some in food for a little bit and they snap right out of it. Hope this helps.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

It's not unusual in pullets. I've had a couple of those as well. Just make sure they have oyster shell available as they are working out the kinks in their egg laying systems.

 

[Cat's Coop]

I had this happen the other day too! Very strange!

 

[Barry Natchitoches]

Would raw milk provide the same calcium, or is there a reason to go out and buy oyster shell for them?


The reason I ask is because there is a dairy farm not too far from me, and I'm able to get raw milk from them when it is too old to sell. They can only sell milk for one or two days after they get it from the cow, so if they get more milk than they can sell in that time span, I get their extra for free. My chickens get raw milk several times a week as a result.


But I do have a couple of young pullets who have only been laying about two months now.

 

[can you hear me now?]

It would supplement calcium as well. The reason I use oyster shells is they stay in the crop and work to help digest food better. Basically working as grit while they dissolve in the birds.