Egg Yolk in Nest Boxes, No Shell

[Trillium233]

Hello,

I've got a silly-sounding question, so please humor me... Lately, when I've checked our nest boxes, I've occasionally found eggs and bedding with yolk splashed all over them.

-There are no shells to be seen anywhere.
-This happens during the day. There has never been a mess in the box first thing in the morning.
-I'm out in our barn a lot, but I never seem to catch a chicken in the act of breaking or eating an egg.

Could I have a hen dropping shell-less eggs for some reason? I give all our birds oystershell free-choice. I dunno... Help a newbie out?

 

[ChirpyChicks1]

You actually can have shell-less eggs. I haven't done much research on it but it can happen. Trying doing a search in the search bar near the top of the page, might find some information there.

 

[donrae]

Forgetting to put the shell on is common with new layers. Do you see any thick membrane? An egg without a shell usually looks like a water balloon, and I think the birds often break them as they exit the nest. I'm not aware of anything to do about it, it usually just works itself out in a few months as the hen's system figures things out. Feed either a layer feed, or a non-layer feed and offer oyster shell or egg shells back to boost calcium.

 

[sumi]

It is quite possible that the hens laid soft shelled or shell-less eggs, but in my experience egg yolk smeared in the nest box means the egg got eaten. Whether deliberately or "accidentally", i.e. the egg broke, or it was a shell less egg and the hens went hmm, what's this and discovered it's edible. I would suggest trying some of these techniques discussed here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/six-tips-on-breaking-your-egg-eater

Even if they haven't learned this bad habit yet, prevention is much easier than cure!

 

[Sophia5]

It is most possibly that your chickens are laying shell less eggs . Scroll down this website it gives some useful information.

http://www.lifestyleblock.co.nz/lifestyle-file/livestock-a-pets/poultry/item/258-egg-production.html

 

[Trillium233]

Thanks, all!

The birds have been laying since this past December. I feed layer crumbles and always have oyster shell on available to the birds, free-choice. I'll keep an eye on things and read the links given above.