Eggs with Rough Texture, Thin Shells

[Pip4Chirp]

I had the same thing yesterday with one of my Golden Comets. In my case, I think the disturbance was from the day before when my son and his girlfriend were out there on the back of our property (beside the coops and runs) doing some target practice shooting. Everytime the gun went off all our chickens would just stop dead in their tracks and look around for a few minutes. I also had 6 less eggs than most days yesterday.

That's interesting to hear - my chicken run is close to a busy road and we had numerous fire truck/police cars go by yesterday with sirens blaring. Is that all it takes? Wow.

 

[Michael Apple]

That's interesting to hear - my chicken run is close to a busy road and we had numerous fire truck/police cars go by yesterday with sirens blaring. Is that all it takes? Wow.

Regular disturbances can certainly cause stress, especially at night. This is why I don't like land developers since more people mean more noise. There are supplements which may help such as calcium gluconate or OSF Egg Shell Quality:
http://www.asp-inc.com/osf/

Here's a bit of info about mineral deficiencies: http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/pou..._poultry/mineral_deficiencies_in_poultry.html

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Regular disturbances can certainly cause stress, especially at night. This is why I don't like land developers since more people mean more noise. There are supplements which may help such as calcium gluconate or OSF Egg Shell Quality:
http://www.asp-inc.com/osf/

Here's a bit of info about mineral deficiencies: http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/pou..._poultry/mineral_deficiencies_in_poultry.html

Michael, I think that any hen who CONSISTENTLY lays an egg like those described to you, has either a defective reproductive system or else a persistent disease of the reproductive system and most likely it has both.

 

[Michael Apple]

Michael, I think that any hen who CONSISTENTLY lays an egg like those described to you, has either a defective reproductive system or else a persistent disease of the reproductive system and most likely it has both.

First we'd have to know from the OP how long this has been happening with bird's age he's unsure of (he/she said 1 to 2 years). Even then, we can't determine exactly what is causing it, so I'd recommend starting with supplementation to hopefully improve egg quality. The OP stated being unsure of whether it was one hen, or a number of hens with this problem. I have seen thin shelled/soft shelled eggs happen regularly with a few hens. Supplementation remedied the problem in many cases. I wouldn't conclude that it could only be disease causing it. If one particular hen is determined to be laying these thin shelled eggs, with no improvement through supplementation, perhaps a necropsy is in order with one of these state labs: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/animal_dis_spec/poultry/downloads/labs_app.pdf

 

[chickengeorgeto]

First we'd have to know from the OP how long this has been happening with bird's age he's unsure of (he/she said 1 to 2 years). Even then, we can't determine exactly what is causing it, so I'd recommend starting with supplementation to hopefully improve egg quality. The OP stated being unsure of whether it was one hen, or a number of hens with this problem. I have seen thin shelled/soft shelled eggs happen regularly with a few hens. Supplementation remedied the problem in many cases. I wouldn't conclude that it could only be disease causing it. If one particular hen is determined to be laying these thin shelled eggs, with no improvement through supplementation, perhaps a necropsy is in order with one of these state labs: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/animal_dis_spec/poultry/downloads/labs_app.pdf

That is my thinking as well. It is indeed a long road that doesn't turn so any one hen who reliably lays defective eggs regardless of diet etc. should be suspected of an internal defect.

 

[AZgirl54]

Recently, I've been getting many defective eggs from my small flock of backyard chickens.

1. The shell texture is rough, almost like sandpaper with tiny little bumps
2. The shells are generally very thin
3. The whites of the egg are gooey and clumpy and seem to have a lot of water (lots of popping on the frying pan!)

Although I can't be certain, I suspect that these eggs might come from a single chicken. It's hard to tell though, since I have four Red Comets that lay similar colored eggs. The one thing I do know is that all these defective eggs are from the Red Comets.

I have been providing them with oyster shells, but have seen no improvement.

A quick search on the web tells me that IB might be a possibility. The chickens seem healthy on the outside. However, there was one Red Comet that had been coughing/sneezing a lot roughly a month ago. She is fine now though, and at the time, I thought that it might have been the dust in the summer.

If this is indeed caused by a disease like IB, should I cull my entire flock? The non-Red Comet chickens (an Americana and a Sussex) lay perfectly fine eggs. On a related note, if I were to cull the Red Comets, would it be safe to eat them? It seems like a bit of a waste to throw them away, especially since there are no visible signs of disease on the outside.

I am having the same issue. Did your ever clear up?