Esther needs help!

[mommytoadam]

My sweet, quiet little buff chicken (Esther) is having some trouble and I don't know what to do. We noticed on Saturday that in the nesting box there was what we thought was a broken egg. However, upon closer inspection there was something seriously wrong with it. The yolk and white stuff was separate and then there was this rock hard white gritty thing beside it. If we had roosters I would have thought it was a baby chick - that is how deformed it was. We didn't think too much of it.

This morning I went out to check on them and there was a broken egg in their run. They were eating the raw egg!! I looked at our hens (we only have 5) and saw Esther was struggling to get something out of her vent. Upon closer look it was the shell. Why would this happen? Why is my 7 month old hen laying eggs without the shells surrounding them?

 

[jmlorton]

was she laying good eggs at first or no?

 

[mommytoadam]

Yes, she was. She was laying the biggest eggs out of all 5 hens.

 

[jmlorton]

did you notice if it was a membrane covered egg then a separate shell or did it all come out at once? are you supplementing any calcium?

 

[Tanichca]

Eggbound? Thats the only idea I've got... I hope she gets better!

 

[mommytoadam]

Today the yolk and white stuff came out first and then she struggled with the shell separately. Then right before I left to come to the library to do some research on it - she was laying in the nesting box. We are brand new chicken owners and we are not supplementing calcium. Is that something we should be doing?

 

[flowergirl60]

Yes they need calcium. Try offering oyster shell to their diet. Or feeding them eggs shells crushed up real fine. They won't recognized it is the egg that way. My girls don't like the oyster shell, but I've read on here that lot of people use it. I also sprinkle powdered milk once in a while on treats that I give them. Good luck.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Like the others have said, you want to provide crushed oyster shell free choice at all times. It's pretty cheap for a 50# bag that will last a very long time.

So, did she get the whole shell out? Is the shell thin? i've had my vet prescribe a liquid calcium supplement when i've had chickens struggling with shell-less eggs. You may want to try the oyster shell first and see if things improve.