Hatching "burnout" eggs

[Toddrick]

My sister has a dozen RSL's that are over two years old. They started molting at the beginning of summer, and went from laying a dozen XL eggs a day to three. Not only that, but the eggs are often pale, thin shelled, bumpy, or misshapen. I guess they've come out of the molt, but the eggs haven't improved. She tried more calcium, better feed, more protein, and all that, but nothing helps. She wasn't surprised because when she bought the birds they told her she'd need new layers after a couple years, but I was surprised how dramatic the change was, since my Production Red is older than that, and still lays almost as good as last year.

So to replenish her flock I gave her my most verile rooster. The first batch of 30 eggs none hatched. The incubator was suspect. So for the second batch I gave her six eggs from my Red, and she put in a couple dozen from hers with them. Today four of my six hatched, and she says it doesn't look like her eggs are going to hatch (maybe one might...out of 20).

Is this normal? Obviously her eggs got fertilized because they made it to lockdown, but it seems weird that nearly all are not viable. We know the incubator is good because my eggs hatched.

 

[gpop1]

bumpy eggs could be a sign that the flocks has had medical problem. Until the eggs look health with good shells I wouldn't try incubating but would rather stick the egg in a liquidizer (complete including the shell) then make scrabbled eggs and feed them back to the hens. It may take a while for the flock to recover and the new male to get his act together so crack a few eggs every day and check for the star to see if they are at least viable. Also take a few pictures of the eggs and post them for the experts to take a look at them.

 

[Toddrick]

So you don't think this is just from burnout? I considered illness too, but I visited the flock when I dropped off my cockerel, and spent probably two hours with them, and they appeared very healthy. They had normal molt appearance, but were eating good and had no signs of trouble at all. The one thing my sister refuses to do is worm them, since she uses DE in their feed, but not a single bird has died, so I doubt the worms are a major issue.

The eggs I saw weren't really bumpy, some just had spots on them, which is within the normal range. The issue mainly is that they are pale and just don't have a smooth "patina". They are probably too porous to hatch. Does that sound typical?

 

[enola]

i agree, until you have normal egg shells, the chances are they are going to continue to not hatch.