Help one of my girls!

[Emily Piveronas]

This is two sides of my egg from this morning. I am not sure which hen is laying them, but it is the second one. The dark ringed sports are leaking the egg white. Also it seems like a sandpaper coating it on the egg, I am assuming it is a calcium deposit. My chickens eat scratch, yard greens, and (when they want it) they have laying pellets.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Do they have access to oyster shell?

 

[Emily Piveronas]

No I do not have any oyster shell here for them, but it is available at the tractor supply here in town.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

They may have a calcium deficiency which results in week eggshells. I mix a handful with my hens’ layer pellets when I refill their feeder. I know some people say to give oyster shell in a seperate feeder but I’ve found mixing it with their feed just as good.

 

[rjohns39]

Is it a new layer? Sometimes they take a bit to produce good hard shelled eggs. I'd definitely make oyster shell available to them free choice all the time.

 

[lazy gardener]

What are they on for feed, and are you giving them "treats"? If so, what, and how much? What is the mill date on your current bag of feed?

Could be shell gland malfunction, calcium malabsorption in this one gal, or related to flock diet. How old is she, what breed? and what has been her laying history?

I'd offer extra calcium, and do a round of multivitamins. I also recycle my egg shells back to the flock even when they are on layer. I never add extra calcium TO their feed, but offer it free choice.

Also, putting your general location in your profile will help folks to give appropriate advice.

 

[Emily Piveronas]

All of my chickens just started laying around a month ago. The first egg from this hen (with spots like this) was bigger than a jumbo egg and was double yolked.

 

[lazy gardener]

All of my chickens just started laying around a month ago. The first egg from this hen (with spots like this) was bigger than a jumbo egg and was double yolked.

that explains a lot. She's still working the kinks out of her conveyor belt. That egg most likely passed down the chute fairly quickly, before all the shell got applied. Since it was such a large egg, there wasn't enough shell available to package it well!

 

[Emily Piveronas]

Not sure if it is my buff or my yellow astrolop. That is that is the only two I have not cought in the act. I will have to go get oyster shell for them and hopefully that will help. I am in western nc.