Hen is not laying, but just laid a shell-less egg

[Wisegirl99]

One of my hens has not laid eggs in about a month. Just yesterday she laid a shell-less egg. Any ideas of what the problem could be?

 

[azygous]

Without any supporting information that could give us some clues, such as age and laying history and behavior of late, the egg could be a result of poor diet, old age, young age, molt or disease.

 

[Wisegirl99]

Without any supporting information that could give us some clues, such as age and laying history and behavior of late, the egg could be a result of poor diet, old age, young age, molt or disease.

She's only about a year and a half old. She used to be a consistent layer, about every other day. Then before she stopped laying, she was laying only soft shell eggs. She eats very well, acting mostly normal. Sometimes she seems a little sleepy when the rest are active, but I've only noticed that a few times. She always has an excellent appetite. She is getting pretty thin though.

 

[azygous]

Are you in the US? It's possible she's getting ready to go into her first molt. Egg quality can fall off as molt approaches. Hens do lose weight during molt, too.

It's also possible she has a reproductive disorder or disease, but less likely than molt since she's still very young. You can try calcium therapy - calcium citrate plus D3 - and see if that restores her egg quality.

 

[slordaz]

did she go through molt? my hens tend to stagger theirs but while molting they do not lay , after molt i've seen a few issues, had one shelless and 2 that have gone clear back to laying smaller eggs. shelless eggs though are usually due to calcium depletion.

 

[aart]

She always has an excellent appetite.

What all and how exactly are you feeding?
Shelling is about more than just calcium.

When I have a bird that is acting 'off' I isolate bird in a wire cage within the coop for a day or two....so you can closely monitor their intake of food and water, crop function(checking at night and in morning before providing more feed), and their poops. Feel their abdomen, from below vent to between legs, for squishy or hard swelling.

Best to put crate right in coop or run so bird is still 'with' the flock.
I like to use a fold-able wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller mesh(1x2) on bottom of crate under tray.
Then you can put tray underneath crate to better observe droppings without it being stepped in. If smaller mesh is carefully installed, tray can still be used inside crate.