Hen laid egg white then yolk, no shell

[jjqq]

Hi everyone,
I have a 6 year old hen and she just laid some egg white this afternoon then an egg yolk 1 minute later, with absolutely no shell or soft shell. She looks quite happy in the garden now, but I don't know if some egg shells may be inside her.

Please help

 

[Mirumoto]

I would see a vet just in case. If she is acting normal then she is probably fine. If not look up egg binding and egg peritonitis on google and look for treatment. Vet is probably the best. If it is egg binding or peritonitis then you must treat it within 24-48 hours so be quick. I learned this today cause i accidentally wacked my chicken with a gate and she started flapping like crazy but she ate a cricket earlier do you think shes fine, because i was scared maybe a egg broke inside her.

 

[Mirumoto]

or since shes 6 years old she is a bit old so it might have something with her age

 

[jjqq]

thanks mirumoto, my hen ate around 6 snails this afternoon and looks fine, it might be her age.
I'll update you on how she goes tomorrow, hopefully she'll be okay

 

[hollys chooks]

When a hen is egg bound or has broken shell stuck inside she looks absolutely miserable. There is clearly pain involved, she won't eat much and when you look at her vent you can see her muscles contracting and relaxing trying to move the blockage.
If she is moving about, eating and pooping like usual then I wouldn't worry. Just keep an eye on how her next few eggs turn out.

 

[BayBay Peepers]

I had a hen do this exact same thing. No shell no soft shell. She's only a tad over a year. If you have any tips or find other suggestions could you keep me updated? I'll be on the search as well and maybe two heads can be better than one. So far I just worked her (im paranoid lately) and am about to hawk eye the rest of the flock.

 

[casportpony]

A little extra calcium is probably a good idea. You could give her a tums or a regular human calcium pill.

-Kathy

 

[BayBay Peepers]

I do have calcium in my first aid kit. I'll crush some up for her this morning.

Can I overdo it with calcium if she eats oyster shell and occasionally yogurt?

 

[jjqq]

thanks everyone for the tips, she laid a soft shelled egg yesterday and she laid a normal egg this morning, so I say she's back to normal.
Since she just changed her feathers (I live in the southern hemisphere) I guess she was low on calcium which was why this happened.

I'll be making sure she keeps her calci-yum levels high due to her age

 

[casportpony]

I do have calcium in my first aid kit.  I'll crush some up for her this morning. 

Can I overdo it with calcium if she eats oyster shell and occasionally yogurt?

You can overdo it if you give it daily, but free choice oyster shell, regular lay feed and the occasional oral dose when they're laying softies or struggling laying one will be fine. Make sense?

-Kathy