Hen laying bad eggs!

[Kara515]

Hi everyone! I'm not sure if this is the best category for my question but I am really stuck here! I have a few silkies and three of them were shaing a nest this summer setting on about 14 eggs. Two chicks hatched and then nothing happened! I was't sure who laid what when so I let them go for a couple of extra weeks before I took the last of the eggs away and made them get off the nest. Their eggs had slowly been disappearing and I have to assume it was rats! I had them off the ground in a pet taxi with the door closed and small hardware cloth wired over the door. I would let them out for as long as they wanted to be out and keep the door closed to protect the eggs while they were stretching their legs. It seemed the eggs disappeared over night. Anyway, after too much time had passed for any more eggs to hatch and I cleaned the nest out and put fresh grass hay in, they finally started laying eggs again about a month later. I don't know which hen is laying the bad egg but when I crack it, it explodes! It is all creamy yellowish with very little odor. I have had four eggs like that now. My girls are on a 16% protein egg crumbles, and were born in 2008 and 2009. They get a little scratch and I pick chickweed for them almost daily and I buy greens at the store, kale usually. I also give them whatever healthy scraps I have and I never feed them anyting moldy! I am wondering if one of them has a bacterial infection or something? Has anyone else had anything like this? I know the eggs are fresh too! They are definitely laid one day and cracked open the next! Any suggestions would be much appreciated! Thank you all so much! Kara

 

[freestargirl]

I'm a newbie and can't help you, but wanted to keep this bumped toward the top so maybe it would get answered faster, because I would also like to know. I had an egg like that one time in a carton of storebought eggs- Egglands Best, none the less. Our didn't smell unless you put your nose right up on it. It didn't really explode but when I cracked it, it was really cloudy and looked like it had been scrambled in the shell and seemed almost 'chunky' and the shell seemed thin. My guess would be it's your oldest hen????

 

[BlazeJester]

How interesting! Two things come to mind:

1) the hen's reproductive system has somehow been damaged or altered and is malfunctioning
2) bacterial contamination.

I'd think it's likely #2, but that defaults to #1 if the bloom is not being applied correctly by the reproductive tract or if somehow that gland is not producing the fluid. Do you wash your eggs? Either way, it could be traced to feed... but I'm not sure how. Hopefully someone with a little more "weird chicken knowledge" will come across this post.

Just out of curiosity, what do you think this has to do with the summer setting/hatch?

 

[Kara515]

I guess I have no REAL reason to think it has to do with this past summer's nesting except for the timing and location. I have my chickens separated into different coups depending on breeds and that is the only coup I have bad eggs in. I only have six silkie hens ages 2-3 yrs old so it just seemed to make sense it was related to the long setting. Especially since I think that somehow rats were getting into the pet taxi and stealing eggs at night!
Oh, and BlazeJester, I don't wash the eggs when I bring them in. I keep the nests clean so the eggs usually stay very clean. If something happens and it is really dirty, I feed it to the dogs/cats. If not, than I wipe them off with a dry paper towel and refrigerate them. if I feel the need to wipe them down more, I do that right before I crack them open with a very slightly damp clothe.
Thanks everyone for your ideas so far! I hope we get a few more and maybe by someone who knows for sure what this is!!

 

[freestargirl]

I found this. I read all of it, and it may or may not help. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps020

 

[Kara515]

Freestargirl: thank you for a VERY interesting article! Unfortunately, it didn't really cover this weird thing I have going on with my hen! I think I will have to seperate the two that were setting for so long and see if one of those two are the ones laying the "exploding eggs". If I can narrow down who it is, I can maybe figure out how to treat her! I am thinking bacterial infection but I was looking at them this morning and one of my hens (silkie) has lost most of the feathering off of her wings now, all the way down to the shafts! I think she spent way too much time on the nest and is malnourished?? She doesn't seem to be underweight though. It is really confusing! These girls are only 3-4 years old and I have never had any major health issues before. I want to thank you all for your suggestions and I hope to hear more!!

 

[cmom]

When you find out please post. I am very interested.

 

[Kara515]

Well, I know it has been a while since I posted my concern about my hen(s) laying "exploding" eggs. I treated both hens that had been setting for so long with Ivomec. They had terrible looking feathers and when I fluffed through their head and neck feathers, it looked like giant dandruff was falling off. I have never had to treat my chickens with anything other than Seven's Dust twice and VetRx when they had a respiratory problem after I had stirred up a lot of dirt and dust digging in the coups. I wish I could say that I know this is what stopped the bad eggs; however, I can only assume it helped because the bad eggs stopped. All in all I probably only got about half a dozen eggs that "exploded" and I don't know if they all came from one of the hens or from both but I would think only one hen. It is too weird to think both of my girls were laying them!

Thank you all who responded and offered advice!

 

[olifactory]

So what was wrong with the one(s) laying the bad eggs? I mean like what cured it? I have a similar problem with one of my hens who is otherwise healthy.