I need help diagnosing a shell-less egg problem-PICS

[Kelly FG]

My 2.5 yr old black australorp has never been a good layer but about two months ago she stopped laying in the nest.
I notice once in a while she acts really weird, like she doesn't feel good. She's the alpha-hen & my buddy so I can tell when she's acting funny. A couple of weeks ago she was acting so withdrawn I picked her up & a shell-less egg shot out of her & she started acting better right away. I didn't get to take a picture of it because the other girls gobbled it up.
Today she was acting sick again & DH & I watched her strain to push out this strange looking egg, and again she obviously felt better right away.

I notice my pics are small, here's a link
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b8d835b3127ccec408415f5f5400000020O08AYtnDdy3bswe3nwk/cC
Where are her shells? What does infrequent eggs that look like this mean?

 

[Pine Grove]

I'd say she has an ovary infection, probably caused from Infectious Bronchitis. Soft shelled, misshapen, Eggs with tails are typical with IB

 

[Kelly FG]

Thanks Pine Grove, I don't think she has any other the other symptoms of IB, no rattling, discharge & her appetite only seems decreased on the day she's struggling to push out the egg. And I have six other girls that are laying perfect eggs, I read IB is highly contagious. What do you think?

 

[Kelly FG]

an update from today, she was in the nest box & I found an egg with a shell, very mis-shapen, sort of like the shell-less one from yesterday.
Anymore advice?

 

[Pine Grove]

I still say IB, And in that case all you can do is let it run its course, Which it probably already has and this particular hen is the one it effected the most.

IB will sweep through a flock and you'll never know it, Especially if the flock was in good heath to begin with. The respiratory disstress will be so mild that its only a sniffle here and there. Keep in mind I'm only guessing..Ive been raising all types of poultry going on 37 years now, And just when I think I know it all something comes along and shows me different and thats practiclly every day...Good Luck

 

[chickygirl2]

Okay, what is an egg with a tail?

 

[jenjscott]

Kelly, I think you have linked to your thumbnail images. If you could go back and make sure you link to the larger images, we might be able to see them better.

 

[CTDave]

I have the same problem, but I am suspicious of another possibility.

In my 10 hen flock, none have shown any symptoms of IB. But my alpha hen is also laying eggs with very little shell or no shell at all. My suspicion is that because she is the alpha, she gets to the food first. And we give the chickens a mix of things in addition to their laying feed; some corn, occasionally bread or pasta.

What could be going on is that she is picking out all the goodies from the food, and therefore not getting enough calcium for the egg-shell. That combined with the hot weather (lower calcium absorption) could be the problem.

I'm going to try and eliminate all but the laying feed for a few days, and supplement with more oyster shell, and see if the problem goes away.

I'll post the results.

 

[Kelly FG]

Very interesting Dave, my alpha is a total bully too at feed time. We also feed leftovers from our organic diet as snacks. She always gets more than the others but she is no where near the biggest bird.
She's still laying at least a few times a week shell-less eggs with tails. She doesn't squat as if she wants to be mated at all anymore but she's still a total lap chicken.
I rarely see her near the oyster shells, I'll need to pay better attention to that.
Keep me updated on your hen's staus.
Kelly

 

[CTDave]

Update from the CT riverside backyard farm...

Two days ago we stopped giving the chickens "junk food", like pasta and bread and other table scraps. I also cut down the scratch feed a little.

The thought was that, since the alpha hen was laying shell-less eggs, perhaps she was getting too much of the junk food and in spite of the oyster shells, was running out of calcium.

Well, today we got our first egg from the alpha (Pepper) in two weeks. It was smaller than her usual eggs, an it was a pretty thin shell, but she seems to be back in business.

Kelly, how is your alpha working out?