Laying eggs without shells (not rubber eggs, eggs without shells)

[cheapcheepcheep]

Ok, so I've been keeping an eye on her, and so far there have been no more eggs (shell-less or otherwise) under the roost, and her poop seems solid, so I guess maybe we let this thread go cold until something develops? I want everyone to have some closure, but it seems like this may have been some sort of weird blip in her egg parts or something. Thanks for all the suggestions/support, and I suppose I'll bump this if anything weird happens again.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

 

[chickenman786]

I took my hen to the vet with the same symptoms. It turned out that the large eggs she produced have damaged some of her lining inside (as its been her first week laying eggs) shes fine now

 

[Donna Bass]

We just got a egg without a shell, no shell eaters, we know it came out that way. So why did this happen, The girls are all looking and acting good, no sick ones. Some one told me she might be missing something in her diet.

 

[Squizz]

Hi,

I've just had my first experience of this too. Only two hens, no egg eaters and she hasn't laid for three days prior so have been keeping her close to look out for her. She's pretty friendly anyway so that part has been easy. Out of the two, she's the one that seems to like being cuddled the most (maybe she's a bit older and her bones ache!??) No problems eating or drinking and poop looks normal. She has been hot though, so last night stopped the both of them going into the nesting box to sleep. (empty 5 liter plastic bottles of water)

Only difference is I had stopped giving them oats of an evening as I thought it was warmer over night now. I'm sure she'll be back on track soon.I did give them a cooked egg yesterday so was thinking this actually started her laying again.

 

[MaPa26]

I have a girl that does the same thing. She will occasionally lay just the insides of the egg. No evidence of a shell at all. She's about 1 1/2 yrs. old - a black sex link - and has never been the best layer. She has twice stopped laying for a while and then had a rough time getting her system back in order to start laying again. One time was right after molting. She'll do the egg with no shell at all - usually on the roost like you're talking about - then a soft shell - and finally back to normal eggs.

There was one time that I thought she had something serious going on. She hadn't laid for a few days and then acted like she was egg bound - lethargic, puffed up, etc. She then laid two in one day [yes, it was her as I saw her drop one in the run and then watched her get off the nest with the other] - both with soft shells - and finally got herself back into rhythm.

The last time my girl did this was this past spring. I changed food on them - went from fermented feed to layer pellets only and she almost immediately began having problems. Put her back on fermented feed and she went right back to laying decent eggs. I don't know if the change in food was the problem or just a coincidence. I think this girl of mine has some sort of internal issue and that she'll always be like this. Fingers crossed as she's been laying consistently hard shelled eggs the past few months.

Has your girl molted or had any changes that would impact her? Been frightened by anything? Hope she gets herself turned around!

PLEASE HELP---Mtn Laurel or anyone who has experience with this. This is the first serious problem since I got my hens, a year ago. I noticed one of the girls did not come running for dinner, tonight. She was standing still with her feathers puffed up. I had noticed that one of the girls had been having watery bowel movements, and now I am pretty sure it is her (watery: clear liquid with greenish solids, tonight, milk-ish liquid with the green solid) I was keeping an eye on her and she let out a glob of thick mucus (egg white). She jumped down from my deck and out came the yolk. Then she stood for a long time and did a bit of straining. I decided to don the rubber gloves and check her, to see if she had a broken shell in her. I figured she might need to be put out of her misery. I didn't feel anything, but when I put her down, she walked to the coop and went in and got on a nest. That was about thirty minutes ago. I am going to check on her in a bit, as that is when the other girls will be going to the roost. They are all acting normal. We did accidentally buy crumbles this week. Had been feeding pellets and I usually wet them. My hubby has been feeding the crumbles dry on a few feedings. Could this be a problem in her system?

 

[cheapcheepcheep]

The bird who was laying the shell-less eggs is no longer with us. She had a prolapsed vent on Saturday, and I couldn't get it to stay in. I ended up taking her to the vet and having her put down. The necropsy showed that she had egg yolk peritonitis. When I was discussing her situation, the eggs without shells was a big flag, as was the fact that she molted twice, once in the dead of winter, so the vet said these were indicators that she had not been well for some time, and the necropsy bore this out.

MaPa26, it's possible this is what your chicken is experiencing. Search on here for egg yolk peritonitis. Unfortunately there's no cure, and no way to prevent it, really.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

im sorry for your loss.

 

[cheapcheepcheep]

Thanks, Granny. The vet called me to let me know I had 100% made the right decision and then explained the necropsy, but she was one of my favorites, and a really pretty bird. This is why when I was thinking about getting chickens the first thing my wife asked was "will you be able to handle it when they die?" I think I can handle it, but I sure don't like it.

 

[klantes]

I've been searching for an answer to almost EXACTLY the same issue that you're having! I also have a Barred Rock, about 1 1/2 - 2 years old, who was my best layer - about 5-6 eggs a week. Last November, she started doing what your chicken does - at night a complete egg, minus the shell, comes dribbling out of her. It's like her internal shell making station has shut down. She has plenty of oyster shells, and she's definitely not eating a shell. There IS no shell. I have no idea what to do. It's been almost 6 months now.