Laying 'shell-less" eggs

[Chill_Billy]

Hi there....Ive been surfing for info about why my 2 hens ( 1 year old and already molted in spring),
are laying eggs with no shells. I saw one shell today....all folded and crumpled near an egg splatter. I don't think they are eating shells...as I have seen a perfect yolk siting in nest.

Things I may have done WRONG-
I left a bowl for outdoor drinking....no cover on run.

I haven't done a mite check yet.

its been hot here but inside coop stays cool.

@ 2 hens share a coop and both have stopped laying, so I am thinking they may have picked up a virus? from the water bowls beng out in open....I do give fresh water every day outside ad have never seen other birds poop in it....

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.
I do try to find out myself on this site and others...but I find the experiences others gain and pass on are more informative then most sites.

 

[wendy]

do your birds look healthy? clear eyes, nice looking feathers, holding tail feathers up, wattles and combs good color, noses clear?

or could they have gottne stressed out by something?

we keep our water out in the open and clean it daily and put fresh water in it and the temps. here have gotten in the low 100's with the humidty. when it has been real hot i put ice cubes in the water. so i don't think that is your problem.

we don't have a cover on our run either, ours free range half the day.

i would say feed them eggshells, but with neither laying you don't have any. and give them vitamin and electrolytes in there water.

back in the day our grandparents and great grandparents did not do all the fancy stuff for there birds and they did just fine.

 

[Chill_Billy]

Thanks for the advice...
I have given them oyster shell...so not sure if thats better / same as egg shells. They seems to be acting the same as usual, other then one hen has a ruffled look to her and has looked like that since spring. So I did think molt or mites.

I'll add electrolites to water and keep an eye on them....
thanks again

 

[chickenwoods]

I try to raise my birds the old way,just like my grandparents did it.They did fine also,and not all the trouble..I had a shellless egg the other day,and now my hens back to normal laying good.

 

[wendy]

you are welcome, i wasn't a ton of help.
i read that the crushed eggshells help them "build" solid eggshells.
every now and then i still find a soft one in the coop. i don't know why though.
if you still have a problem or are still concerned look at www.hencam.com
terry the lady who has this site. she knows alot about chickens and loves emails. she will probably be able to help. she usually answer you within one day too.
i lost a barred rock today. a predator got her, i don't know what it was that got her. just feathers left, no blood, no body. in broad daylight, we had been letting ours freerange. hubby wants that to stop now

 

[MandyH]

sounds like a dog did it.