Loose droppings and a shell less egg

[CrockChickens9]

Hello!
I’m not sure if it’s best to start this thread back up or post a new thread but I’m continuing to egg and dropping issues with my almost 1 year old Australorp. Her eggs have continued to have body checks and now appear to be having more and more wrinkling. She does have loose droppings still some looser than others but nothing hugely concerning looking, just wetter. I de wormed he a bit ago and ended up taking her in to the vet to have her checked out and her stool tested. They said she appeared healthy and tested her droppings which came back negative for parasites. The next step would be blood work and x rays and it’s hugely expensive and just not something we want to do. Especially since she is not acting any different. I’ve read about New Castle and Infectious Bronchitis causing wrinkling egg issues but she has no other notable symptoms. Is this still a possibility? We weaned her off of calcium support because her shells have been thick enough and the support did not seem to be helping anything. She lays every other day mostly. Sometimes she will take a two day break. The last 3 days she’s laid everyday. I clean the coop and run pretty much every day. We have construction sand in both the run and coop which we get from a local place (not play sand) and nesting pads in the boxes. We provide fresh food and water daily every morning. The are currently on Grubbly Farms layer crumbles. Which is 16% protein but when these issues started she was on 18% grower with oyster shell on the side. Oyster shell and grit are always available to them. Any thoughts or experiences with shell issues and loose droppings would be much appreciated. Thank you all in advance! Picture below looks worse in person and shell is decently thick.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hello!
I’m not sure if it’s best to start this thread back up or post a new thread but I’m continuing to egg and dropping issues with my almost 1 year old Australorp. Her eggs have continued to have body checks and now appear to be having more and more wrinkling. She does have loose droppings still some looser than others but nothing hugely concerning looking, just wetter. I de wormed he a bit ago and ended up taking her in to the vet to have her checked out and her stool tested. They said she appeared healthy and tested her droppings which came back negative for parasites. The next step would be blood work and x rays and it’s hugely expensive and just not something we want to do. Especially since she is not acting any different. I’ve read about New Castle and Infectious Bronchitis causing wrinkling egg issues but she has no other notable symptoms. Is this still a possibility? We weaned her off of calcium support because her shells have been thick enough and the support did not seem to be helping anything. She lays every other day mostly. Sometimes she will take a two day break. The last 3 days she’s laid everyday. I clean the coop and run pretty much every day. We have construction sand in both the run and coop which we get from a local place (not play sand) and nesting pads in the boxes. We provide fresh food and water daily every morning. The are currently on Grubbly Farms layer crumbles. Which is 16% protein but when these issues started she was on 18% grower with oyster shell on the side. Oyster shell and grit are always available to them. Any thoughts or experiences with shell issues and loose droppings would be much appreciated. Thank you all in advance! Picture below looks worse in person and shell is decently thick.

Wrinkled or Corrugated eggs dues to respiratory disease like Infectious Bronchitis look similar to the one in the photo below.

I don't think the egg from your hen looks like a Wrinkled or Corrugated egg.
Sometimes for whatever reason, a hen can just lay eggs that are not perfect. Perhaps it's a disturbance, perhaps something is a bit off with the shell gland, etc. If the vet has examined her and feels she's in good health that should ease your mind a little.

As for the loose droppings, take some photos.

Photo Credit

 

[CrockChickens9]

Wrinkled or Corrugated eggs dues to respiratory disease like Infectious Bronchitis look similar to the one in the photo below.

I don't think the egg from your hen looks like a Wrinkled or Corrugated egg.
Sometimes for whatever reason, a hen can just lay eggs that are not perfect. Perhaps it's a disturbance, perhaps something is a bit off with the shell gland, etc. If the vet has examined her and feels she's in good health that should ease your mind a little.

As for the loose droppings, take some photos.



View attachment 4092136
Photo Credit

Thank you for your reply! She went two days without laying and when I cleaned the coop today I found a shell less egg under her roosting spot along with pretty loose wet droppings. I gave her some calcium, checked her belly (felt just like my other girl her size) and took some pictures of her droppings and her. The solid droppings in the photo are a flock mates. I will attach the pictures here. Any input would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you for your reply! She went two days without laying and when I cleaned the coop today I found a shell less egg under her roosting spot along with pretty loose wet droppings. I gave her some calcium, checked her belly (felt just like my other girl her size) and took some pictures of her droppings and her. The solid droppings in the photo are a flock mates. I will attach the pictures here. Any input would be appreciated! Thanks!

Looks like it may be Cecal poop which is a loose dropping that occurs about once out of every 8-10 normal poops.
Some hens just have looser poop than others, I'm not sure why. Could be they drink more.

If you're sure she's the one laying the shell-less eggs, then I'd give her the Calcium for 5 days, then give her a break from it for a little while.
Check to make sure her crop is emptying. Look inside the beak for any mucous or canker. You're checking her out really well anyway it seems, but it would be worth looking her over for any lice/mites.

 

[CrockChickens9]

I have not looked inside her mouth yet so I can do that. She did lay today egg was good with some body checks. I have checked her crop in the past but will check again. We get all the eggs we need from the others, I just do t want her to be struggling with something that I could possibly help her with. I can only do what I can I guess. Thank you for your help!

 

[CrockChickens9]

She does have some white residue looking stuff on her comb is that anything I should be looking into? Thanks!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Could just be dry skin.

 

[CrockChickens9]

Update- I gave her calcium for 5 days and then weaned her to every other and then off fully. Within a few days she is back to laying soft shell eggs. She had two in a row. One yesterday in the run and one today in the nesting box. I gave her calcium but just don’t know what to do. Is it possible she will need calcium supplemented for life? Is this hard on their bodies to process supplemental calcium? Do reproductive issues present like this? The soft shell egg I found in the run had a mucous looking ball in it. Not sure if that is abnormal. I’ll attach a picture. Any guidance would be very much appreciated! Thanks in advance!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Update- I gave her calcium for 5 days and then weaned her to every other and then off fully. Within a few days she is back to laying soft shell eggs. She had two in a row. One yesterday in the run and one today in the nesting box. I gave her calcium but just don’t know what to do. Is it possible she will need calcium supplemented for life? Is this hard on their bodies to process supplemental calcium? Do reproductive issues present like this? The soft shell egg I found in the run had a mucous looking ball in it. Not sure if that is abnormal. I’ll attach a picture. Any guidance would be very much appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Giving extra Calcium like you're doing can be hard on them after a period of time.

She may have a shell gland defect, cancer, salpingitis or some other reproductive condition that is causing the symptoms.

I'd go ahead and give her the Calcium again, see if that hardens up the shells. If it does, then evaluate what you are feeding.

 

[CrockChickens9]

Would calcium help if it were a shell gland defect, cancer, salpingitis or another reproductive issue? She gets layer feed and oyster shell but it does only seem to improve when she’s getting calcium supplemented. Not fully bc she will still have body checks on her eggs but the shell is definitely thicker and no soft shell eggs. Feels like there is not much we can do. Just wanting to know if supplementing calcium long term is worse for her than whatever’s causing the issues at this point. Thank you again for your continued help. I really appreciate it!