Massive eggs from Teeny Hen

[Loving my girls]

I have a maran cross, she’s always been small about 2.5kg and she’s 2 years old.
Her condition… Her wattle is lovely and red, she’s currently sprightly and her eyes are clear. Her coat is black still with the blue when the sun catches it.
She’s seems to be a very healthy girl.

However here’s the thing … about 3 weeks ago her eggs changed.
They became paler.
They increased in size from about 50g to between 92g and 110g !!!
Initially the shells had crack and heal marks where they had cracked while being made and resealed.
Now they are so thin we barely come across a complete one as they are often eaten on the shelf below the perches.
Has anyone come across this before ?
I think she has become thinner and her chest feathers are ‘shabby’ - I think she is on her way out.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Is your weather warming up? Do you have free choice oyster shells?

 

[Loving my girls]

Yes actually it has got warmer, and yes there is a bowl of oyster shell always available.
Ive just been out to the hen house and checked her. She’s definitely thin and her smaller feathers feel dirty and greasy not soft and fluffy. Her clocea looks slightly red but not as bad as I expected.
She’s definitely poorly.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Hot enough for her to be panting to cool down? Feathers are getting old on most chickens this time of year. Does she eat and drink fine?

 

[LaFleche]

When did you last deworm her thoroughly?

You can try feeding her a daily tablet of calcium citrate + Vitamin D3 for 7 days and see if her eggshell quality improves.

This time of year hens from 2 years old and onwards that have been laying consistently will soon take a longer break as they need to replenish their calcium deposits and rest their reproductive system.

 

[Susan Skylark]

There may be a hormonal issue or something goofy with the repro tract, if it is only one bird it is unlikely to be nutritional or toxin related, genetic issues usually show up right away, infection would be a weird cause. Some sort of developmental issue either with the hormone regulating cells or repro tract itself (injury, hormone secreting growth, uterine tumor…) is most probable. Definitely keep an eye on her, especially with those brittle shells, one breaking internally would be bad. I culled a 4 month old quail that was laying brittle blue eggs and internally it looked like somebody had splattered tooth paste, mint green splotches everywhere, same color as the weird eggs, likely colored calcium deposits in the fat or lymphoid tissue or even shell secreting cells in weird locations (possible metastatic tumor), weird and sad (very nice bird) but part of raising critters.

 

[Loving my girls]

I’m pretty sure it’s not heat related as it’s only in the mid 20s centigrade.
I hate putting one of my girls into the hospital cage alone. As flock birds I think it’s bad for their mental health (my opinion ) to be separated.
If, and I suspect you are right Susan Skylark and she has a tumour it may be best to let her live out her days with her family.
On the other hand the rest of the flock (9 hens of various ages) are eating the eggs she is producing so this could lead to egg eating
What would you do ?