Membrane eggs - no shell

[RescueMama]

Hi All,

My girls have been laying for about a week - an Ancona and a Light Sussex, I think. There are another 4 to show me their worth, yet. All are 27wks come Saturday. I think 3 of the 6 have shown squatting/maturity behavior!

White eggs from the Ancona (Blanche to me and Blacky-White-Spots to my SO) almost daily, but I have a feeling the Sussex (Estelle to me and Whitey-Black-Neck to my SO) is laying membrane eggs. Anyway, I know this is common for newer layers just getting their plumbing right, or should I race out and get some kind of calcium supplement? They are chowing down on Barastoc Golden Yolk and free ranging the majority of the day.

Thanks for your input!!



I have ---- (breeds, names and names in brackets given by SO:

Salmon Faverolles - Clementine Delait (or Beard-Man-Lady Hen)
Ancona - Blanche Elizabeth Marie Hollingsworth Devereaux *Blanche for short* (Blacky-White-Spots)
Buff Wyandotte - Lucille Ball (Ball-of-Buff-Fluff)
Light Sussex - Estelle Getty (Whitey-Black-Neck)
Coronation Sussex - Betty White (Whitey-Grey-Neck)
Weird Pretty Brown Thing - Audrey 2 (Twoie)

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

http://www.mypetchicken.com/backyar...did-my-chicken-lay-a-shell-less-egg-H85.aspx?

this may help

 

[mtnhens4]

Hi and Welcome to BYC. Congrats on the eggs, it's alot of fun when they start laying. I am not familiar with their feed, is it a product formulated for laying hens? If it doesn't have added calcium then you will need to provide that by giving them oyster shell or they're egg shells, broken up so they are not recognizable as eggs. I got a shell-less egg today too and 3 eggs in the nesting boxes, not bad from 4 hens.

I also make a cracker of sorts from their crushed egg shells mixed with rolled oats, raisins and yogurt then spred thinly on a cookie sheet and left to dry for several days. I crumble 2 pieces about the size of saltein crackers and give it to them with other snacks, today they also had the shell-less egg scrambled. They loved it all.

 

[ChicKat]

Agreeing that this time of year they need plenty of calcium, oyster shell free-choice, their own shells fed back to them after crushing, also a good high-calcium feed, which specialty feed for layers is.

Vitamin D3 helps with calcium absorption, and so does 1TBSP per gallon of apple cider vinegar in their water. If they get time to play in the sun that helps. I had my coop and run (moveable) in a super shady spot and some of the shells softened up. Chicken vitamins are on line and even at TSC.

It doesn't take long to correct and with in a few days or week you will see a change if it is nutritional.

good luck with better shells---and as you said, they are beginners and working the kinks out of their system. You just want to make sure that they have all the raw materials on hand.

 

[RescueMama]

Hi all, thanks for the feedback!

These girls are my second flock. I got them at 8wks... never again for me... it's been fun to see them grow and personalities develop, but sheesh... the egg wait!
Anyway, I've had a quick look on-line and called around a few stores - apparently oyster shell isn't a widely used thing down here in Australia. I can get some shell grit for them, but I can't grind their eggs as someone broke my pestle!

The feed they are on is a complete feed to supplement the health of laying hens. It is formulated to provide balance levels of protein, energy, vitamins and minerals including calcium. Added with the foraging they do when they have run of the yard (from about 7am to dusk) they get plenty of sun (summer here!)

I'm sure they will sort themselves out, really... we have had a few good days.


Cheers,
Rescue Mama

 

[ChicKat]

Hey there Rescue Mama,

good to hear that things are looking up. I have a soft-spot in my heart for Australia because I lived in Brisbane suburbs for a couple of years as a kid.

Thinking of egg-shells. They needn't be ground fine like powder. If you can dry them (I zap in mocrowave with a cup of water for coffee/tea) then you can hand crush or roll between two paper plates with a can of pineapple. (just said that because that is the can I use) ;O) The bits don't need to be too small, think of how they can gulp gravel to grind food in their gizzards. Somewhere, I think I even heard that large size is better. (within reason, of course)

Sounds like your chickens are getting good feed. Hope it does sort itself out.

 

[ADozenGirlz]

Soft-shelled, rubber or shell-free eggs are totally normal and common in new layers. If you'd like to understand more about why this happens, check out my blog post about how eggs are produced and why funky eggs happen: http://eggcartonlabels.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-hen-makes-egg-egg-oddities.html