Misshapen eggs

[Chickadoos]

Hi all. First post here. I've been getting eggs like this from one hen for a few months now. I have 4 red stars and two black stars. I believe this is coming from one of the blacks. They are ~1.5 years old, and everyone seems really healthy.

They have tons of open space, fresh grass and bugs. They also get some Modesto milling layer pellets, black oil sunflower seeds and some homemade kefir every morning. We're in the SF Bay Area, so winter is very mild.

One of the blacks just finished a big molt, and the start of the weird eggs coincided with that. The molt seems finished now, but the crumpled eggs continue. I've read a little about infectious bronchitis, but since they seem fine otherwise, I didn't think it was that. Since it's persisting past the molt, now I'm starting to get worried.

Any thoughts or advice?

 

[dawg53]

Here's a link to causes of misshapen eggs, with pics:
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/1/egg-quality-handbook/18/misshapen-eggs
It's possible you could be dealing with a mild strain of Infectious Bronchitis (IB.) IB passes quickly through flocks and with a mild strain, you might not have noticed the symptoms. However, I would think that your other birds would be laying misshapen eggs as well.
A telltale sign of IB would be watery whites. The next misshapen egg you get, crack it open in a frying pan and take look at the whites, then you'll know.
Stress caused during the molt process can cause mishapen eggs, as well as temperature changes, predator attacks etc...
If you suspect it might be some type of stressor; feed all your birds gamebird feed and add some calcium in their diet for a couple of weeks and see if the eggshell quality improves, particularly your Black Star.

 

[Chickadoos]

Thanks for that. If it is IB, should I treat them? Also, out of curiosity, what is the reason for the game bird feed ?

 

[dawg53]

Thanks for that. If it is IB, should I treat them? Also, out of curiosity, what is the reason for the game bird feed ?

There is no treatment for IB because it's a virus. Once IB has passed through a flock, egg production usually picks up a few weeks later (depending on the strain severity.) They may not lay as often, but will lay. If in fact it was IB, your Black Star could possibly have problems with her reproductive system which woukd be typical for IB. She may or may not recover. Keep in mind it could be simply be caused by the stress from molt and she'll eventually start laying normal eggs.
I always recommend gamebird feed when birds are in molt until they are refeathered. Gamebird feed is higher in protein which helps with feather regrowth. Once their feathers are regrown, wean them off the gamebird feed back to regular layer feed.

 

[PolkaDot77]

There is no treatment for IB because it's a virus. Once IB has passed through a flock, egg production usually picks up a few weeks later (depending on the strain severity.) They may not lay as often, but will lay. If in fact it was IB, your Black Star could possibly have problems with her reproductive system which woukd be typical for IB. She may or may not recover. Keep in mind it could be simply be caused by the stress from molt and she'll eventually start laying normal eggs.
I always recommend gamebird feed when birds are in molt until they are refeathered. Gamebird feed is higher in protein which helps with feather regrowth. Once their feathers are regrown, wean them off the gamebird feed back to regular layer feed.

x2. Great advice. Just to add, I had to deal with a chicken with IB last year and wanted to let you know my experience. She was the only one in the flock who laid misshapen eggs. She and one other chicken were both sneezing, however, the other chicken never laid misshapen eggs and to this day is alive and laying. The Maran with the misshapen eggs, however, never really recovered, continued to lay a bit, but would often become egg bound. She began having trouble with rubber eggs as well. Clearly, her reproductive system had suffered and she eventually died from becoming egg bound while I was out of town. So if you do find it to be IB, I would encourage you to cull her rather than keeping her around hoping for recovery. Hopefully it's not IB. Good luck to you both!

 

[Chickadoos]

Wow. Thanks you two. I'll check the whites and get on with the game bird food. I hope I don't have to kill her, but better one than all six.

 

[Michael Apple]

Biotin is as important as protein, which most feeds contain but may be deficient of. Use a good supplement like Avian Super Pack in the water: http://www.asp-inc.com/products/documents/prodinfo/a/aviansp.pdf
Digestion is important for the absorption of nutrients: http://www.probios.com/powdersgranules1.html