No shell..not even a membrane HELP!!

[basteph1977]

I have a 15 mo old Dark Cornish who recently started laying funky shapped eggs...flat on the bottom kind of oval shaped eggs. Today she layed an egg with no shell...not even a membrane around it (and in the water dish at that). She has access to oyster shell at liberty and is a free range bird. I feed her layers crumbles and whatever scraps come from the house. I have 8 other hens and they are all laying just fine. I recently added a roo to the mix (month or so ago) but she (Peepers) only started with the funky shaped egg thing 5 eggs ago so maybe 6 or 7 days. I thought about her maybe getting to much salt in her diet but i don't usually cook with salt and am not much for processed foods either. Stove Top once in awhile and the occasional frozen pizza but not enough to effect anything I dont think. I read somewhere to add vit D to the water but i dont want to medicate the other hens who may not need it. OH and another thing with this hen...about a month ago she developed a growth on her head. It free moving and ony got about half the size of a marble then stopped. The Vet said she shouldnt need anything and that it sometimes happens and to just monitor it in case it gets bigger. Any suggestions...?

 

[ChicKat]

If I understood correctly, she started laying at 15-months? That's more than a year...was it meant to be 15-weeks? IF so, then she is still probably 'working the kinks out of her system' as they say. I guess either way if she just began to lay.

Do you put vinegar in the water? 1Gallon of water - add 1Tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. The change in the water's pH will help the hen with her digestive tract. You could get a vitamin D3 tablet and crush it, mix with some feed, and separate this particular chicken, and see that she gets extra vitamin D3 feed--then after she has snacked put her back with the rest of the flock. crush up some of the egg shells that you get from your chickens. I would pulverize them in a food processor, and mix that dust with the crushed D3, some good layer mix...and a bit of yougurt to moisten it. My chickens will take egg shells over oyster shells in a heart beat.

I think that this very hot weather is taking a toll on all our chickens and they are under some stress. Hopefully you can get your chicken back on track. You may also want to discuss this with your vet, who has first hand knowledge of your chicken and her condition. good luck.

 

[basteph1977]

No she start laying about 12 ish weeks old or so and is 15 mo old now. Shes been laying religously..even through molting. This one is special to me..they all are but we hatched this one at a preschool and I had to help her out of her shell. Could she be REALLY stressed at the addition of the Roo? She's kind of high strung anyway. Today she didnt lay at all but I did see Cogburn (the Roo) doing his roosterly duties so am thinking she does need a bit of separation from him at least. Shes eating just fine and pecks around just like everyone else..drinking ok. I do agree tho that they go for egg shells better than oyster so am going back to that. The oyster shell was a trial thing anyway. Help me out here cause my husband was talking today how her pretty feathers would make great flies!!!

 

[ChicKat]

ummmm--- the feathers probably would make great flys...but you said she is molting, so win-win right? Just pick up some feathers lying around.

I had some soft shells too---and I think part of it is the heat stress.

maybe keep both egg shells and oyster shells.....and some calcium snacks. IF she is o.k. and a special pet.. Maybe an occasional soft shell can be overlooked. (of scooped up and mixed with feed and fed back to the chickens right away.)

good luck!