passed shell-less egg, now concerned if egg-bound?

[Carobean]

My 14-month-old, 6-lb. buff orpington hen (Poppy) began yesterday looking fine, but in the afternoon she looked somewhat lethargic and then produced an egg with just the yolk and white next to a bush (this was a first for her--never anything other than well-shelled, largish eggs in the nest box). The membrane was hanging from her vent in a worm-like shape, so I pulled it out but it looked like a small part remained in the vent. There was a red bulge emerging from the vent initially but it went back in within the minute by itself. She strained a bit and produced a small amount of poop, then stood there looking a bit dazed. For the rest of the evening she walked slowly around, with her butt held high, tried sitting in the nest box or on the roost a few times, and when the other 3 girls (all feeling fine) went to roost, Poppy was standing on top of the nest boxes with her butt in the air.

This morning she still looks uncomfortable, and it appeared that she had only passed a little white liquid (urates, I believe) during the night, although I'm not sure. She eventually came outside on her own, moving slowly, ate a few pecks of corn, but wasn't interested in other food or water. The only thing I saw come out of her was more of the white urates. Her vent looks fine, and I'm unable to tell that she's swollen or that there's an egg waiting, but I'm not very experienced. Now she's back in the nest box, clucking. Hopefully this is a good sign.

We have 4 hens, all are fed layer rations but free range during the day in our suburban back yard. Nothing new in the way of food yesterday; the only thing different was that the neighbor is getting a new roof put on (not near enough to fling hardware our way, just noise), but the girls didn't seem overly freaked out by this.

Is it possible she's egg bound, and if so, why would she have passed the no-shelled egg prior? Is it possible she has broken shell inside? I've read lots of the info on helping hens pass eggs if egg bound, so I'm willing to try the warm water bath with her, but it sounds like feeling around inside the vent with one's finger could do more damage than good if there is broken shell in there. My avian vet doesn't work until tomorrow, and I'm willing to take her in, but wanted someone's take on the passing of the odd egg as it might relate to being egg-bound, or any other advice folks have.

Thanks so much!

 

[Fergie]

Isn't passing soft shelled eggs a sign of nutritional deficiency? It is a big deal, because if the soft shelled eggs stop being laid, and progress to the no shell stage, the yolks may stay in the abdomen and may become infected. We've been dealing with this amongst our flock. We have discovered that calcium AND vitamin D3 are important to egg shell formation, so you may want to read up on supplementing your gals.

Do you live in a northern state? Vitamin D3 deficiency is more common among northern states.

Good luck!

 

[RSAChickenDude]

My hen seems to have a similar problem.Someone told me to give her oyster shell is this true or not.

 

[jerseygirl1]

I thought all laying hens were supposed to get oyster shell?

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
They are.

Laying feed is designed for the average hen at a cal/phos ratio of about 6:1. But some hens can need as much as 15:1 calcium. So you should always provide oyster shell to take care of those. (they can't make 15:1 feeds because the excess calcium, forced on the more normal-range hens would be harmful for them.)


Calcium, phosphorus, and D3 make the three-legged stool of egg-shell success. Too much or too little of any of them makes the stool fall.

Phosphorus is usually not the culprit, as grains are very high in phosphorus and most feeds more than adequately provide it.

D3 is more of a problem (particularly as part of its formation depends on certain UV rays). So is calcium.

So all pullets whose combs are plumping and turning cherry through to the last day of a hen's life should get: 95% of their diet in a good, fresh (very important that it smells strongly fresh), completely-fortified laying pellet or crumble. Oyster shell (free choice). Granite grit (free choice - can be mixed with oyster shell - oyster shell isn't strong enough for grit, grit doesn't have calcium like oyster shell). Fresh water, some sunlight (we're not industrial chicken raisers).

Giving new layers plain yogurt can help to boost D3 and calcium levels slightly. But oyster shell is absolutely necessary. Or limestone grit, which you can rarely find these days. Oyster shell is readily found at most feedstores, all TSC in nice little small clean bags. Pick up their granite grit while you're there - it's very high quality.

Incidentally, feeding corn, scratch, and a lot of other grains depletes the hen's diet of calcium by binding up the calcium to the excess phosphorus. So keep good grains (whole oats, red wheat, chops) less than 5% of the diet. And only use scratch for its original intent: in handfuls thrown into the yard or bedding to get the hens to "scratch" around for this little treat to aerate their bedding, or keep busy and moving.

 

[Buffy18]

I have the same problem please help I am trying the bath today and giving her Tums but I don’t know if she’s gonna pass the egg