Sapphire Gem Laying Problems

[kmom08]

Sorry for the lengthy post, but I'm trying not to leave anything out. I have a hen who has been laying soft shell and no shell eggs. All my girls are 23 weeks old as of yesterday.

At first I wasn't quite sure who was laying the soft and no shell eggs, as they were being laid at night and found under the roost below 2 of my Sapphires. I added an extra oyster shell feeder in my run, because I figured whoever it was wasn't paying attention to the first one.

I'm pretty sure she's been laying twice some days, once with the soft shell overnight and again with a hard shell in the nest box. I was finding 7 hard shell eggs a day from all 7 of my sex linked chickens. The last 3 days I have been short an egg.

Last night I brought Our Sapphire named Luna inside because I noticed she was acting off as if she was needing to lay, but couldn't. After they went into the coop last night I found her below the roost (which is odd for her because she is at the top of the pecking order and ALWAYS on the top roost) I brought her inside and fed her some yogurt for the extra calcium and probiotic. She then pooped what looked like egg white mixed into it, and dropped a single yolk with no shell at all. After she laid the yolk she perked right up, so after 30 minutes of observing her I brought her back to the coop and she jumped on the roost. I'm not sure what to do about the situation, all I know is I've been very concerned.

This morning she still seemed perked up, she was the first to greet me when I was letting the girls out of the run. She's currently foraging in the back yard with her sisters, and seems fine today. My Sapphires began laying at 18 weeks old. ​

 

[rachelsflock]

Oh man. I've had this happen before. I'm so sorry. I think she might be self-destructing. I'm following this to see if anyone has a solution.

 

[kmom08]

Oh man. I've had this happen before. I'm so sorry. I think she might be self-destructing. I'm following this to see if anyone has a solution.

Self Destructing?

 

[rachelsflock]

It sounds like she may be internally laying or have a defective shell gland and having hormone problems. I wouldn't cull her, just wait it out. There's a chance her system will work it out. The birds I had years ago did not BUT nature tries. Your description sounds almost exactly like my birds (except I had six from the same source that did this).

She's still a young layer. If no one else has a suggestion to help you, just wait and watch. You've got the calcium out, and the layer feed, and you're keeping her on her schedule and well tended and offering supportive care when needed for at least comfort. What else can you do?
Still listening for other responses.

 

[aart]

Are any of the other SG's having this issue?
What all and how exactly are you feeding?

Soft/thin shelled egg have to do with more than just calcium,
there are other nutrients needed to uptake and apply the calcium to an egg,
so just adding more calcium is rarely a solution.
And sometimes a birds system does just not work 'right'.

 

[EggWalrus]

They definitely need proper nutrition from a quality layer feed or all-flock with oyster shell on side. Sometimes people think scratch is feed when it's not, it's just a forage training tool and a treat.
What kind of feed do they get, how much, and how often?

 

[EggWalrus]

PS
What kinds of kitchen scraps and treats do they get and how often?

 

[kmom08]

PS
What kinds of kitchen scraps and treats do they get and how often?

I feed layer crumbles and since they are still growing I avoid giving table scraps. I free feed the layer crumbles, and give them a handful of black oil sunflower seeds once a day, sometimes a little meal worms (I've had the same bag of meal worms for 2 months). They range on half an acre throughout the day, so there has been no need for any extra "treats" at this time. I gave them some poultry cell on Thursday mixed in a 5 quart waterer (because I was worried about Luna lacking something), and the week prior they had some rooster booster vitamins/electrolyte/probiotic. I use pro bios when I want to give a probiotic without vitamins. They also get ACV once a week mixed into 3 gallons of water.

She finally left me a hard shell egg on Friday, and has been acting normal again. It's just odd that I've been finding soft shell or no shell and then she went 3 days without laying (only laid a yolk, which I witnessed) and now she's back to laying a hard shell again. Some days she'll lay a hard shell during the day and then a soft shell overnight under the roost (like it's being laid while she's asleep)

 

[Cyprus]

Sounds like she just needed a mineral boost.
I'd say to keep the mineral supplements up for a while. Maybe supplement the feed every 2-3 days.

 

[EggWalrus]

Since chickens only lay one egg , it sounds like another pullet may be coming into lay and hadn't got the links worked out yet. Soft shell / no shell are usually common in pullets.