Shell-Less Egg

[Kiki]

Well, I don’t want to fry the organs of my non-layers. I don’t know what I’ll do at this point. They did well on 50/50 layer/grower. I just don’t know what to do. Other people do all flock with no problems. Some people feed all kinds of treats with no problems. I just don’t get it. I’m trying really hard to do the right thing for my birds.

I understand. You've just gotten lucky.

 

[micstrachan]

Oh no!

What do you think of doxycycline? I have 19 100mL tablets left snd she’s weighing in at ~1290 grams (She’s a tiny little thing.)

 

[casportpony]

Do you have any Meloxicam?

What do you think of doxycycline? I have 19 100mL tablets left snd she’s weighing in at ~1290 grams (She’s a tiny little thing.)

Not sure how effective that is. Can you call your vet tomorrow and see if they will sell you some Baytril?

 

[micstrachan]

I do not have meloxicam. Of course tomorrow is Saturday. I ordered Baytril via Priority USPS. I also have a tiny bit left from Ruby’s recent issue. I can continue to look for the enro I already have, as well.

Last year when Ruby seemed to be relapsing, I thought it seemed too early to put her back on Baytril and used Doxy instead. She did great. I also have lots of amoxicillin on hand and Bird Sulfa, I think.

Poor little Dorothy is only (just under) 9 months old.

 

[micstrachan]

@azygous, you’ve been successful using amoxicillin after soft eggs? Wondering if I should pull Dorothy from the roost and give her one. Her vent was not pulsing after she dropped the softie. There was no egg material on her vent. However, not all of the membrane was there when I found it. I thought she might have eaten some of it, since she was eating yolk, but cannot be sure. She had one of these and some heat before she passed the soft egg:

 

[micstrachan]

Also, Dorothy’s last shelled egg was on 2/18.

 

[sloanbychoice]

I'm so sorry.
This won't help you but I have to say it....


This is the reason I will not feed an all flock feed.
I know it doesn't always happen to everyone and it may not be the feed but it could be and I don't like the could part.
I'd rather not give them the option to eat oyster shell on the side.

Kiki, I was using only layer feed until I got a roo. It was suggested that, for his sake, I switch to all flock. I was hesitant, because I don’t like changing what isn’t broken, and I had a very healthy flock.
So, I have both available.
Question: do you have only laying hens? Do you use layer feed with other chickens too? I’ve been very curious about this topic. I’d like to know your thoughts.

 

[azygous]

I missed seeing your thread last night. Dorothy definitely has a problem that needs treating. When a shell-less egg appears intact, it's not a crisis, but calcium citrate needs to be administered until the hen is laying normal eggs again. If a thin-shelled egg is discovered collapsed in the nest box, same thing, not a crisis, but she needs calcium therapy.

It's when you have evidence of an egg collapsing inside that I feel an antibiotic is necessary to head off possible infection caused by the yolk and the irritation of the tract. Once infection takes hold in the reproductive tract, it then becomes a life threatening situation, and if the hen doesn't die, as you realize, it can mean a case of EYP slowly killing her.

I treat this with amoxicillin. I suggest you use it for Dorothy and give her the full ten day treatment.

I've been feeding all flock feed for ten years and have had only two instances where eggs have collapsed inside the hen. I can't say I've seen any problem with my eggs being of poor quality because of not feeding layer. Of course, as my hens are laying regularly into their sixth, seventh, and sometimes eighth year, occasionally, an egg will be a little thin-shelled. I had this problem with Lilith, my eleven-year old SLW two years ago when she was nine and still trying to lay. She was the only one of two that I ever had to treat with an antibiotic due to an egg collapsing inside her. It was her final egg, but she's still spry and leading a normal life for an ancient hen.

 

[Shadrach]

I'm so sorry.
This won't help you but I have to say it....


This is the reason I will not feed an all flock feed.
I know it doesn't always happen to everyone and it may not be the feed but it could be and I don't like the could part.
I'd rather not give them the option to eat oyster shell on the side.

Some evidence that an all flock feed with free availability of oyster shell, or some other calcium supplement produces shell less eggs would be good here.
Do you have any?

 

[Shadrach]

Administering antibiotics as a preventative measure doesn't work and is often counterproductive. The antibiotic is indiscriminate so the good stuff gets wiped out with the bad and further weakens the hens natural immune system.
Reproductive problems are usually terminal. It's a high profile killer of the consequences of breeding high production hens.
I'm sorry, but that is the way it is.