Shell-less egg

[RMo2]

Well, I came home late this evening and went to check on the girls before bed and there was a shell-less egg laying right underneath the roosting posts. It look like one of the girls plopped it out while they were roosting. Our girls are 24 weeks old and 3/5 are laying now... the third just started this week. I am thinking maybe it is our new layer or perhaps our 4th started laying today?? They have access to oyster shell at all times, so I am hoping this is just a fluke and not a sign of calcium issues....

I have to admit it was a weird sight as a newbie!

 

[ChicKat]

It's probably just a fluke, and as the hen gets the laying process smoothed out it will go away. It's a pretty common thing in pullets.

I just posted this in another question about eggshells...it may give you some ideas:


1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar per gallon of water helps the hen absorb nutrients by the effect on the pH in the digestive system.

Vitamin D3 is used by hens to help create strong egg shells.

I had a hen laying soft shells, and I pulverized some shells in the food processor, I mixed that powder with a crushed D3 tablet (very cheap, at WalMart in the vitamin section) and some layer feed, and some yogurt or water to make it hold together. Within a few days her shell was back to normal.

Hens that lay daily have a pretty big calcium demand on their bodies, especially if they lay the ex. large or Jumbo sized eggs. You may want to feed them their own egg shells crushed - mine prefer chicken egg shells to oyster shells.

 

[RMo2]

It's probably just a fluke, and as the hen gets the laying process smoothed out it will go away. It's a pretty common thing in pullets.

I just posted this in another question about eggshells...it may give you some ideas:


1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar per gallon of water helps the hen absorb nutrients by the effect on the pH in the digestive system.

Vitamin D3 is used by hens to help create strong egg shells.

I had a hen laying soft shells, and I pulverized some shells in the food processor, I mixed that powder with a crushed D3 tablet (very cheap, at WalMart in the vitamin section) and some layer feed, and some yogurt or water to make it hold together. Within a few days her shell was back to normal.

Hens that lay daily have a pretty big calcium demand on their bodies, especially if they lay the ex. large or Jumbo sized eggs. You may want to feed them their own egg shells crushed - mine prefer chicken egg shells to oyster shells.

Thank you!!!! I have been giving the girls apple cider vinegar in their water pretty much from the beginning-- But I have not tried the Vitamin D3 or their own egg shells--- BUT I will!! Thank you very much for the great advice!!!

 

[ChicKat]

Hope it is great advice. I'll bet it is a naturally occurring self-repair. Never hurts to have egg-shells crushed up for them, though. Some folks have noticed that in long periods of reduced sunshine (D is the 'sunshine' vitamin) their chickens can benefit.

Best of luck with it, I'm sure it will work out fine.

 

[aggiemae]

Helpfully posts. Our hens started laying mid August and we get mostly get four and sometime three or five eggs a day. We did have one soft shelled egg when the four started laying, it looked like it was laid from the roost but all the shells since then have been thick and hard. Until tow days ago when I found a soft shelled egg on the coop floor. I am hoping that this was the first egg of our Wellsummer the only chicken that hasn't laid yet. But no egg yesterday or today.

They were on Layer but I switched back to grower, with calcium on the side, when I realized the Wellsummer wasn't laying.

 

[Equine4Mom]

I've had problems with soft shells and no shells too, mine are about the same age as yours RM. Mine were all new laying pullets producing those eggs, most were laid on the roost, dropping into the droppings pit. Sure enough, a few days later, I was getting new eggs in the nest boxes, all normal. Good luck! Hoping that's all it is.

Love your Komodore!

 

[aggiemae]

We do have a komondor but the Avatar picture is Phoebe, one of our three Pulik,

And if our Wellsummer has started laying she isn't laying in the nest boxes, but I plan to search the yard tomorrow.

 

[Darkwings]

I had a hen lay an egg that was shell-less a few weeks ago. Hers had a tough membrane around it, but was missing the shell. I heard that if something surprises the hen before they are ready to lay the egg sometimes they will pop out "half-baked" so to speak. I have no idea if that's true or not. It only happened once and to a hen that has been laying for over a year. I think it was just a fluke.

 

[ChicKat]

I had a hen lay an egg that was shell-less a few weeks ago. Hers had a tough membrane around it, but was missing the shell. I heard that if something surprises the hen before they are ready to lay the egg sometimes they will pop out "half-baked" so to speak. I have no idea if that's true or not. It only happened once and to a hen that has been laying for over a year. I think it was just a fluke.

It probably was a fluke. Especially if you are providing free-choice calcium, etc.