One of my chickens laid an egg w/o a shell. Does that happen often and is there a reason? It is completely intact and you can pick it up, because the "skin" layer is holding it together. Feels like a water balloon.
Yep, can happen....especially with new or older layers, just a glitch or stress. If it continues consistently for weeks on end there could be an issue with calcium absorption or the shelling gland of the chicken.
They happen now and then, occasional soft or shell-less eggs are usually just a glitch in the egg laying system and they are especially common in new layers or in birds just coming back into lay as as they get into gear. Usually the egg is just moving through the system too fast or they have released multiple yolks in the same time period. The occasional one is usually nothing to worry about. If you get more it is not necessarily related to a lack of calcium as such, it can be related to the bird's ability to use calcium or a defective shell gland. If it is just one bird doing it continuously, I would be inclined to think it is a problem specific to her, if you are getting a lot of them you probably want to look into diet/ disease/ disturbances etc that could be affecting the whole flock. There is a list of causes on The Poultry Site ... http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publi...ndbook/16/thinshelled-eggs-and-shellless-eggs
Mine do that sometimes. I think it is sometimes caused by calcium deficiency, but more often its just an occasional mistake and nothing to worry about, unless you have a hen that lays shell-less eggs all the time, which could be a defect.
Thank you for ALL of your replies. She had been in a non laying spell.. slight molt with high HEAT here in Florida. All her coloring is vibrant and port looks fine. So I guess its just her way of saying , "i'm trying Mommy!"