Shell-Less Eggs Everywhere!! What's Going On?

[TipswordC]

Hello!! I have a 2-year-old flock of Buff Orps, RI Reds, White Orps, Black Australorps & some mixes. Traditional good layers. Today, I checked on them several times, like usual, and each time I found an egg mess in a nesting box. No shells, no shell pieces, but fully broken yoke and white just laying there. Typically, if a hen wanted to eat an egg, there would be nothing left. This was the whole inside of an egg with no fully intact yoke-just runny. This was 5 times, all at different times today. The first one was around 9am and the last one was at 6pm. Now, if something frightened my flock last night, wouldn't they drop their unfinished eggs right away?? I'm wondering if there is some type of bacteria passing around. Two weeks ago, I had a buff orp lay what looked like a small piece of lash egg attached to a soft-shell egg that she passed. I took that and a stool sample to the vet and she tested clear for illnesses & parasites. I did put her on a 5 day round of Baytril just "in case". Her activity is completely normal and her appetite. Always has been. But she hasn't laid an egg since the soft-shell mess. Now, 2 of my RI Reds started laying lash eggs one last fall and one this past winter, a few months apart. (these hens are from the same hatch from a reputable hatchery: bad genetics?) I treated them with antibiotics in the water, lincomycin-spectinomycin. I did this for 7 days. Neither has laid fully formed eggs since. One has laid 2 other small lash egg pieces in the past 2 months; the other hen just lays runny yolk and egg white mess a few times a week. This hen also has trouble growing her feathers back. I feed her Grubblies grub snacks, scrambled eggs, oyster shell. I can't figure her out. I keep the coop very clean. I disinfect the nesting boxes and clean up any mess I find right away. I do have 2 roosters with this coop. Does anyone know of a specific illness that could be spreading from hen to hen, either by using the same nesting boxes (i have way more that required, but you know how hens are) or by the roosters? As far as feeding goes-I'm buying a premium crumble from grubbly farms. I also am buying an organic layer mash from Scratch and Peck that I ferment for them. This is given bi-weekly now, but more often in the winter. I have 5 gallon waterers that I take apart piece by piece every other week to disinfect with dish soap and a scrubber. I add an oregano supplement to their water and sometimes ACV. I have an organic garden full of greens that are safe for chickens (i check everything). They get yummy treats from there a few times a week. I'm really frustrated because I have made every effort to keep them as healthy as possible and I'm spending lots of time and money to make it happen. I feel like a failure. The only thing I can think of is that last year I got 4 hens from the tractor supply. Obviously they didn't have vaccines or anything. Could those chicks have been carriers for something that has affected them all? Can the lash egg disease spread from hen to hen? Is my feed not fully nutritional? They are eating down the oyster shell supplement, but they still have thin shells from time to time and now I have a no shell issue. Thanks in advance for the help!!

 

[Stravager]

If it is Salpingitis that you're dealing with there's basically no cure from what I understand. Antibiotics are only successful if it's caught immediately, and most of the time by symptoms of the disease appear it's too late. Even if antibiotics are successful, the odds are good that the hen will never lay a normal egg again. It can be partially due to E.coli, diseases introduced while they're in the egg or as chicks contacting a respiratory disease, or any number of things such as a hen picking at the vent of an infected hen....
If you have Salpingitis the prognosis is generally 6 months to live once they start showing signs.
Did you quarantine all your hens when you got them? Have you practiced biosecurity in your coop changing shoes, washing tools, etc? Are you using metal waterers or plastic? ACV can cause zinc poisoning if you're using metal. Generally, if you're using a commercial supplement it is a complete feed, except if you've got too much calcium in the diet it could also be causing a phosphorus deficiency so that might be something to check. On average I believe hens should get around 4-5g of calcium a day and most of that should be in the layer feed already.

 

[aart]

I'd cut out all the supplements and meds.
Give nothing but a good balanced feed ration and plain water.

 

[EuroChook]

Quick note...There is nothing wrong with maintaining supplements of protein and calcium and D and phosphorus, etc., while trying hard to manage whatever has affected the flock. En-masse, reproductive disease will most likely be viral, assuming there is no water or soil contamination.