Shell-less eggs! Heatwave or something else??

[Leihamarie]

Well... I've read about it and I've seen the pictures but this is the first time I'm experiencing the shell-less egg thing. I have 3 layers( 2 EEs & an Australorp), all still under a year old (just by about a month or two). They've been laying now for about 5 months. They've been daily layers for the most part (skipping a day here and there) since they started laying. Last night I went to check on them before going to bed and there was a shell-less egg under my Australorp who had laid a perfect egg just that afternoon. I just removed it to the compost, as it had broken open in it's fall from the roost. This morning my head EE had laid a very thin-shelled egg. I'm not sure what's going on! They eat layer feed and have PLENTY of oyster shell/ egg shell free-choice and want for nothing (well...okay.... I'm sure they WANT more treats but I'm very careful about how much they get) and get plenty of forage time (6+ hours/day, usually more). It HAS gotten very hot here just in the last couple of days, where before it was staying relatively cool. Are these eggs something that I need to worry about?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Heat will cause both. An odd egg occasionally is nothing to be worried about. I'm always surprised by how many they get right.

 

[Leihamarie]

Heat will cause both. An odd egg occasionally is nothing to be worried about. I'm always surprised by how many they get right.

Thanks! I put a splash of nutridrench in their water just in case it's a deficiency of some sort but your response makes me feel a lot better!

 

[aldarita]

Because of where I am (south central Texas) and going on 5 years keeping chickens, I have noticed that I occasionally get soft shell eggs when the temperature starts rising. I have assumed it is normal as long as it doesn't happen often . I also have oyster shells and crushed egg shells in dishes 24/7.

 

[Leihamarie]

Because of where I am (south central Texas) and going on 5 years keeping chickens, I have noticed that I occasionally get soft shell eggs when the temperature starts rising. I have assumed it is normal as long as it doesn't happen often . I also have oyster shells and crushed egg shells in dishes 24/7.

How long and how many soft/ barely there shells do you get from each hen before they normalize? Today was day 3 for my head EE with a barely there shell. The other two are laid fine today but I'm wondering if I should worry about my EE. She's been the BEST layer since the day she started. Beautiful blue eggs daily (minus a day or two) since early December. I'm keeping them hydrated, they have lots of cool shady spots to rest in, shallow dishes of cool water to stand in if they like and their coop is clean and well ventilated. I've been leaving all the windows & one of their doors (it's got a hardware cloth screen and predator safe) open to make sure it's nice and cool for them at night. Argh, chickens, lol! Just when I think I've got them dialed in they throw me a curve ball, hahaha!

 

[aldarita]

Your EE is young and maybe she is still getting her "egg laying" right. I have one (EE too) that is just over a year old. She has problems laying. She laid beautiful green eggs for a while, then she started laying very small eggs (fairy eggs) and every once in a while an egg with no shell. Now she sits in the nesting box then she gets out sings the egg song but there is no egg in the nest.
She looks healthy, eats and drinks right, roams around the yard, and dust bathe. I am watching her close with hopes that she is OK.
When I have found eggs with barely a shell, they have not been that many and not every day.

 

[Folly's place]

Do you have oyster shell in a separate dish for them? Make sure that their diet is balanced, and then blame that heat wave! Mary

 

[Leihamarie]

Do you have oyster shell in a separate dish for them? Make sure that their diet is balanced, and then blame that heat wave! Mary

Hi Mary,

Yes... I've got oyster shell and toasted egg shell free choice and I fine mill S&P organic layer feed myself and then soak it overnight in the fridge so it's more bio-available and they get all the fines and can't just pick out their fave grains. I also have 1Tbs ACV per gallon of water in their drinking water

After considering it yesterday, she MAY have a nutritional deficiency. I have grower crumbles in the coop that are just there for a back-up and variety to their mash. I see her eating the crumbles MUCH more than the mash but I DON'T see her eating oyster or egg shell whereas I DO see the other two dipping into the free choice shells pretty regularly.

I made a "calcium concoction" for her yesterday comprised of 1/4C organic probiotic yogurt, 600-ish mg calcium citrate, a drizzle of nutridrench and some mash. She ate a lot of it and is in the nesting box now so we'll see what happens. *fingers crossed*
I'll probably replace the grower crumbles with layer for now to see if there's a difference in her laying. How does that saying go: "You can lead a chicken to oyster shell but you can't make 'em eat"??? lol!

 

[Leihamarie]

Hallelujah!!!!! 3 fully shelled eggs!!!!
Phew!!!! Seems it's a calcium quantity issue and not an absorption or internal laying problem!!! Thank you everyone for your replies!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I feed a ration year round to my birds that isn't layer. They don't eat a lot of oyster shells either. I like the higher protein of a ration like a grower. Eggs without shells have nothing to do with calcium intake. Brittle shells do. In shell less eggs the egg comes out before it's ready.