shell less eggs, molting?

[yyz0yyz0]

Hello all,
Over the past week or so I've gotten 3 eggs with no shells under the roost in the Sweet pdz, could this be because of Molting?

I have 7 wyandotte hens maybe 18mo old, one of them is going through a serious molt(looked horrible but feathers are coming back now). Could it be because of the molt that I'm seeing an egg with no shell?

I feed layer pellets and they have oyster shell mixed with crushed egg shells available 24/7. They also get out to free range several times a week and I feed them prepcook scraps from the kitchen where I work, lots of melon and pepper seeds, lettuce and assorted vegetable trimmings.

I'm hoping it's due to the molt but at this point I just dont' know

 

[sumi]

Egg laying while molting can cause shell-less eggs, yes. Here are some other possible causes: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/common-egg-quality-problems

 

[Back2Roots]

From what I've read, I would say that molting is definitely contributing to your hen's shell-less eggs.
A couple of suggestions that might help:
1. Since feathers are made up of mostly protein, can you try to increase the amount of protein your girl is getting while she is replacing her feathers? A little bit of canned cat food now and then, for example?
2. A lot of a hen's nutritional reserves are being used up to rebuild during a molt, so maybe some additional calcium in her diet, such as yogurt, might help to get her eggshells back to normal.