Shell-less eggs or something else?

[Sefirothe]

I have a 7-8 month old Barnevelder girl that from day one seemed to have GI issues. I was constantly cleaning her butt as a chick. As a pullet she'd occasionally have some runny poo and poo stuck to her butt fluff but usually took care of it herself and it was an intermittent issue.

She's also the lowest on the pecking order but isnt really picked on, she just usually chooses to stay out of the rest of the 5 pullet's way. She moves off if any of the others so much as look at her. She does get to roost with everyone, usually after everyone else picks their spot.

The last week or so I've noticed she's had a bit of caked up butt fluff, but yesterday I noticed her butt is reaaally gross with gunk. She was in the corner of the pen by the waterer, a little hunched and puffed up. But still taking a drink now and then. She squatted and a little bit of clear came out, that looked like egg whites.

She's been squatting like for a rooster when I come in the pen for the last couple weeks so I was expecting her to start laying soon.

I had been feeding them layer feed in the fall, but when no one started laying I switched to all flock when the bag ran out. They do have oyster shell constantly available. Not sure if maybe the others could have been chasing her off of it tho.

I picked up some calcium citrate with D3 at Walmart this morning and I've given her a pill today. Is there anything else I can do?

I just have a bad feeling since she's always seemed to have some kind of gut issues.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'd make sure the give her a good cleanup.

Did she seem to expel a soft shell membrane or did you see it?

I'd give the Calcium Citrate with D3 for a week. Hopefully this will firm up the shells, but it sounds like she may have had a membrane leak if you are seeing what looked like albumen (egg whites) leaking from the vent.
If that's the case, then I'd consider giving Amoxicillin to help fight infection. You can order it online. Dose is 57mg per pound of weight given orally 2X a day for 7-10days.

 

[Sefirothe]

I haven't seen evidence of a shell membrane. Its possible she passed it while I wasn't there and the others ate it.

I'll keep giving her the calcium citrate and I'll see about getting her the amoxicillin. And try to get my husband to help give it. I have a severe allergy to all of the -cillins unfortunately.

I just hope this isnt a recurring issue with her.

 

[Papaye]

Hi.

(Barnevelders are so beautiful... would you have a picture to show us?)

If your hen was mine, I would :
1 - clean her up,
2 - mix food grade Diatomaceous Earth in her feed (in a plastic feeder) - everyday,
3 - give her ACCESS to yogurt mixed (at least) with wet cat food, curcumin, ginger, and thyme - for 6-7 days,
4 - the 15th day after begining to mix DE in her feed, I would put Apple Cider Vinegar in her water (in a plastic waterer : NEVER IN A METAL WATERER) - 1 tablespoon per liter of water.

For what it's worth :

In the past, I had often one of my hens, then several, that laid shell-less eggs... in spite of the fact my flock had an unlimited access to layer pellets AND to oystershell grit...
I tried to put an end to it by giving them liquid Calcium, but it was ineffective : the hens that laid eggs kept laying eggs (but with thicker eggshells), but the hens that laid shell-less eggs kept laying these shell-less eggs...

But since I have begun to feed food grade Diatomaceous Earth to my chickens - to, precisely, allow an unlimited access to food/seeds/pellets mixed DE to all of my birds (IN ADDITION to their usual food without DE) -, NONE of my hens has laid any shell-less egg anymore.
On the contrary, all of their eggs have now a very, very thick shell!

If you hen is weak, you can already try to make her strong by feeding her what would be right for her.
Hoping your hen has not a too serious problem, of course...!!

Good luck.

 

[Eggcessive]

Calcium is best given with vitamin D3, so what you already have is fine to give if she is having trouble with her egg shells. When an egg is leaking from or has broken inside, it can be a setup for infection, thus the amoxicillin recommendation. Hopefully, this will help, but unfortunately, some hens may have reproductive disorders. I had a single barnevelder once, though the hatchery was supposed to have sent 2 chicks, and she died in her first year without laying any eggs. They were pretty scarce back then. I later began to do necropsies on my hens who died, just to try and find a reason.

 

[Sefirothe]

This is Cadbury about a month ago.

I checked on her a little bit ago and she's looking less scrunched up and puffed up. She was roosted up with the rest of the flock and settled in for the night.

Hoping the calcium helps and it was just the fact that her flockmates were chasing her off the oyster shell. I'll be adding a second dish of it on the other side of the pen to be safe. And switching them back to layer as soon as this bag of all flock runs out.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I haven't seen evidence of a shell membrane. Its possible she passed it while I wasn't there and the others ate it.

I'll keep giving her the calcium citrate and I'll see about getting her the amoxicillin. And try to get my husband to help give it. I have a severe allergy to all of the -cillins unfortunately.

I just hope this isnt a recurring issue with her.

Cadbury is lovely.

If you are allergic to the medication, do be aware you don't want to eat/use her eggs either, so if you aren't certain that you'll be able to i.d. her egg to throw it out, then I'd wait to see if she gets better without the abx or perhaps choose something different to use. Tetracyclines may be a better choice if you are not allergic to those and you find it necessary to medicate her.

 

[Papaye]

Your Cadbury is a really beautiful girl...!!
(I am jealous; ah, ah! I don't find Barnevelders anywhere close to me.)

Where do you put the oystershell...?
If it is in a feeder, there is a good chance your hen does not eat it simply BECAUSE she won't want to eat it in a feeder...
So, I would recommend you to just put the oystershell direcly on the ground if you are not already doing that.

Also : I really would mix food grade Diatomaceous Earth with her food. With ALL your chickens food...
That can NOT hurt your birds. On the contrary, from my experiences, DE can only HELP them...!

...Calcium did not help my chickens that laid eggshell eggs...
(That was liquid Calcium specifically for poultry.)

I don't really know what my hens' problem was, but I think it could have been genetic : the hens were hybrid chickens, and I'm pretty sure they all were from the same place.
Also : after they began to lay shell-less eggs, they also had pulsating vent sometimes. (I don't know if this information could help to know what the problem was...)
But genetic problem or not, food grade Diatomaceous Earth is what has fixed them.

...You do what your want to, of course!
I just tell you that so you can try if you think it's worth it.
(I know I would have liked to know about it much earlier!)

(I read my precedent post. I am sorry if I made myself understood badly : there are some faults in a sentence - English mistakes, because I wrote too fast -, so I am going to correct them now!!!)

 

[Sefirothe]

I'm back with this same chicken. Not sure what was going on originally, but am doubting it was a shell-less egg now. She had been fine after a week or so of supplimenting calcium citrate (if it even helped or it was just a coincidence).

Cadbury will be a year old in May and she has not laid a single egg in her life yet. Wednesday and Thursday this week she started going in and out of the nest boxes as well as laying down in the boxes, arranging the shavings including tossing them all over herself and I started getting hopeful.

Friday she went back to being hunched and puffed up, not wanting to move off the roost. No interest in food, water or treats when on Thursday she was mobbing me as normal for treats.

I gave her a calcium pill, got exam gloves on and checked her vent. I was able to out my index finger in to the knuckle and didn't feel an egg so I don't think she's egg bound. She is having watery diahrrea which she's struggled with since being a chick.

This morning, I gave her another calcium pill. She was a little bit interested in treats so I let her eat some of the cracked corn I was tossing to the others. I saw on the cameras that she did eventually leave the roost and go out to the pen, so I hope she visited the water. She just seems more weak this time. She's currently hunched up on the coop floor in a corner.

Last night she didn't have enough energy to get away from the one chicken who likes to bully her and ended up with a bloody injured comb. I separated the bully out to chicken jail.

I have no idea what could be going on here. No vets near me will see chickens.

 

[Eggcessive]

She really sounds like she has some reproductive disorder. There are many different ones. This seems more likely that some temporary issue since she has never laid eggs. False layer is one that may sit in a nest box, and never lays an egg. Salpingitis or internal layers may lay eggs up into the abdomen, and egg masses and may be found inside them. You could try the calcium supplement for a week, to see if it helps.

Many times we don’t know the issue until we lose them. If you lose her, I would do a necropsy to look at her organs. Take pictures of findings to post here for opinions. I had a respiratory virus go through my flock which caused a lot of the chickens to have egg laying problems, and some died early in life. I saw abnormal shells in most of those that died later. Here is a good video of a necropsy where organs are labeled: