Soft shell eggs with blood, misshapen eggs, laying in flowerbeds all of a sudden

[jklyles1]

I posted in another section but am not getting any replies. I have a Blue Hamburg that recently started laying in the flowerbeds and the eggs are odd shaped.





This happened twice. The second one looked like it had yolk on the outside. Not a lot, just a little yellow. This morning a found a busted soft shell egg with blood.





She seems to be acting OK. She is eating and pooping. I have noticed her behind feathers are a little dirty. She eats Flock Grower, Oyster shell, and free ranges all day.

Any help would be much appreciated!!!

 

[Megan Amber]

I couldn't quite tell, is she a new layer or has only just begun? If she is new then
I might would switch her over to a grain or laying pellet now that she has begun to lay.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sometimes it is normal to get a soft shelled egg from new layers and sometimes older ones will. The wrinkled or funny shaped egg could be normal or it could be due to the hen having had infectious bronchitis (I.B.) It is probably nothing though, and she may be looking around in the bushes to build a nest to lay her eggs to hide.

 

[jklyles1]

She has been laying for about 7 weeks. Always in the nest boxes until now. Im only giving her Flock Grower because i have EEs that are 18 weeks old and not laying yet. As soon as they start laying I was going to switch back over to layer feed. Saturday I saw this hen walking like a penguin in the flowerbed so i walked over to her and as she turned an egg came out. She laid it while walking right by my foot. I havent heard her cough or sneeze or noticed any off poop. Just worried!!! Hoping shes OK!

 

[poonam]

hey there, i'm wondering how your hen is doing. i'm having a very similar issue with my 2 year old sebright hen as well, she just has been laying her eggs out in the open, all of a sudden like she can't control it, and they either been chalky shelled or soft shells with small blood stains on them. I've done a lot of research and can't seem to find anything particular. Does your hen look like she has a hard time when she's laying? Don't know if you've seen a hen lay, but i'm noticing that mine seems to be having a particularly hard time, more so than the usual hen laying discomforts.

Let me know what you learn, and how it's going.

 

[jklyles1]

She is randomly laying perfect eggs in the nesting box. Sometimes she drops them from the roost at night..sometimes in the flowerbed. She is somewhat better...i think about 5-7 eggs so far in nesting box. I dont know why she got all messed up on her laying routine. She seems healthy, eats, bosses everyone around..etc. The only time i saw her lay was when she was walking through the flowerbed and she walked like a penguin for about 5 steps them dropped an egg! Hopefully yours is just having a hiccup in her system. Crazy chickens!!!

 

[poonam]

thanks for the update. do you think it could be a calcium deficiency? they can have a lot of irritation in their reproductive tract from a calcium deficiency. i'm going to try and up the calcium for my hen and see if that makes a difference for her.

 

[jklyles1]

I offer them oyster shell and laying pellets. Also yogurt and ground egg shell I have noticed the hens will eat the chick starter like its the best thing theyve ever had. I have to make sure and keep it out of reach. Let me know how your hen does

 

[Connie White]

Can you tell if your chicken has congestion? There is
Infectious Bronchitis

It's a pretty nasty sickness to deal with - you can hear a girgle noise when they breath - and one of the 'symptoms' is what you're referring to - an egg that does not have a hard shell- they are a bit freaky looking at best. If you do hear the noise when your hen breathes - let me know and I can help you on treatments as I've been through this recently and found the information on the internet about it VERY inconsistent and for me - it was not good information. I'm sure every situation is different though.
Connie

 

[jklyles1]

Can you tell if your chicken has congestion? There is
Infectious Bronchitis

It's a pretty nasty sickness to deal with - you can hear a girgle noise when they breath - and one of the 'symptoms' is what you're referring to - an egg that does not have a hard shell- they are a bit freaky looking at best. If you do hear the noise when your hen breathes - let me know and I can help you on treatments as I've been through this recently and found the information on the internet about it VERY inconsistent and for me - it was not good information. I'm sure every situation is different though.
Connie

Thank you Connie! Ive looked my hen over and she seems to be healthy. No breathing issues, drainage, comb is nice and red. She runs all over the yard with me etc..She has now laid 3 days in a row in the nesting box and all her eggs have been perfect. Hopefully she is on the right track!