Soft shelled egg issue. Stuck inside??

[allameraucana]

Hi everyone,

So, one of my hens has laid at least 2 soft shelled eggs (2 separate occasions). One of them broke but I could see all the "shell" and the second one was still intact. Interestingly, I found both of these on the droppings board which means she was on the roost when she laid them.

I have been anxiously waiting to see if she lays a hard shell egg. I have 4 chickens that lay brown so I have been hoping for all 4 of them to lay the same say so I could compare.

Today I went to collect eggs and noticed all 4 eggs I collected (only 3 brown) had yolk on them. I went back to the nesting box and that's when I found that all the shavings were soaked in yolk. I looked through the shavings and could only find a few fragments of hard shell left.

I have never had an instance of egg eating. Plus the other 4 eggs (all in the same nesting box) were untouched.

I am worried that this egg might belong to the soft shell laying hen. I looked at their vents and they look normal. However, I have struggled with diarrhea for some of them for a few months (although that seems to be gone now), dirty laid eggs (that's more recent but gone now), and mites/lice (still battling this, treating them again on Sunday for the 2nd treatment).

Anyway, what do you guys thing? Could fragments of the egg be still inside her? If so, what do I do?? Everybody is acting, eating, and drinking normally. I recently cut them off of all treats, only giving layer pellets. I also only recently started giving oyster shell in a separate container. I wasn't aware I needed to do this. I think I f'ed up their diet by overdoing it on veggie scraps and 5 grain scratch. I have remedied this now.

I am stressed!! I love my chooks and I am worried sick! They are all 11 mo old and have been laying well since November. They even laid reliably all winter long with no supplemental lighting ..

Thank you

 

[Eggcessive]

If there are fragments , they will probably be expelled in her droppings. I had a hen who had been injured by a dog and laid shell-less or vert thin -shelled eggs thereafter. The other hens became aware that they could break her shells easily if they hung around while she laid every day. She also became aware that they tasted good, so she would beat them to it.

Make sure to give her some human calcium with vitamin D each day for the next few days to a week, to see if it helps. If not, she may have a problem in her shell gland (in the oviduct.) If she has had an egg break inside, she might benefit from a round of antibiotics to help prevent infection. Amoxicillin (Aqua Mox online) is one that is used commonly with a 2 week egg withdrawal time.

 

[allameraucana]

If there are fragments , they will probably be expelled in her droppings. I had a hen who had been injured by a dog and laid shell-less or vert thin -shelled eggs thereafter. The other hens became aware that they could break her shells easily if they hung around while she laid every day. She also became aware that they tasted good, so she would beat them to it.

Make sure to give her some human calcium with vitamin D each day for the next few days to a week, to see if it helps. If not, she may have a problem in her shell gland (in the oviduct.) If she has had an egg break inside, she might benefit from a round of antibiotics to help prevent infection. Amoxicillin (Aqua Mox online) is one that is used commonly with a 2 week egg withdrawal time.

Thank you for your advice. When you say human calcium and vit D, any product and dosage recommendations? Would yogurt do?

 

[Eggcessive]

Someone hear recommends calcium citrate with D3 a lot. I have used calcium carbonate (Caltrate) as well, but citrate is absorbed a little faster. Some use Tums, but they do not have the needed D. Most use about 600 mg daily. I would use what I had for now.

 

[Kiki]

What exactly are you feeding your birds?
This is probably related to what you think is a mite issue too.