weird egg problems

[LadyGunnar]

Billie, a one year old naked neck, has been having problems with eggs. She only lays maybe twice a week. They have thin shells and break in your hand. There are noticeable cracks in the eggs and sometimes blood on them. She laid eggs good for a year and then her hatchmate died.

The nest box has lots of deep wood chips. I have 4 laying hens. I don't know what to do with her. Her eggs break and then everybody tries to eat it. She had oyster shells. She gets 18% pellets and they free range for a few hours most days.

Any ideas to help her? I am getting tired of cleaning up broken eggs. Thanks.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Billie, a one year old naked neck, has been having problems with eggs. She only lays maybe twice a week. They have thin shells and break in your hand. There are noticeable cracks in the eggs and sometimes blood on them. She laid eggs good for a year and then her hatchmate died.

The nest box has lots of deep wood chips. I have 4 laying hens. I don't know what to do with her. Her eggs break and then everybody tries to eat it. She had oyster shells. She gets 18% pellets and they free range for a few hours most days.

Any ideas to help her? I am getting tired of cleaning up broken eggs. Thanks.

Sorry to hear your having troubles.
She had oyster shells? Do you make them available free choice all the time?
So, you would say she's been under more stress than usual, her hatchmate died - do the other hens pick on her?
Stress and fighting can be a cause of egg quality problems. You may want to check her well for lice/mites and take a sample of her poop for testing of worms too.

http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/common-egg-quality-problems

 

[LadyGunnar]

Sorry to hear your having troubles.
She had oyster shells? Do you make them available free choice all the time?
So, you would say she's been under more stress than usual, her hatchmate died - do the other hens pick on her?
Stress and fighting can be a cause of egg quality problems. You may want to check her well for lice/mites and take a sample of her poop for testing of worms too.

http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/common-egg-quality-problems

Sorry. She has oyster shells available at all times. She is the bossy hen of the group. She has no mites or lice. I check for them twice a week. I will see what I can about getting the poop checked for worms.
It's been 10 weeks since her hatchmate died. The other hens
are laying great. I am worried since there was so much blood on the last egg. I can't see anything physically wrong with her. I don't know what to do with her. She went from laying great to not pretty much overnight. Something feels off with her. Does that make sense?
Thanks

 

[aart]

Pics of eggs?
How much blood...just on the outside of egg?
You've checked her vent closely?

One year old...so 12-18 months?
She may be ramping down production to get ready to molt,
you can get some funky eggs around molting time.

I assume you are in the northern hemisphere, but....
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, (laptop version shown), then it's always there!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Sorry. She has oyster shells available at all times. She is the bossy hen of the group. She has no mites or lice. I check for them twice a week. I will see what I can about getting the poop checked for worms.
It's been 10 weeks since her hatchmate died. The other hens
are laying great. I am worried since there was so much blood on the last egg. I can't see anything physically wrong with her. I don't know what to do with her. She went from laying great to not pretty much overnight. Something feels off with her. Does that make sense?
Thanks

Yes, it makes sense that you feel something is "off".
Photos of eggs, shells, etc. may be helpful.
As @aart suggested, she may be getting ready to molt soon. Blood on the egg, sometimes a small blood vessel can rupture during the the laying process.

 

[LadyGunnar]

Pics of eggs?
How much blood...just on the outside of egg?
You've checked her vent closely?

One year old...so 12-18 months?
She may be ramping down production to get ready to molt,
you can get some funky eggs around molting time.

I assume you are in the northern hemisphere, but....
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, (laptop version shown), then it's always there!
View attachment 1868638

Utah. It's been a nice summer. Not to hot this year. I have checked her vent pretty well. There is nothing wrong with it from what I can see. She has been laying weird since the middle of May. I will get pictures when she lays again. She laid an egg last night that broke in my hand. She may not lay another one until Thursday. Egg was cover 2/3 in blood. Sometimes its just spotted in blood or dabs here and there. The blood started a month ago.

She went through a molt in march. So I don't see that happening again so soon, but I could be wrong. Thanks for the help. My dad is my normal go to on chicken stuff. He says to cull her and get a new hen. He is old school farm boy.

 

[aart]

Utah. It's been a nice summer. Not to hot this year. I have checked her vent pretty well. There is nothing wrong with it from what I can see. She has been laying weird since the middle of May. I will get pictures when she lays again. She laid an egg last night that broke in my hand. She may not lay another one until Thursday. Egg was cover 2/3 in blood. Sometimes its just spotted in blood or dabs here and there. The blood started a month ago.

She went through a molt in march. So I don't see that happening again so soon, but I could be wrong. Thanks for the help. My dad is my normal go to on chicken stuff. He says to cull her and get a new hen. He is old school farm boy.

Full molt?
At what age, in months.
Well, sometimes soup is the best option.

 

[LadyGunnar]

Full molt?
At what age, in months.
Well, sometimes soup is the best option.

She would have been 12 or 13 months at that point.

 

[aart]

She would have been 12 or 13 months at that point.

Odd taht she would molt in March.
Do you use supplemental lighting?

 

[LadyGunnar]

Odd taht she would molt in March.
Do you use supplemental lighting?

no. The weather got warm for a few days and black feathers were everywhere a few days later. She is my only black chicken. She looked better after. Her bowtie had come back too.