What the heck is going on with my eggs?!

[sunnie7]

My girl hasn't been laying consistently for the past couple weeks and now her eggs look like this?! What's going on?

 

[NorthTexasWink]

I'd need a lot more info to say. Breed of hen, age, nutrition, environmental, temperatures, stressors?

Perhaps she's laying irregularly for reasons of advanced age or because she's not a breed developed for egg production?

 

[sunnie7]

I'd need a lot more info to say. Breed of hen, age, nutrition, environmental, temperatures, stressors?

Perhaps she's laying irregularly for reasons of advanced age or because she's not a breed developed for egg production?

She's an 8 month old bantam Cochin that started laying in march. I have 5 bantam hens and it's been very hot here the past couple weeks. They have fresh water and are on purina all flock and I give them separate dishes of oyster shells and grit. No other issues with any of them.

 

[NorthTexasWink]

During the first season of laying, young hens are often getting the kinks worked out internally. I know next to nothing about Cochins, but I'd say heat stress combined with her youth could be factors. The fact that only one is affected could be genetics or that one individual not dealing well with the heat, or maybe getting picked on, or otherwise upset. Your feed seems fine, so I doubt that's it.

I've seen color rings in standard breed brown eggs similar to this, coupled with what I can only describe as rings of varying shell thickness, if that makes any sense. Those hens sometimes grew out of it, sometimes had to be culled if their eggs had thin areas resulting in frequent breakage. The bumpy shells also make me think of young hens, though some breeds seem more prone to laying them than others. I don't know about Cochins.

Perhaps someone smarter than me, or knowing more about Cochins will have a more definitive answer. I hope you get the answers you seek.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Since she is a Cochin and bantam to boot the not laying would not worry me.
My bantams tend to go in spurts of laying then not laying.
My 6 year old has consistently laid perhaps 10 eggs in a two week time then nothing for months then 10 eggs then nothing again.
I don't cull her for three reasons.
She is a great mom.
I got her as a pet not a producer.
She is a spunky little queen of the flock.

The odd rings are ..... well .... odd.
Are they sandpaper in texture? Are the shells thin?

I found my hens won't use any oyster shell except the all natural kind. I use pacific pearl brand.
http://www.lindmarine.com/services-products/oyster-shell-calcium-for-poultry/

My hens all went crazy for it and continue to consume it after all these years.

The more available Manna Pro oyster shell sat and sat never being used.

 

[sunnie7]

They've been eating the oyster shell no problem and yes the spots on the eggs were sand paper texture but no thin spots on the shells.

 

[NorthTexasWink]

If the hen seems healthy and if they don't bother you, no harm no foul (fowl?).

If you sell eggs, eat the ugly ones. Sell the pretty ones.

You can always donate them to a needy family, food bank, mission kitchen, etc.

If your chickens are only pets, with eggs as a bonus, enjoy the mysteries of Chickendom! Expect many to crop up along the way.

 

[sunnie7]

Well now the past two eggs have had thin shells and she layed one on the coop floor yesterday and one out in the run today...I've never had any of my 3 hens that are laying lay anywhere but the next boxes! I just can't figure out which one has the funky egg issue going on. I have two other younger hens that haven't started laying yet but should be really soon. My 3 that are we're laying pretty regularly up until mid June and it's been pretty irregular since then but one went broady for a couple weeks. I just wish I could figure out what's going on!!!!!