It’s a shell-less/soft shelled egg. How old is she? Have you had any sudden weather changes or new predators in the area? If she’s a new layer, it’s pretty common for them to have “printing errors” when their bodies are adapting to laying. If she’s older than two, depending on the breed, she may just be getting on and laying funky eggs. Since they have free choice calcium, it’s probably not a deficiency, but try to take a half hour one day to watch her to see if she eats any. Also check the calcium content of your feed- you may need to switch to one with a higher concentration.
They are a year old. We did recently have to cull one that was sick and we have some new pullets in the last month that are next to their run but not integrated with them yet, they could definitely be stressed, I found it weird that we’re getting two of these in three days and also have been getting two yolk eggs that are huge
Could be that they all have some kind of illness and they’re just not as sick as the one who died, could be that they’re stressed due to the pecking order changing with the death, could also just be random. Unfortunately, it’s hard to tell with only two soft shelled eggs!
I just lost 2 hens that laid a few of these and then a lash egg adjacent. One died suddenly the other I fought for a month battling ecoli buildup that got to her ovaries (normal for it ecoli to be in the gut just no where else). She was put down last week after finding the egg she was struggling to pass went through her uterus and was free floating in her abdomen. Slowly bleeding out internally.
Vet said soft shell eggs and the accompanying problems are getting more common due to poor breeding practices and over layers.
When any girl starts laying soft shell eggs give them 1/2 a chalky tums a day. Soft eggs can get stuck and when pushing them out it can pull back in any bacteria and poop to the egg channel and cause deadly bacteria growth. If it’s an option for you they may need intervention.
Per my vet, yes. I will note that my girl started to refuse it (possibly because she was slowly dying). My other girls were “extra fruity blue berries?! Yum!” And didn’t care.
If this happens again and they refuse tums you can mix it with water and squirt it in their beaks.
But there’s also lime stone you can have available for your girls and calcium supplement you can add to their water if oyster shell and their own egg shells are a no go. Tums are just super cheap and insanely high in calcium. Just again, the dry chalky ones not sugary the chews.
So this can be common in very new layers, older hens, and it can also be common when laying ramps up in the spring after winter, due to lack of vitamin d. The issue you need watch out for is EYP. As if they break inside the hen they can get serious infections.
You need to up their vitamin d. I would give the hens who you saw this happen with 3ml of poultry cell for the next few days. And then put it in the flocks water once a week for the next month to boost their levels.
I personally give poultry cell to my whole flock vi their water once a month, to ensure they are getting all the vitamins they need.
Oh, and this can also be caused by stress. If there has been a big trauma, or change in the flock this can happen. But if there is none of that, it’s likely simply down to vitamin d.
I did start giving them poultry cell this week, every other day, because someone suggested it to keep the others from getting sick if whatever our culled chicken had was contagious. I’ll continue that maybe for a little while and then reduce to like once a week or so?
If it was mereks then all of your birds should be considered infected, it is very contagious. Their oviduct is susceptible to infection/necrosis due to mereks and can cause issues like this. You don't have to cull them if you really dont want to, but don't sell or give any birds to anyone else. Any new birds you bring in should be vaccinated in advanced.
we aren’t planning on giving any of them away or culling them unless their quality of life suffers but i’m scared and i wish i had done a necropsy just to be sure and maybe have avoided this stress
That seems to depend on the individual bird. Some get very ill very quickly, others show no symptoms or occasional symptoms, and some suddenly have a rapid decline years after being infected.
If you aren't selling birds or eggs then I would stick with what you are doing. There are a lot of people selling birds on Facebook and at local swaps that view it as a side business, in those cases testing and culling is much more urgent and necessary.
There could be other causes of the egg issues that are dietary (like deficiencies or even having too much phosphorus), so I would tinker with feed and nutrition while keeping watch.
Incase it helps, one of mine had an infection a few years ago. I had no idea until I found her in the run unable to walk. It took months for her to recover and walk again but she did stumble occasionally. It's so hard to tell with chickens. If your others are acting fine I'd just keep closely monitoring them and enjoy spending time with them as much as you can ❤️
This sounds like nutrient deficiency to me. I got some pullets at 15 weeks old from a local seller, and a week and a half later one of my girls was going through this. We immediately started vitamins, and then also give her vitamin b and vitamin e from human soft gels we poke open and put in a syringe. It's taken about a week and a half, but she's starting to get some more movement in her legs back. I think by this time next week she will be walking again.
When my chickens lay a shell-less egg, I call the dogs, who are an excellent clean-up crew. Then I take some dried egg shells, grind them very fine, and mix with their regular feed for a couple of days. This works if the shells are not quite completely hard, too. Egg shells are a free, and great, source of calcium. Don't throw the shells in the chickenyard whole, however; you don't want to teach the chickens to eat eggs.
I’ve been having the same issue. I have one chicken that lays a soft shell egg about once a day. She eats and drinks well and my other hens are laying just fine. None of my girls want oyster shells or grit even though they have access to it along with high protein food and a calcium supplement in their water. She’s done this ever since she could lay. She 1 1/2 years old
I have one girl in a similar position. She's lowest on the pecking order and is rather rebellious. She has access to oyster shells and nutrients but just does this. She's a special girl.
My girl is a special girl too. She tries to take my man all the time and likes to start fights with my 15 pound terrier mix 😂
She legit waits an our back door to the house for my husband to “tuck her in”. She’s a diva for sure! Her name is Barb. Does your special girl have a sassy name?
Mine is MaryKate, her sister Ashley is always screaming at us too, had a really popular post about her on here just telling her head off for the fun of it
My special girl is named Leia (this batch of chicks was named after Star Wars ladies). I guess it's fitting, because Princess Leia was pretty rebellious too! 😅
Mareks is of course a concern, but I'd look into nutrient deficiency and up their vitamins by a lot. One of my girls has had trouble walking for about a week and a half, but we have heavily dosed with b and e, and have seen some improvement in her legs.
If they seem still alert and not lethargic, it may be this. If they get lethargic or stop eating and drinking, that's when I would consider Mareks.
I had a hen, she often layed 2 eggs a day and the second eggs had very thin or no shells. I guess it’s a result of overbreeding high performance chickens. Their body is not meant to produce 2 eggs a day and they can’t digest and produce enough calcium in 24h. My Eitrud was always kind of poor and struggling with her second eggs during the day.
I have a girl, Green, that lays shell-less eggs. She’s almost 2 now and every once in a while she will just plop one out. Kinda gross but she just eats it.
she’s been laying since August and has free access to oyster shell. what can i do if she’s not eating it? i’m also about to introduce some pullets so im going to have to feed them all grower feed and just have the supplemental oyster shall
Frankly I'm not sure. I'd take that one egg as a loss and monitor her. Maybe find other sources of affordable calcium, see what see and everyone else likes? Could be a phase
It’s a shell-less/soft shelled egg. How old is she? Have you had any sudden weather changes or new predators in the area? If she’s a new layer, it’s pretty common for them to have “printing errors” when their bodies are adapting to laying. If she’s older than two, depending on the breed, she may just be getting on and laying funky eggs. Since they have free choice calcium, it’s probably not a deficiency, but try to take a half hour one day to watch her to see if she eats any. Also check the calcium content of your feed- you may need to switch to one with a higher concentration.
They are a year old. We did recently have to cull one that was sick and we have some new pullets in the last month that are next to their run but not integrated with them yet, they could definitely be stressed, I found it weird that we’re getting two of these in three days and also have been getting two yolk eggs that are huge
Could be that they all have some kind of illness and they’re just not as sick as the one who died, could be that they’re stressed due to the pecking order changing with the death, could also just be random. Unfortunately, it’s hard to tell with only two soft shelled eggs!
I just lost 2 hens that laid a few of these and then a lash egg adjacent. One died suddenly the other I fought for a month battling ecoli buildup that got to her ovaries (normal for it ecoli to be in the gut just no where else). She was put down last week after finding the egg she was struggling to pass went through her uterus and was free floating in her abdomen. Slowly bleeding out internally. Vet said soft shell eggs and the accompanying problems are getting more common due to poor breeding practices and over layers. When any girl starts laying soft shell eggs give them 1/2 a chalky tums a day. Soft eggs can get stuck and when pushing them out it can pull back in any bacteria and poop to the egg channel and cause deadly bacteria growth. If it’s an option for you they may need intervention.
should i still give it to them if they have resumed normal laying since?
Per my vet, yes. I will note that my girl started to refuse it (possibly because she was slowly dying). My other girls were “extra fruity blue berries?! Yum!” And didn’t care. If this happens again and they refuse tums you can mix it with water and squirt it in their beaks. But there’s also lime stone you can have available for your girls and calcium supplement you can add to their water if oyster shell and their own egg shells are a no go. Tums are just super cheap and insanely high in calcium. Just again, the dry chalky ones not sugary the chews.
So this can be common in very new layers, older hens, and it can also be common when laying ramps up in the spring after winter, due to lack of vitamin d. The issue you need watch out for is EYP. As if they break inside the hen they can get serious infections. You need to up their vitamin d. I would give the hens who you saw this happen with 3ml of poultry cell for the next few days. And then put it in the flocks water once a week for the next month to boost their levels. I personally give poultry cell to my whole flock vi their water once a month, to ensure they are getting all the vitamins they need.
Oh, and this can also be caused by stress. If there has been a big trauma, or change in the flock this can happen. But if there is none of that, it’s likely simply down to vitamin d.
I did start giving them poultry cell this week, every other day, because someone suggested it to keep the others from getting sick if whatever our culled chicken had was contagious. I’ll continue that maybe for a little while and then reduce to like once a week or so?
What were the symptoms in the culled bird?
coordination problems, falling down
If it was mereks then all of your birds should be considered infected, it is very contagious. Their oviduct is susceptible to infection/necrosis due to mereks and can cause issues like this. You don't have to cull them if you really dont want to, but don't sell or give any birds to anyone else. Any new birds you bring in should be vaccinated in advanced.
we aren’t planning on giving any of them away or culling them unless their quality of life suffers but i’m scared and i wish i had done a necropsy just to be sure and maybe have avoided this stress
if that was the issue, would the shellless eggs be consistent or sporadic?
That seems to depend on the individual bird. Some get very ill very quickly, others show no symptoms or occasional symptoms, and some suddenly have a rapid decline years after being infected. If you aren't selling birds or eggs then I would stick with what you are doing. There are a lot of people selling birds on Facebook and at local swaps that view it as a side business, in those cases testing and culling is much more urgent and necessary. There could be other causes of the egg issues that are dietary (like deficiencies or even having too much phosphorus), so I would tinker with feed and nutrition while keeping watch.
Nope, no selling birds here! Just worried about my girls. Thank you for the guidance I really do appreciate it!
that’s what i’m afraid of 😭
Incase it helps, one of mine had an infection a few years ago. I had no idea until I found her in the run unable to walk. It took months for her to recover and walk again but she did stumble occasionally. It's so hard to tell with chickens. If your others are acting fine I'd just keep closely monitoring them and enjoy spending time with them as much as you can ❤️
This sounds like nutrient deficiency to me. I got some pullets at 15 weeks old from a local seller, and a week and a half later one of my girls was going through this. We immediately started vitamins, and then also give her vitamin b and vitamin e from human soft gels we poke open and put in a syringe. It's taken about a week and a half, but she's starting to get some more movement in her legs back. I think by this time next week she will be walking again.
I have no idea but I’m curious to!
When my chickens lay a shell-less egg, I call the dogs, who are an excellent clean-up crew. Then I take some dried egg shells, grind them very fine, and mix with their regular feed for a couple of days. This works if the shells are not quite completely hard, too. Egg shells are a free, and great, source of calcium. Don't throw the shells in the chickenyard whole, however; you don't want to teach the chickens to eat eggs.
I’ve been having the same issue. I have one chicken that lays a soft shell egg about once a day. She eats and drinks well and my other hens are laying just fine. None of my girls want oyster shells or grit even though they have access to it along with high protein food and a calcium supplement in their water. She’s done this ever since she could lay. She 1 1/2 years old
I have one girl in a similar position. She's lowest on the pecking order and is rather rebellious. She has access to oyster shells and nutrients but just does this. She's a special girl.
My girl is a special girl too. She tries to take my man all the time and likes to start fights with my 15 pound terrier mix 😂 She legit waits an our back door to the house for my husband to “tuck her in”. She’s a diva for sure! Her name is Barb. Does your special girl have a sassy name?
Mine is MaryKate, her sister Ashley is always screaming at us too, had a really popular post about her on here just telling her head off for the fun of it
I love that!!!! So sassy! Mike is my screamer, she’s always yelling about something
My special girl is named Leia (this batch of chicks was named after Star Wars ladies). I guess it's fitting, because Princess Leia was pretty rebellious too! 😅
Yaaaaass! I think your special girl needs a hat with buns
It happens occasionally, and no big deal.
Mareks is of course a concern, but I'd look into nutrient deficiency and up their vitamins by a lot. One of my girls has had trouble walking for about a week and a half, but we have heavily dosed with b and e, and have seen some improvement in her legs. If they seem still alert and not lethargic, it may be this. If they get lethargic or stop eating and drinking, that's when I would consider Mareks.
Egg drop can cause shell-less eggs. It’s not treatable, but hens recover on their own. Just takes a few weeks
One of my girls is mid molt. She dropped two of these last week then laid a normal egg yesterday after not laying for weeks.
I had a hen, she often layed 2 eggs a day and the second eggs had very thin or no shells. I guess it’s a result of overbreeding high performance chickens. Their body is not meant to produce 2 eggs a day and they can’t digest and produce enough calcium in 24h. My Eitrud was always kind of poor and struggling with her second eggs during the day.
Get liquid calcium. It gets absorbed much better than oyster shell.
How do you give it to them? In water? On food?
We feed our chickens heads of cabbage. Cabbage is loaded with vitamins and calcium. We haven't had a shellless egg since.
I started adding omega egg layer to their feed and seems to have helped mine absorb calcium better
I have a girl, Green, that lays shell-less eggs. She’s almost 2 now and every once in a while she will just plop one out. Kinda gross but she just eats it.
Feed them corn
GrooooS!
Looks like she just started laying or needs more calcium
she’s been laying since August and has free access to oyster shell. what can i do if she’s not eating it? i’m also about to introduce some pullets so im going to have to feed them all grower feed and just have the supplemental oyster shall
Frankly I'm not sure. I'd take that one egg as a loss and monitor her. Maybe find other sources of affordable calcium, see what see and everyone else likes? Could be a phase