[Dopey113]

One of my 5 is laying eggs with no shell, the rest are doing fine, she is also only laying once a week, the others almost every day, I have (2 days ago) started putting extra shell mixed in with the food, and also some diatomaceous earth mixed in, and started putting apple cider vinegar into the water (cap full) she is probably egg bound by now, and she was sulking today until she laid (last time was 4 days ago) is there anything I can do ore to sort this out? or am I doing something wrong with her? the others 4 are doing great  thanks

[New shoot]

Has she ever laid regularly or with shelled eggs Dopey?

If not, it may be there is something slightly wrong internally and she may never lay properly.  Some poultry keepers will automatically cull a bird like this.  Some hens live long lives laying soft shell eggs, others do sulk and suffer and don't seem happy, so your choice on that one and your feelings on housing and feeding an unproductive bird.

I would feed the shell in a different feeder, so the birds can pick out what they want, but I don't think it is anything you are doing that is causing the problem 

[Dopey113]

Thanks for the reply, yes I do shell in a separate feeder as well, she has in the past lade with the shell completely on it, maybe 5 eggs and then with none after that, I think she sulks when she hasn't lade for the day, as soon as she lays she seems ok then, thanx

[grinling]

shee needs greens to absorb the calcium
depending on a hens age depends how long viable eggs are laid, my Bluey will lay an egg sometimes and sometimes with a shell, she is 5. I allow hens to live out their lives, but understand why others cull,

[Dopey113]

They are all free range and eat grass vine leaves and other greens, just a few months old, I will keep her for 2 more week, then its for the chop unfortunately, mine have to earn their keep

[Beekissed]

She's not sulking, she's uncomfortable.  It's very hard for a chicken to move that sort of egg through the flexible membrane that is the oviduct....a smooth, hard shelled egg moves along easily but the rough texture and softer sides of a shell less egg is an uncomfortable object to try and move through the flaccid, thin walled oviduct.  That's why often people will find those eggs underneath the roosts, as they feel much like a difficult bowel movement coming out and not so much like an egg, so the bird doesn't seek a nest....I usually find those on the coop floor or out on the grass, but less often in the nests. 

If you had a flock of chickens laying eggs that were soft or had thin, brittle shells, changing their diet or supplementing might help, but since the rest of your flock are doing fine on the current diet, then it's a bird problem and not a flock problem. 

Letting her continue on in discomfort until she is finally egg bound and in even more discomfort isn't really the best solution for her...not if you care about her at all.  It's just one of things that happen to a hen that has come to the end of her laying life or if she didn't have a normal reproductive system to begin with and it's pretty common, but it rarely ends well for the bird. 

[Sassy]

Agree with Beekissed 

[Dopey113]

So are you saying cull her now rather than later?

[Beekissed]

Usually that's the most humane thing to do.  I've waited to do so before and regretted it very much later on when I opened a bird up and saw what was going on inside.  I waited on it because it was an old favorite hen of mine who had laid like a machine for 6 yrs and started to go out of lay in her 7th year~usually I cull when I see them stop laying in a routine manner, as I know what is coming, but I let sentimentality rule my head on that one.  Wished I hadn't, because my good hen was suffering before I gave her mercy and it should never get to that point if you can avoid it.  They shouldn't have to suffer before someone helps them out of this life. 

Once you know they have stopped having normal reproduction, it's usually the best thing to do to go ahead and take them out while they still feel perky and pain free.  Very few hens stop laying and go on to live a normal, pain free life, as their reproductive organs still try to produce eggs when it can no longer do so effectively.  Especially true in production breeds that folks get from ex-battery situations.  Those birds burn out quickly and are prone to reproductive issues due to the abnormally high production levels in their young lives.

I usually cull yearly and even twice a year for good laying cycles so I won't ever have to wait until my girls are suffering before I give them the hand of mercy.  This helps me eliminate any hens that would be prone to reproductive issues down the road.   Many older hens make the cut each year well into ripe old age, but eventually they all go that road before they have to suffer through being egg bound, developing egg tumors or even egg peritonitis.  They are too valuable to me and I love them too much to let them get to the point of suffering ever again, if I can help it.   

[Dopey113]

Reading I think, that you are talking about an older bird, this one is just over 3 months old (or about that) she seems ok right now and is running around like the rest of them at the moment, thats why I wanted to give her some time, and not just cull her without a chance to lay

[Beekissed]

That's rather early to be laying....really early.  I'm guessing a production red type bird?  That's a whole different ball game but it may also end the same.  When they are first starting out laying it can take some time to get the production line kinks worked out and most of the time they get it all right after a bit.  If your girl continues to lay these soft eggs and can't seem to get lined out, it could be that she has an abnormality in there and will still suffer the same fate....usually, though, with first time layers, it's just a few hiccups in the system.  I'm betting she gets it all worked out but you may want to mark this one for future assessment and just see how her laying life goes...should be interesting to see if she does well in the long run. 

I'd wait a bit too and it could right itself within a week or so, but if you see her really suffering...hunkered down, feathers fluffed up, not wanting to move all day long, then you might want to weigh your options. 

[Sassy]

It really is early to be laying especially as you say she was laying five days running. It could be the lack of shell is caused due to her being new at this. However, you need to be aware that a lot of stress and discomfort goes into laying an egg without a shell. If it continues it would be kind to put her to sleep or there is something that a vet can do to stop her laying but I don't know how much that would cost. Sorry

[grinling]

how do you know her age,did you raise her from a chick as just over 3 months makes her 14 weeks which means she should not be laying yet at all.

[danfinn1]

My Sandy was like this, last Autumn, then stopped laying over the winter, the other two were still good then this spring all three were laying, then Sandy stopped again and this I think was the begining of the end. She was 2years 20 weeks, and I think had a problem from the begining.  

The only extra I gave mine was a little poultry spice in with the pellets, but it made no difference, that is other than corn and hentastic in the afternoon.

I did recall that she was walking slowly so could have been in pain, so hard to tell

[Dopey113]

The chicken is a white star, I have has her for around I should have said I have had her for a few months, maybe a little more, but I got her at pol so shes about 14-18 weeks older than that? her wattle was small hen I got her so she was defiantly young, and now its very large, and it grew fast, the others are (wattles) are smaller, she seems (to me) to be slimmer and not as plump as the others (but that could just be the breed) they are all different breeds so I have nothing to go by, she is definitely not suffering (apart from obviously trying to pass the egg) she is eating and drinking fine, running around with the others, its when she is trying to lay this no shell egg that she obviously finds uncomfortable, other than that it looks ok, I always keep an eye out the window for her, anyway like I said, I will give her a good chance to try and sort herself out and hope its all fine in 2 weeks time, so I dont have to cull her