Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: Greeny31 on May 07, 2012, 19:32
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Since last night we have had 1 chicken that is laying eggs that have no shell or very little. Yesterday she had 1 in the morning absolutely fine then that night another one but no shell. 24 hours later (just now) she lays another like it maybe slightly better. She lost her appetite and wasn't herself for the last couple of hours however she was doing the usual throughout the day as normal.
Any ideas why this is? We have had them for about 3 months and they have only been laying for a few weeks and Amber was the first to lay (the chicken with the problem).
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if they are young and new to laying then this can happen. What are you feeding them on and do they have access to grit and oyster shell?
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Layers feed is their food and yes they have access to grit and oyster shells. She is definitely not herself even after she laid the soft egg.
The crop will be checked first thing in the morning just incase the problem is in her crop.
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How old is the hen? As Joyful says, if they are young they can sometimes lay soft shelled eggs as they settle into laying.
It is a lot harder to lay a soft shelled egg than a hard one, so it is normal that she will look a bit uncomfortable and down for a while after.
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We got her when she was about 2 weeks before her first egg and our other hens (5 of them) are of similar age. Basically without knowing their exact age their combs were just beginning to grow so they were bought young. We have had them for 3 months.
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I have just got back from holiday all chooks appear well & healthy, thanks to my chook sitter, but I have found in the hen house what looks like a dried egg membrane _ the bit inside the shell - I am going to investigate further tomorrow when I clean them out. One of the chooks appears to be broody but when out in the run looks fine. I have not given them oyster shell yet but they have plenty of grit as they have sand in the run. I do have some oyster shell so I will put that in tomorrow. Has anyone else found these dried looking membranes. If these are eggs with no shells would the chooks eat the yolk and the white. Any ideas or help as to if this cause and what to do to solve it would be great.
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grit is not the same as oyster shell - grit just helps them grind their food.
First of all cut out any treats and let them concentrate on eating just layers pellets/mash. Also have crushed oyster shell available all day. You may not see them eating it as they only need a small amount.