Hi, I'm new to hen keeping and I have four lovely hybrids who have been laying very well since June. One of them has just laid two shell less eggs within the space of ten minutes. She looks very miserable! I don't think she takes any less oyster shell grit than the other three, and normally she lays very well. The same thing happened to her about three weeks ago, but she just laid normally the next day and was very perky again. Should I be worried??
2 shell less eggs in 10 mins
- Thread starter Hmac
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Hi Hmac and welcome to the Forum.
Your hen is still quite a young layer, and they do sometimes take time to settle down into regular laying. Hybrids are often bred for commercial productivity, the egg farmers like a bird who can squeeze out as many eggs as possible in the first couple of years, so what yours is doing is most probably the result of her genes, not anything you are doing wrong. Pullets new to laying do often lay shelless eggs, and so long as the membrane is intact its OK to eat them in any cooking that doesn't require boiling them in their shells. Or you can give them raw to your dog, if you have one - mine loves a raw egg and they're very nourishing. At least she's doesn't seem to have the opposite problem, of being eggbound, which is much more worrying. (The hen, not my dog!) Just make sure she's got access to good-quality layers pellets as well as oystershell and flint grit, provide greenstuff such as cabbage if she's not out at grass, and she will be OK.
Have you wormed them yet with Flubenvet? They should have been done when they arrived, but in any case will need dosing every 4-6 months, to keep the inevitable worm burden under control, as this will help their digestion and gut health. Don't rely in herbal tonics, they won't kill worms. See Poultrykeeper main website, here ; http://poultrykeeper.com/general-chickens/worming-chickens A pack of Flubenvet will worm 20 chickens so will last you quite a while if you haven't got that many chickens.
Oh, and try to remove any eggs ASAP after they're laid, especially the soft-shelled ones, as if the hens find out they can peck and eat them, they will get into a habit which is often impossible to break.
Your hen is still quite a young layer, and they do sometimes take time to settle down into regular laying. Hybrids are often bred for commercial productivity, the egg farmers like a bird who can squeeze out as many eggs as possible in the first couple of years, so what yours is doing is most probably the result of her genes, not anything you are doing wrong. Pullets new to laying do often lay shelless eggs, and so long as the membrane is intact its OK to eat them in any cooking that doesn't require boiling them in their shells. Or you can give them raw to your dog, if you have one - mine loves a raw egg and they're very nourishing. At least she's doesn't seem to have the opposite problem, of being eggbound, which is much more worrying. (The hen, not my dog!) Just make sure she's got access to good-quality layers pellets as well as oystershell and flint grit, provide greenstuff such as cabbage if she's not out at grass, and she will be OK.
Have you wormed them yet with Flubenvet? They should have been done when they arrived, but in any case will need dosing every 4-6 months, to keep the inevitable worm burden under control, as this will help their digestion and gut health. Don't rely in herbal tonics, they won't kill worms. See Poultrykeeper main website, here ; http://poultrykeeper.com/general-chickens/worming-chickens A pack of Flubenvet will worm 20 chickens so will last you quite a while if you haven't got that many chickens.
Oh, and try to remove any eggs ASAP after they're laid, especially the soft-shelled ones, as if the hens find out they can peck and eat them, they will get into a habit which is often impossible to break.
Thanks for that Marigold! I'm glad I'm not doing anything wrong. I wasn't sure about eating the 2 eggs so I threw them out, but yes I should have given them to the dog. It sounds as if I'm doing everything right, yes I gave then flubenvet in June, and I give them vermix at the start of each month, and a week of Apple cider vinegar in their two weeks later. They are all laying very well now, one a day each but I expect that will slow down soon with the moult. I am really enjoying looking after them, and watching them enjoy being out in the garden in the evenings. They have such individual personalities, and the eggs are lovely.
I'm glad they're doing so well. I wouldn't think they'll moult this year if they were POL this summer, as they will have grown new plumage at around 12-16 weeks which will carry them through until the end of next summer I expect. They should go on laying well all winter with luck. What breed(s) are they? I have a couple of little growers at the moment, now about 14 weeks old, I'm hoping they will lay by the end of October otherwise I may have to wait until the days begin to lengthen in the New Year.
valeriebutterley
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Chickens do all sorts of strange things things when laying their first eggs.
My very young lemon Pekin 17 weeks laid an egg last week that was so tiny it was hard at first to see it was an egg, nothing since and I did'nt expect that one! It was absolutely perfect with a very hard shell, and one of my new LF girls laid a tiny egg not as big as a normal bantam egg I shell eggspect better things from her in the future!!
I also had the same as you, two, one of them shelless laid side by side.
My very young lemon Pekin 17 weeks laid an egg last week that was so tiny it was hard at first to see it was an egg, nothing since and I did'nt expect that one! It was absolutely perfect with a very hard shell, and one of my new LF girls laid a tiny egg not as big as a normal bantam egg I shell eggspect better things from her in the future!!
I also had the same as you, two, one of them shelless laid side by side.
I have two brown hybrids which are from Rhode Island reds and two white ones, but I'm not sure what is in their genes! I got them at the end of may at 18 weeks POL, so I'm not sure about the moult this year, I keep reading different opinions as to whether they'll moult this year. While I love the eggs and they are certainly laying well, I don't want them to exhaust themselves, I'd rather they have a long and happy life with us!
dinosaw
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I agree with Marigold I'd be very surprised if they moult before next autumn. I always found red cabbage was a good supplementary feed for helping with soft shells, either put it in whole or dice it up and expect blue poos as a result.
Hi Dinosaw.
Interesting to hear about the red cabbage. Not come across that before; if I see one reduced to clear, my girls might get one.
I found a good way of stringing up veg in the clicken run last week. I used a pointed metal skewer to make a hole through the stem (admittedly it was something along the lines of spring greens rather than a whole savoy or red cabbage). I then pushed the handle of a crochet hook through the hole, hooked up the string that hangs in the run, & pulled it through the hole in the stem with the crochet hook before tying it back on itself. Job done, & it stayed tied up until it had all been eaten.
Interesting to hear about the red cabbage. Not come across that before; if I see one reduced to clear, my girls might get one.
I found a good way of stringing up veg in the clicken run last week. I used a pointed metal skewer to make a hole through the stem (admittedly it was something along the lines of spring greens rather than a whole savoy or red cabbage). I then pushed the handle of a crochet hook through the hole, hooked up the string that hangs in the run, & pulled it through the hole in the stem with the crochet hook before tying it back on itself. Job done, & it stayed tied up until it had all been eaten.
dinosaw
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I've not heard of it anywhere else myself Icemaiden, but it worked well for me. Its tough as old boots so hanging it would save you from the blue fingers you end up with from chopping it finely, unfortunately anywhere between the two and they struggle to rip it down to size.
dinosaw
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When you say she's a little unhappy what do you mean for example is she hunched up with her neck pulled in?, is she walking ok?, are the feathers around her vent clean? how is her comb looking, has it shrunk and gone pale?, is she losing feathers?. Often hens can stop or have reduced laying due to stressful episodes and in some cases it can bring on what is known as a stress moult, which happens outside of the natural moulting sequence.
She was all of those things Dinosaw for a couple of days, although she's much better now, I just don't think she's back to normal. She's sitting down a lot and not joining in with her pals much. Maybe I'm over worried cos she is actually much better. No feather loss, but no eggs in over a week. Is it likely that she'll never lay again? She's a pet first and layer second, but her eggs were lovely!
dinosaw
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Sitting down a lot can be a symptom of being egg bound which is where the egg gets stuck in the oviduct, this is common in chickens that aren't forming shells on their eggs. Other symptoms for you to check are:- when she walks is she walking normally or is she waddling more like you would expect from a duck? is there a swelling around her abdomen? is the vent itself pulsing rapidly?, is her tail raised high?.
No, none of that Dinosaw, although she did have those symptoms as she laid the two shell less eggs a week ago. she's just not herself, but she seemed happier this evening before bed. Maybe she's just getting over whatever was wrong a week ago.
dinosaw
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Thats good to hear Hmac, hopefully she is just feeling a little under the weather all you can do is keep your eye on her, unless chickens display some kind of clear symptom it is very difficult to say whats wrong with them. With regards to your question about her laying again, I can't see any reason why she shouldn't continue laying once she feels better.
Ruby, who laid the two shell less eggs nearly 3 weeks ago now seems to be back to full health...eating well, bright and perky, happy in herself, bright comb and wattles...but hasn't laid an egg since! She doesn't even go into the squat when approached like the others do. Do you think she'll lay again? She's only young, started laying at the beginning of June. Any thoughts much appreciated.
rick
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Mine did the same - now fine. I feel a bit sorry for these hybrids, a few weeks after POL and they're into 1 a day like clockwork. Just trying to keep them as well fed and happy as poss. It sure is an eye opener for what goes on in the heavy commercial world.
KittyKat
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Do your chickens really eat lettuce and other leathery greens without parboiling or chopping? Mine must be a picky bunch as they won't touch anything which hasn't been chopped/parboiled unless I'm holding it for them and even then they don't have much of a interest in most greens. But then again, they are generally out to grass all day, every day, so probably get plenty of greens as it is.dinosaw said: