4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[sandyhas3chucks]

Can anyone point me in the right direction. tried to look it up & get no where, all sorts of other things. one qestion is... do they have a little egg laying break after laying one, or is it just my girl at the moment. also do you thimk that the reason she was laying good one am soft eve for 4 days because she needed to do thid "lash" thing, or the other way around?

[chickenanne]

laying irregularly is fairly normal in some breeds when they first start. Also, this time of year often makes them lay much less frequently than they would in the spring.

I don't think I understand what you mean re: the "lash" thing? I may be misunderstanding, but laying soft shelled eggs is not good, and laying twice a day (morning and evening) is really unusual.

[sandyhas3chucks]

hello, have a look here re lash.

viewtopic.php?f=37&t=36162

she is not a youngster, & the weird laying is not new to her. My vet seems to think it could be hormonal, or (serious!) BUT SHE IS WELL IN HERSELF.

I think that no one has been able to explain THAT question because keeping hens in small numbers is re;atively new. how would any one with several mor know that it was the same girl laying thesoftees. they would just think it was someone.

odd I do agree!

[chickenanne]

Ewww.... the lash is nasty nasty nasty. What a horrid thought.

As you can probably guess, I'm not about to give any advice or comment! It does sound like something is defintiely not right. I think more "farmy" chicken keeping would just cull teh bird as not productive, regardless of her not suffering - not suggesting this is what you should do! So even if it was noticed it wouldn't really be investigated much.

[sandyhas3chucks]

sorry wanted to draw any one? attention to this any one being our super all knowing expert or any one else that MAY know too Pleeaase

[The Dogmother]

I'm afraid that I don't have an answer either Sandy. If she is otherwise healthy and well, I wouldn't worry too much; give her some extra calcium (either limestone flour or Davinova) to strengthen the shells and see how it goes.

 

She obviously has something wrong with her egg-laying tackle.

[sandyhas3chucks]

thanks Claret, as she isn't laying just now I have NOW eased off on the calcinm after reading the weetabix cure thread, her shells on the morning eggs were just fine, as the lash thing is normal, I wondered if anyone elses stopped laying for a bit, perhaps I will ask that on the other thread, wher people were getting all yeeeky I think ANH had one and was going to make a decoration?

[sandyhas3chucks]

Well it seems the other lash layer recently was Mindy who also hasn't laid since! Intersting!

[chickenanne]

So, does that mean you have two which lay lash' reasonably frequently? Out of how many? I'm just wondering if they came from the same clutch, or if there might be a connection with something in tehir environment?

More likely that there's some issue with her egg laying gear, I s'pose.

[sandyhas3chucks]

no sorry someone elses, pm one who was n the other lash thread. It is quite normal for them to do it, just wondered if also normal to stop laying after for a bit or for good?

[Egluntyne]

There seems to be no definitive answer to what these really are.

 

Here are a couple of theories that I have found on ‘tinterweb. Pick the one you like best.

 

Personally, I like the second one.

 

I’m guessing that they are all right and that there is more than one cause.

 

I’m also guessing that it depends on which cause it is as to whether the hen lays again or not.

 

Sometimes when a bird lays an egg it does not come down the oviduct as planned. Usually due to a Hormone Imbalance it will reverse course and fall back into the body cavity and at some point in time may or may not be reabsorbed by the bird's body.

 

This egg appears to be one that was not absorbed in the body cavity but managed to make its way back into the oviduct and finally make its way out of the bird's body.

 

When the body tries to absorb an egg it will try to wall it off and surrounds it with a Calcium like material. This is one of the reasons why it may appear that several shells have been laid down.

 

It is also possible for an egg to be fertile and have the same reverse course episode. When these eggs are opened it may appear that there is tissue in the egg. They usually have somewhat of a foul odour but are not totally rotten.

 

Birds that are internal layers may have several ova back up into the body cavity. The body tries to absorb them and lays down the calcium. Upon opening the egg it will appear to have several eggs within an egg.

 

Sometimes passing tissue like that can mean that your hen has (or has had) either an infection somewhere along the oviduct and has sloughed some tissue or it can mean that when she ovulated, she "broke off" some tissue from her ovary (called the post ovulatory follicle) and it followed the yolk through the oviduct and was "laid" by your hen. This would probably cause some discomfort for your hen and may also lead to inflammation and possible fluid build-up.

 

Some examples. No two are the same.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sandyhas3chucks]

Thanks for that Egluntine....

Have you thought of writing a book?

these bloomin experts seem to know not that much

one thing I can now say is that Christmas day she DID lay an egg. Complete but shell a little on the thin side. TODAY Boxing day her usual perfect brown egg not tried it but feels solid shell.

I also in her 2personal nest space found what may have been another little lash, but it had dried so much it could have been the remains of softee shell those gummy ones.

 

I did find the fol;owing on my search which seems to be another theory

I've had a few of those over the last year or so, I had one last week in fact, I dissected mine aswell & it looked just the same I think that Chucky eggs vet said that they resemble cooked chicken, because it is a mass of folded up membranes & soft shell which they can't expell properly as they have nothing to grip onto, so to speak, then their body temps goes up & physically cooks it I've blamed my Margo for our hen house horror last week, as she is showing signs of peritontitis & hasn't laid in months.

I hope Twink will be ok, at least you know which hen laid it, so you can keep an eye on her.

I normally just put it down to a blip & keep my fingers crossed when I get one from mine.