Chicken bald back

[Tutti Frutti]

I came home from work to find a "burst balloon" on the run floor (not in the nest box!) so checked the FAQ and now know what it is But I don't know who laid it - either Sophia (who only started laying last weekend) or Ursula (my little ex-Barn rescue who's not laid for a couple of days), although all my girls look like their normal selves.

 

This has made me think of so many questions! Sorry...! But I've never seen one before and I'm still new to all this!

 

Is it "just one of those things" and normal for a new layer/OAP? Are there specific problems I should watch out for now? Should there have been a normal egg yolk/white in there or has one of them has eaten it (couldn't see anything but it was getting dark so might have soaked into the floor)? Should I be worried if they have???? And why was it on the run floor - they all use the nest boxes so has someone dragged it out to eat it or was my girl in trouble and laid it as she waddled around? Could it be a sign that my ex-Barn girl is stressed now that the Barnies share the WIR all day with the other 2 - she's ended up bottom of the pecking order again (she's small and bald so probably was in the barn as well).

 

They have oyster shell, layers pellets and ex-batt crumbs in several feeders (so the ex-Barn girls can't be kept away) so they should have plenty of calcium. They have a few treats at tea-time (small scoop of corn, small handful of mealworms, peel of 1 carrot and some cucumber peel between all four). If it happens again, I'll lay off the treats and get a calcium additive for their water.

 

Sorry if this sounds daft! Probably worrying too much again but I'm just so cautious since Penny died Thank you everyone!

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Don't worry . Softies are quite normal, both for new layers and older girls . It was probably deliberately laid on the run floor - they seem to know when an egg isn't quite right.

 

As long as you don't get loads of them, there's probably no need to take any action .

[Tutti Frutti]

THANK YOU! Phew

[Lydia]

Don't worry it's one of those things and can happen anytime. It could have been any of them.

 

Recently departed ex-batt Hatpin laid pretty much nothing but soft shelled and no shelled eggs all her life (probably in the ex-battery cage too) and she lived to be 4 and bit. The vet could find nothng wrong and her calcium levels were fine. It's just the way she was.

 

It's likely your hens ate the egg (nice fresh warm egg is very delectable) and left the membrane shell. This is also normal and won't hurt them. In fact they probably enjoyed it!

 

It'll happen again sometime but as long as they are all perky, eating and drinking and not hunched in a corner a lot they'll be fine. Sounds like their diet has enough calcium in it too.

[curlu]

I have 1 ex-battery girl that has only ever layed soft eggs. She eats exactly the same as the 2 regular egg layers and looks happy and heathy and we've just come to accept that this is all we will get from her. Have tried all kinds of additives and supplements but nothing helped.

[Tutti Frutti]

Hello, back again!

 

In the last 6 weeks, we've had 2 softies and 2 thin-shelled eggs (they broke when I picked them up) from one of our ex-barnies. We had the 2nd thin shelled on Saturday, closely followed by the 2nd softie today. Should I be concerned? Writing it down, it doesn't seem so bad over 7 weeks!

 

We feed the girls ex-batt crumb and normal layers pellets - so we've bought ex-batt pellets, just in case it is a calcium thing. They have oyster shell freely available in their grit.

 

From re-reading your kind replies here, I guess it's nothing to worry about - just an old age thing! At least she's happy and bouncing around as usual (although the one at the weekend really made her miserable!).

 

Thank you

[sjp]

Hello, back again!

 

In the last 6 weeks, we've had 2 softies and 2 thin-shelled eggs (they broke when I picked them up) from one of our ex-barnies. We had the 2nd thin shelled on Saturday, closely followed by the 2nd softie today. Should I be concerned? Writing it down, it doesn't seem so bad over 7 weeks!

 

We feed the girls ex-batt crumb and normal layers pellets - so we've bought ex-batt pellets, just in case it is a calcium thing. They have oyster shell freely available in their grit.

 

From re-reading your kind replies here, I guess it's nothing to worry about - just an old age thing! At least she's happy and bouncing around as usual (although the one at the weekend really made her miserable!).

 

Thank you

put a slug of cod liver oil in the feed once a week or so it helps the body abzorb calcium also lifeguard in the drinking water will help