kitbag Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 I have a chicken called Gloria and she hasn't been laying for that long. When she started acting strangely, I was immediately concerned. Then, totally un-expectedly, she laid an egg without a shell on the ground! The next thing I know she and this one of my other chickens are trying to eat it. In the end, they both ate it all. This very confusing and I don't know why they did it?! Any thoughts would be appreciated. This is her third agg with a weak shell... Thanks, Kitbag xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xChicken04x Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 are you adding chicken grit and crushed oyster shell to her diet? that's an essential. also as its only her third egg she hasnt quite masterd the egg producing bit yet so dont worry. also make sure she doesnt eat it again as it will become a habbit and will eat her eggs before you get to them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couperman Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 Hi Kitbag, We had a similar problem a week or so ago. See 'Soft Egg Pirahna style eating frenzy' thread on page 2. Kev. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yannovitch Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 hello there... i am quite new myself to keeping hens as i have had mine for three or four weeks only. i was so worried before getting them, about how to make them happy and keep my garden in good shape, etc, that i studied the omlet website, so much that i know it virtually by heart now! so: what they say about eggs with no shell is: it happens to hens who haven't got access to "grit". normally their layers pellet should contain enough nutrients to sort ths out, but some hens may need more of a "kick start" with it. Apparently, if you let them out in your garden, you should see them pecking on small stones, even swallowing some (but swallowing some is for a different purpose: grinding the food they eat...). Pecking on these little stones gives them the minerals they need to build up the egg shells... If your garden has none of these stones, you can buy some bags of "grit" in animal shops, and leave a bowl full of it in their run. I hope this is useful. If anyone more experienced than me has anything to add or to modify to what i just wrote, i'd be interested. Keep us posted with how the situation evolves! Yann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 We've had similar problems, as our two young girls come into lay, and their bodies sort themselves out. To try and encourage strong shells, without spending a fortune, I recommend you bake a few egg shells in the oven for half an hour, crush them roughly, then mix them with natural bio-yoghurt and feed it to the chickens. The calcium from the shells gives the chickens a much needed calcium boost, and should rectify any soft-shelled or no-shelled eggs you may be getting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggy Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 Hi there, This happened to us too. I was very confused when our newly-laying chicken, who had produced some small but perfect eggs for a few days, then went on to produce soft-shelled or shell-less eggs for about ten days. We had been giving them grit and baked crushed eggshells, so I worried there was something wrong with the hen. After about two weeks though she went back to laying perfect eggs, and six months down the line we've only had one soft-shelled egg. Seems it was just a 'teething issue' when starting to lay... I hope it is the same in your chicken's case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
