We have 9 hens, 8 of whom have been laying regularly.
We've noticed lately that our BSL, Gwen, has been having troubles laying. Gwen has been laying shell-less eggs for at least a month now. The other hens find & eat her "eggs" so we don't know how often this is occurring, though I've seen it happen 2 times in the past week (most recently about 20 minutes ago). I've observed it on other occasions and we sometimes find one of her "eggs" in a nesting box. Thank goodness she takes so long to lay because her shell-less eggs would probably incite egg-eating behavior in the others.
When she tried to lay, it's clearly stressful. She stays in the nesting box for hours and we know that this is very hard on her body. On more than 1 occasion I've observed her walking around, grunting, and squatting. Eventually she'll lay a shell-less egg, most of the time in the yard.
Until recently, Gwen was a star layer, laying 5+ extra large to jumbo eggs every week. She's about 22 months old. She has only had 1 light molt, never the heavy complete body molt that the RIR had.
When walking around the run gwen looks perky and is friendly and attentive. I've palpated her abdomen and can't feel anything that might indicate egg binding. I just started offering the hens free-feed oyster shells. The hens are all on layer feed and have been for a long time. I also add crushed egg shells to their feed.
No signs of parasites, either internal or external.
Today's "egg" white part looked as if it were cooked.
Ideas?
We've noticed lately that our BSL, Gwen, has been having troubles laying. Gwen has been laying shell-less eggs for at least a month now. The other hens find & eat her "eggs" so we don't know how often this is occurring, though I've seen it happen 2 times in the past week (most recently about 20 minutes ago). I've observed it on other occasions and we sometimes find one of her "eggs" in a nesting box. Thank goodness she takes so long to lay because her shell-less eggs would probably incite egg-eating behavior in the others.
When she tried to lay, it's clearly stressful. She stays in the nesting box for hours and we know that this is very hard on her body. On more than 1 occasion I've observed her walking around, grunting, and squatting. Eventually she'll lay a shell-less egg, most of the time in the yard.
Until recently, Gwen was a star layer, laying 5+ extra large to jumbo eggs every week. She's about 22 months old. She has only had 1 light molt, never the heavy complete body molt that the RIR had.
When walking around the run gwen looks perky and is friendly and attentive. I've palpated her abdomen and can't feel anything that might indicate egg binding. I just started offering the hens free-feed oyster shells. The hens are all on layer feed and have been for a long time. I also add crushed egg shells to their feed.
No signs of parasites, either internal or external.
Today's "egg" white part looked as if it were cooked.
Ideas?
