Leghorn only laying fart eggs or soft shelled eggs!

[tamtam84]

After you mentioned worming, I looked at a bunch of threads on here. I think I've decided to take a sample of Chickabod's poo to my vet and they will run it and tell me if there are any worms or parasites present. Only $12 to do so at my vet, so I think I'll do that before I buy worming medicine.

I think it might be too hard on Buttercup to worm her right now. Actually when I took her into the vet back in March they did a fecal and detected no parasites. Hopefully she's still good. If Chickabod's sample comes back as containing worms or something then I'll go from there I guess!

 

[arkansaschicks]

Sounds like a good plan! How is chickabod doing? Any eggs yet?

 

[tamtam84]

Nope, still no eggs yet! This is her longest egg strike ever. But she is pretty much back to her normal self. Not lethargic like she was earlier and seems to be just fine. I feel her abdomen every day and it feels normal to me. I don't feel any swelling or eggs in there. I'm stumped! I guess it's good that she's acting normal, but I always get nervous when they don't lay like they're supposed to.

 

[tamtam84]

This morning when I let everyone out of the coop, Chickabod didn't come out right away. I peeked inside the coop to see what was going on, and she was on her roost looking like she was trying to lay an egg. I just let her be for about an hour or so then went back to check on her and she was out running around with everyone else like normal. I looked inside the coop right under where I had left her, and there was a soft shelled egg.

So frustrating! Guess I'll just keep doing the tums and hope for the best. I'm assuming it's a calcium issue since she keeps laying soft eggs. Haven't had a chance yet to take a fecal sample of hers in to the vet, so I need to do that soon as well to rule out worms or parasites.

 

[JakeBremer]

arkansaschicks - She didn't go crazy over the cottage cheese like I thought she would. Maybe I'll try it in yogurt next time because she loves that. I'm getting tired of my girls having all these egg problems! Seems like 2 1/2 - 3 yrs is when stuff starts to happen with their reproductive cycle. I wonder how people have chickens who live to be 8 or 10!

NovaAman - I haven't seen any bugs at all on her or the other hens. So sorry about your loss. Seems like a lot of people have to deal with issues like this. It's definitely a sad situation when there's nothing you can do to help them.

she'scountry68 - This is one of Chickabod's fart eggs next to one of her normal eggs. They are so tiny and really cute actually haha. No yolk, just a tiny bit of white inside.



Pele - Thanks for your input. I'll definitely dust her and clean the coop. Good idea on adding egg to her yogurt. She is eating and drinking like normal, and actually has perked up a bit in the last few days despite no eggs. Just playing the waiting game now I suppose.

Thanks everyone for your advice and thoughts!!!

One of my white leghorns laid one of those the other day, And she is only 7 months old!!

 

[tamtam84]

Chickabod laid some fart eggs early on as well. At first they are just working out the kinks in their reproductive system! It's so strange because she's the only one of my hens to ever lay one (I have all different breeds). I guess since leghorns are such prolific layers they are more susceptible to issues.

 

[tamtam84]

Ok, something really weird happened tonight. My Delaware hen, Jobin, laid one normal egg right in front of me. Then, no more than 5 minutes later, she laid ANOTHER egg - but this one was soft shelled. Of course as soon as it dropped everyone ran over and devoured it. Ugh, so gross! I hate when they do that.

Has anyone ever had their hen lay 2 eggs right in a row??? Wonder if there's a connection between Chickabod's soft shelled eggs and Jobin's. Yesterday marked the 1 month anniversary of Chickabod's egg strike. She is acting normal, so I guess she's just on a break right now. It would make me feel a whole lot better if she laid a normal egg!

 

[tamtam84]

Update - Chickabod just laid an egg! Yesterday she laid a fart egg, and today she laid a normal sized egg! It was a little more pointy on the end than normal, but I'll take it!

Hopefully she is over her egg issues and will lay normally again. Thanks everyone for your advice!