This is an egg with a tail......very weird!! ***PIC***

[Reurra]

I found this under Frightfuls roost this morning. She has been laying very nice thick shelled eggs for the last 5 days. She is new to laying. Its very brittle. I give free choice calcium as well as calcium sprinkled on their feed. This egg was uneaten, though cracked from the short fall from the roost. It has a tail! Any thoughts??

 

[Reurra]

Anyone else think this is weird??

 

[SuperChickenDude327]

It seems odd to me, yes, but I wouldn't worry about it. It was probably just some sort of goof, and it may also explain why it is brittle, as it would have taken more calcium to make.

 

[Reurra]

Frightful laid another eggs from her roost...it was brittle again. I give her so much calcium in everything Im surprised she hasnt grown horns! Should I be worried about this behavior? She started laying this last week.

 

[Reurra]

Whats wierd is my other 2 hens, the Ugly Step Sisters both of which are around 2, stopped laying after an episode of brittle shelled eggs. Frightful was laying perfectly normal eggs, which lasted 5 days, now shes dropping these brittle eggs during the night from her perch. Her fluffy bum feathers are matted. She let out a wet poop yesterday that was almost completely water. I cant think of that the problems is.

The hens are pretty healthy outwardly, they get lots of layer pellets in thier feeder, it never goes empty, I put calcium over the pellets and over thier grit bucket too. They seem to be perky and active, curious. They were wormed about a week ago with Wazine. I give them scratch and sometimes a piece of bread. I give them grass shavings I pick myself from our field as well as dandilion greens every other day or so. I give them hard boiled mashed eggs too about once a week. Today i gave them the base of a romaine lettuce head.

There has been an ongoing sniffle, but no discharge, no lethargic behavior, no impacted crops, no drop in appetite. I think its the dust from the DE I put in a few weeks ago. I have since cleaned out the coop entirely and laid in new shavings.

Right now they are all outside scratching in the run for worms because it rained last night. They are all eating and clucking and being chickens.

 

[Reurra]

Is this normal "new laying hen" behavior?

 

[ChicKat]

Is this normal "new laying hen" behavior?

New layers may take a little while to get straightened out.

In addition to plenty of calcium, you may want to add 1 Tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar per gallon of water to their drinking water. Consider giving vitamin D3 which also helps with shells... If in Nova Scotia you have been a little short on sunshine lately --their vitamin D may have dipped. The vinegar helps the chickens absorb the nutrients in their feed.

When I had a hen that seemed to have trouble with shells, I took egg shells from my hens - pulverized them in the food processor and mixed up with the chicken feed and a raw egg...(one of the eggs with a bad shell that was laid in the nest box.)--- I fed this along with some mashed up vitamin D3 (got a bottle of pills in the health/vitamin section of a WalMart). Her shells returned to normal.

The string thing, I think is the same substance that the egg membrane is made from -- (my own opinion, never got any confirmation on what it consists of) -- and is probably nothing to worry too much about.

Hope you can get her straightened out.

 

[Time-Out]

You're scaring me slightly with all your talk about extra calcium here there and everywhere. You don't want to over-do it and box her kidneys!

 

[Sandbellie]

New layers can have issues with laying. If you give it some time and provide her with extra calcium, her laying should be back to normal in no time.

 

[Reurra]

You're scaring me slightly with all your talk about extra calcium here there and everywhere. You don't want to over-do it and box her kidneys!

Lol dont worry its not in gobs. What I do is I shake the feeder to let out some feed, then I sprinkle it on, no more that about 1/4 teaspoon, this is fed to all the birds, not jsut the one. I also have it in the grit box for free choice, and it always ends up on the bottom. I dont over do it, I just make sure its available. I put out the calcium the day I found the weird egg.

Ill try some vitamin D3 too. I might be able to find some. its hard though where I live. Canada is notorious for not having things as easy to get in the states and I live in such an isolated place its hard to get locally. Ill ahve to see if I can find it on the internet or talk to the local vet.

The string thing was soft, but it blended into the shell and the shell was brittle not soft. the string is leathery.