Two eggs in one hour - help!

[dearmeghann]

Our girls are almost one year old, and today we had the weirdest experience. Our Easter egger looked strange. At first we thought she was egg bound or had diarrhea. I even went to get epson salt to prepare! Then she laid an egg outside, and looked better. Standing up straight and preening. Less than an hour later it happened again. This time with a shell-less egg. She’s had weird runny/foamy poop but I wasn’t sure if it’s because she was trying to push so much. She’s the only one who is somewhat molting.

Our girls have never been sick - we’ve been so lucky! Is this a bacterial infection? Molting strangeness? Help??

 

[Yardmom]

Sometimes pullets have some glitches when they first start to lay. Hopefully it is not something that will happen again. Make sure she has plenty of calcium and keep an eye out for egg binding.

 

[WingItRanch]

Since this is an older pullet that's been laying for a while, I'd guess something reproductive is going on. Give her some calcium citrate with d3. You can find it at a human pharmacy. Just pull down on the wattles (or beard since she's an EE, she may not have wattles big enough) and pop the pill into her beak.

 

[WingItRanch]

You mentioned molting but your location is NC? This is not the typical time of year for molting. I'll tag some educators in case there's something else going on..

@Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive

 

[dearmeghann]

Sometimes pullets have some glitches when they first start to lay. Hopefully it is not something that will happen again. Make sure she has plenty of calcium and keep an eye out for egg binding.

She’s been laying since last year. Is it possible that her molting could impact her calcium absorption? We have oyster shells available. They get Kalmbach Crumbles and we have Henhouse Reserve scratch. Anything else we’re missing?

 

[dearmeghann]

You mentioned molting but your location is NC? This is not the typical time of year for molting. I'll tag some educators in case there's something else going on..

@Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive

Thank you! Yes, we noticed she started molting (or so we thought) under her vent. Our other girls haven’t shown any signs of molting.

 

[dearmeghann]

Since this is an older pullet that's been laying for a while, I'd guess something reproductive is going on. Give her some calcium citrate with d3. You can find it at a human pharmacy. Just pull down on the wattles (or beard since she's an EE, she may not have wattles big enough) and pop the pill into her beak.

She’s always been a little different. She’s laid a fairy egg once, and then a double yolk. She’s the only one that we regularly see those extra calcium deposits on the eggshells.

Earlier this week she laid an egg while roosting, and then a second one later on in the day. That shell was intact but definitely softer.

Would calcium citrate help get her back to “normal” or will she have issues going forward?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Would calcium citrate help get her back to “normal” or will she have issues going forward

It won't hurt and might help. As for issues going forward, time will tell. Give her the Calcium tablet every day for 5 to 7 days and see how she goes. Keep us posted. A name brand like Citracal or its generic equivalent will work. Just pop the whole tablet in her beak and let her swallow. It looks big, but it will go down.

 

[WingItRanch]

I agree with @BigBlueHen53. A pullet laying a fairy egg, double yolk, and some calcium deposits isn't unusual.

Laying 2 eggs in one day with one being soft shell is unusual. We can't guarantee it isn't some sort of permanent reproductive issue but the calcium pill won't hurt and hopefully this is just a glitch.

As for the molting, you say it's only around the vent? That sounds more like feather picking than molting. That's a common spot for feather picking.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

That sounds more like feather picking than molting. That's a common spot for feather picking.

@WingItRanch brings up a good point. If it is feather pecking by other birds, WHY are they puckung? Could this bird have lice or mites around the vent that the other birds are pecking at? Check carefully! They move very fast.