Two Jelly Eggs, One Day

[mads+summer829]

Hello!

I was outside today checking the hatching box and noticed I had gotten a normal size "jelly egg'", no shell. I was shocked and just thought it was one of our coming-of-age chickens laying an egg. But I was outside later that night and watched our Swedish Flower Hen, Marsalla, lay another jelly egg, only this one was much smaller. She has been laying for three weeks now, she is about 23 weeks old. She is healthy, she eats normally and drinks normally. We haven't changed her food and there are no signs of respiratory problems. Our four other chickens are acting fine as well. Any suggestions on what is going on? Yesterday I got a normal egg from her, and now today two...weird.

Thank you so much!
(Also see weird string attached to it????)

 

[azygous]

Calcium and vitamin D are necessary to regulate shell quality. I have a young layer that is around two, and she's always laid excellent quality eggs. The other day, I noticed a collapsed shell-less egg under her nightly perch. That day she was off her feed and acting very lethargic, droopy tail and half closed eyes.

When I see that, I know that there's probably another shell-less egg stuck inside her, causing a lot of discomfort. There's also a significant danger that the stuck egg could cause inflammation in her reproductive tract. So I immediately gave her a dose of calcium citrate 400 mg with D-3.

It produced the desired result - the other shell-less egg appeared in the run the next day, and she was feeling much better. Two days after that, she laid a flawless egg.

All it took to get her back on track was two days of calcium citrate.

This time your hen resolved her problem on her own. Very often it resolves automatically. But in the future, be watchful when you find a rubber egg. If the hen is acting sick, she may need calcium therapy to get her back to laying normally and feeling well.

 

[aart]

Softshell eggs are not unusual for new layers.

As long as she's acting fine otherwise,
before considering supplements tell us about her present diet.

What all and how exactly are you feeding?

 

[gator75]

My young pullet laid a normal egg, two soft and then a normal yesterday for her first 4 eggs. They have oyster shell and 18% protein feed and free range a couple hours a day. I'm not too worried about it. I think at that young age, they are just working out kinks.

 

[mads+summer829]

I went out earlier today and found another. They are on 18% protein and oyster shells and they free range. I will keep an eye on her. It has also been very hot recently so she might be stressed as well.