# Hen not looking well and laying eggs without shells



## Ross76 (Jul 13, 2020)

Hi, first time poster here and have only owned chickens for the last 6 weeks and would appreciate some advice. We have 6 brown hybrids here in the UK summer, the supplier said they were about 13 months old, so now 14 months old,and they have been laying on average 5-6 eggs a day, some of them a bit thin shelled but generally fine and the hens have seemed fine. We are feeding them layers pellets along with weeds and some occasional bird seed and bran. They also have access to oyster grit and they have some apple cider vinegar added to their water a few times a week. For the last 1-2 weeks, we have been finding an egg laid on the roost overnight (sometime between 10pm and 7am) and lying broken on the floor, sometimes with a thin shell and sometimes with no shell, with us not being sure whether it was laid that way or one of them has eaten the shell. Today I have identified which one has been doing it because at dusk it was the only one not in the house and it had laid a shell less egg in the run, and it is also the same hen that today has been looking ill, sitting in the run and shutting its eyes, showing no interest in food and looking like it is yawning frequently. It doesn't appear to be molting, I cannot see anything obviously wrong with it. Does anyone have any clues as to what could be wrong with it? Thanks for any advice.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Any chance for a clear pic of the birds' legs. Quite often you can estimate age by how smooth and clean the legs and feet look.

She's awfully young to begin having laying problems but birds bred to lay eggs everyday have a tendency to struggle by the time they're two years old. 

Being as you're in the UK I don't know if you have any liquid calcium available. Here in the states, it's for goats and called calci boost. You can give her a CC once a day for several days and vitamin D3 with that. It might help her in shell production. 

I would also check to see if there is any swelling in her belly down between her legs. If it's swollen, soft and squishy then it could be an infection from internal laying.


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## Sylie (May 4, 2018)

My first bit of advice is to get her to sit in a cool to warm bath with Epsom salt in it (follow the directions on the container for soaking), make sure that her belly and bum are in the water. You will need to make the water quite warm to dissolve the Epsom salt but then let it cool a bit and then soak her in it. That may help if there is infection from something. 
Next thing you can try is to crush some antacid tablets (Tums, Rolaids etc) and see if she will eat it straight, if not, you may have to isolate her twice a day and put it in food. You can sprinkle it on something like cooled oatmeal, a small SMALL amount of plain greek yogurt (30ml or 2 US TBSP). antacids have a high amount of concentrated calcium. 

1. As for her not feeling well, it could be stress, has anything changed in her world, new coop, new flock members, new food, new food bowl or water bowl? 
2. is it hot there? She may be reacting to the heat, you should take measures to keep them cool, if you need hints on things to do, just let us know. She could be dehydrated from the heat and from not drinking enough.
3. She could also have internal parasites, you may need to worm them all. 
4.Check the salt content of the feed you are giving them, sometimes high salt content can cause shell less eggs and a feeling of unwellness. Proper salt for a chicken should be between 0.4% and 0.6%
5. It could be a genetic defect causing the eggs to be shell less. I have a duck like that, she lays shell less eggs every time and has her whole life.
6. Also understand that hybrids tend to have this problem. Shell less eggs are not uncommon in these birds.

You're first line of attack is to get her feeling better though, start with cooling her off and then an Epsom salt soak and then get her to eat and drink something. You can soak her pellets in water and make a gruel or mash, usually chickens like that. Give her fresh, cold water. Stop the ACV for at least 2 days, ACV is awesome and I highly recommend it but right now, for this particular case, stop for a couple of days, it could be robbing her shell gland of calcium (not likely but still a possibility).

Good luck, please keep us updated!


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