I'm not sure whether there is such a word as "shellless". If there isn't, one of my hens has invented it for me. A few days ago, one of our hens laid an egg without a shell. I took the above photo on my blackberry so it's not the best picture I have taken. My reckoning is that it was laid by one of the hens that has just started producing. Fortunately, there has been no repeat but had more shellless eggs been laid, we would have had to check their diet. Our hen books said it can be caused by a lack of grit though they had plenty in a bowl in the chicken run. The books also said that it is a problem if they regularly lay shellless eggs. We will keep an eye on the situation but I think we are in the clear now - we've cracked the problem!
Wednesday, 25 April 2012
An egg without a shell
I'm not sure whether there is such a word as "shellless". If there isn't, one of my hens has invented it for me. A few days ago, one of our hens laid an egg without a shell. I took the above photo on my blackberry so it's not the best picture I have taken. My reckoning is that it was laid by one of the hens that has just started producing. Fortunately, there has been no repeat but had more shellless eggs been laid, we would have had to check their diet. Our hen books said it can be caused by a lack of grit though they had plenty in a bowl in the chicken run. The books also said that it is a problem if they regularly lay shellless eggs. We will keep an eye on the situation but I think we are in the clear now - we've cracked the problem!
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I used to have a cockatiel that layed lots of eggs, and over time, some of her eggs came out too thin - with the insides easily gushing out.
Vet asked me how many eggs she'd been laying, then figured she'd used up her calcium making so many eggs. He gave her calcium supplements, and advised me to stop taking her eggs from her, because by letting her sit on them a while, it would slow down her egg production.
And to make sure I followed his orders, he told me stories about how sometimes an egg might break while still inside, scratching up their insides, which risked hemorrhage and/or infection.
I'm only guessing some of this might apply to chickens too. Good luck!
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