shell less egg

[shadegrow]

One of the girls laid an egg this morning, just an egg no sign of any shell & she seems comfortable. They get grit (which they don't use) eggshell in their food & at least 4 hours a day free ranging & our soil is full of shale & cinder from years of tipping fire ash from previous owners. If she managed to drop a complete egg yolk & white I'd have thought she could push a shell out even a softy.

[Suechooks]

It happens. Usually just a blip in the system unless she's an ex-batt in which case it can become a habit! The ex-batts particularly seem to produce them at the end of their laying life after laying so many in a short time.

[Flummery]

If it happens again, try adding a teaspoon of cod liver oil to the pellets then stirring in a spoon of limestone flour. They flour is fine so it's easily absorbed and the vitamin D helps with calcium absorption.

[Hilary B]

Shale and cinder won't do anything for egg shell production, it needs a lime-source; oyster shell, limestone flour etc. The dried egg shells should help (direct recycling).
'Grit' isn't always any use for shells either. It often just means something the birds can use to grind their food (hens don't have chewing-teeth).