Sunday, July 7, 2013

Weird Egg Laying Event Right in Front of My Camera. ~Chicken Pro's Please Chime In!

Tonight when I was spending some time with my chickens, like I do almost every evening an hour or so before their bedtime, the weirdest thing happened.  Maybe you chicken experts can explain this one to me.

I happen to have my camera with me and caught this whole thing in pictures, how cool is that?  Okay, so here is some background information first.  Big Red laid a beautiful egg at about 8:00 am this morning.  A perfect egg in every way.  Then this evening at about 7:30 pm while I was snapping pics of the chickens, I happen to turn towards her.  She was standing still by the door of the run.  She looked like she was about to go poop...you know what that looks like -she pulls her butt feathers in, slightly squats and her tail feathers pull downward as she pushes it out.  Well when she did that I noticed nothing came out.  I wanted to take her picture so I waited another second then snapped a shot (thinking I would miss the actual pooping and get a still shot before she walked away).  Instead I got this shot.


Do you see the bulge at her vent?  Here is a close up with an arrow...


What the heck?!?  That looks like a baby crowning!  And then all of a sudden it is out on the ground.  Even Big Red was shocked by this.

Big Red: "Did I do that?"
She laid an egg! But wait, she just laid an egg about 11 hours ago...what happened to the 25 hour ovulation thing? 


And this was not a normal egg either.  For one, it did not have a shell, and it had a....uh, (for lack of a better explanation), it had what looked like an open umbilical cord on the end.


And the 'white' of the egg was slowly dripping out of the tube opening.  The outer egg sack was thick and did not break when I picked it up. What the heck happened here?  Surely you longtime chicken keepers have seen this before.  Can you tell me why she laid another egg after only 12 hours, and why this one had the open tube on one end?

Could this be like when we humans have miscarriages because the baby is not formed properly?  Could this be a miscarriage of an egg that wasn't suppose to be ready until tomorrow morning? After she laid this 'egg' she took a few steps away then took a standing nap.  She does that on occasion, just her thing I guess.  But obviously she felt comfortable afterwards so she just napped a few moments.

I am not going to freak out or anything, weird stuff happens when chickens begin laying eggs, this I know and understand, but this was just so weird, probably because it happened right in front of me (and my camera fortunately).  Please share your experience on this if you have seen this before.

Keeper of 1 husband, 2 grandkids, 3 dogs,
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!
 
Follow on Bloglovin


Did this post stir something inside of you? If so, Please leave me a comment, I would love to know what you're thinking!!!

Comments (13)

Loading... Logging you in...
  • Logged in as
The egg doesn't have a shell, what's holding it together is the membrane. If you let it sit out for awhile...it will harden a bit but will still stay flexible. I would say her system is just a little out of whack from all the excitement of moving out and back recently. She probably won't lay an egg in the morning but she should be back to normal soon. Many chickens have egg issues after times of stress....it's normal. Just keep an eye on her as shell-less eggs are harder to push out and can break inside. Good luck!

~L
1 reply · active 612 weeks ago
Thanks Lisa! Yea I think she has just been stressed lately. Between the heat and being evacuated, it has been a pretty stressful time for the chicks. I will keep an eye on her. She was laying beautiful eggs, so I think once everything gets back to normal, her eggs will too.
Crazy! Some more experienced chicken keepers than me may know more about what happened. All I know is that sometimes when chickens just start to lay, odd things can certainly happen. Sounds like she is okay though!
1 reply · active 612 weeks ago
Hi Lana, Yea, she is a fairly new layer and has been living a pretty up and down lifestyle lately with the re-homing here, heat, and then the fire evacuation. I expect her egg laying will straighten itself out soon.
It can happen from time to time a soft shell egg.
Love Leanne
1 reply · active 612 weeks ago
Hi Leanne, Yea I have read that this sort of thing can happen, it is just so weird when it happens right in front of you like this. Glad I had my camera so I could share this.
I think Lisa hit the nail on the head. With the excitement and moving about, her system and laying schedule were thrown off. My *guess* is that she likely withheld an egg she meant to lay some time during the move from place to place. Yet, somehow it didn't register with her body that the developed egg had not been laid yet and she ovulated again. She may have been holding 2 eggs in some state of formation for a few days. So when she would lay, her body would ovulate again even though there was another egg already forming in there (further up the pipes). Having passed this "soft-shelled" egg (which actually doesn't have a shell at all), she should be back to normal in another day, and only working on a single egg at a time going forward.
Leigh
1 reply · active 612 weeks ago
I think you are right Leigh, she must have had two eggs in the shoot at the same time. She tends to lay double-yokers mostly (being a young layer), so two in the pipe at the same time is probably not so unusual for her, just kind of weird for me to witness it like this...and with my camera handy!

Thanks for info, it helps to explain what happened.
Woah! I've seen soft shelled eggs before, but never one quite like that. Lots of things can mess up the normal laying cycle (stress being a big factor) so I'm sure she will be back to normal soon. I'm guessing she may not lay for a couple days then it'll be a normal egg. I hope so anyway!
1 reply · active 612 weeks ago
Yes Tammy, I think stress is going to be the primary issue in this event. I am keeping an eye on her, but I think she will be back to normal in a few days as she realizes that we are not packing her off anywhere again...poor things. I am trying to get everything back to our normal routine to help her (and the others too). Thanks for stopping by!
My girl just laid 2 soft eggs connected together. They were joined where yours has the tube. I'd just washed her bum in warm soapy water as she is white and it looked a little mucky. When I let her go she just stood looking at me for ages. She then turned her bum to me and laid 2 connected eggs. Ive only had chickens for a few months so still quite new at it. I know they can lay soft eggs but not 2 together. X
1 reply · active 559 weeks ago
Wow Anj that is wild. Must have had an old and a new soft shell in the poop-shoot. It is freaky when they lay right in front of you. I have had a fresh egg laid right in my hand a few times as I was checking under a girl for eggs. It's neat to watch the bloom quickly dry right in your hand.
Lois Ann Sharp's avatar

Lois Ann Sharp · 470 weeks ago

I looked this up on the internet because for two days in a row one of my chickens laid an egg just like this. I guess not an egg just the soft membrane with what looks like an umbilical cord attached. I guess it happens from time to time. everybody seems to be alright! I wonder if you can still eat them if you use them right away. I cooked it up and gave it to my dogs. They are still here so I guess it was alright o do!

Post a new comment

Comments by