Egg with Poop ???

[GreenHaven]

Are you sure she's not laying in a nest with poop in it? Is someone sleeping in that nest, perhaps? You say the egg is on top of the poop, that makes me think maybe she's laying her egg in a dirty nest. Can you check at night after they go to roost and see if someone is sleeping in that nest (or invest in a camera)? Or look in the morning to see if that nest if clean, before anybody lays an egg in it?

That’s a great idea. The layer coop is a distance so it would be odd, but could be! I’ll check tonight.

 

[GreenHaven]

I just about never get poopy eggs. Keep the nests clean and you'll have clean eggs. I have roosts above the nests, with poop trays below the roosts, and I clean the poop trays daily. The only times I have dirty eggs is when it's been raining and the hens have muddy feet.

This was the case, and the whole reason they have a separate laying house! They will sometimes track in some mud, when there's a ton of rain, but this is the first time there has been poop. So I was a bit bummed.

 

[GreenHaven]

Some birds do have an issue where they don't quite shut off the poop chute while laying, so they'll "lay" some poop on the egg. If you know for sure that the nests are clean beforehand, and no one's sleeping in them, then that could be what's happening.

It may resolve itself over time or it may not. Eggs are still fine to eat, just have to scrape off or wash off the poop before using.

That what I was thinking! I am not sure which hen is doing this but one of my hens was shaken by a dog (when I was letting them free range which I no longer do because of dogs). She went into shock and had a broken egg inside, peritonitis, and then vent gleet. I treated her and she pulled through but it was a very long ordeal. (Poor girl - such a great patient, though). So I was thinking maybe some damage occurred to her. I have been feeding her eggs to my dog - not over the ick factor. I hope it resolves - fingers crossed. I have to clean out that nest when she lays but this is the only poop I ever see in there.

 

[GreenHaven]

Intestinal parasites as well as inflammations can lead to pooping while laying.
And as mentioned earlier, older hens of breeds laying large eggs can get issues due to constantly overstreching of the cloaca.

It is important to keep the nest boxes and the rear ends of the hens clean to prevent oviduct infections as their evaginated cloaca during the laying process might otherwise suck in some debris after the egg is out.

Intestinal parasites as well as inflammations can lead to pooping while laying.
And as mentioned earlier, older hens of breeds laying large eggs can get issues due to constantly overstreching of the cloaca.

It is important to keep the nest boxes and the rear ends of the hens clean to prevent oviduct infections as their evaginated cloaca during the laying process might otherwise suck in some debris after the egg is out.

Thank you. I was worried there might be an underlying health issue I was missing. I will inspect their little fluffy butts and see if I have any dirty bottoms. None obvious but - so much fluff! But also - this hen is a buckeye and they do lay some big eggs. She is 2 years old. The nest boxes are never dirty - Im totally anal about that. But also - this hen may be the one I treated for peritonitis (dog attack - egg broke). I thought that might have contributed. It's been about 8 months since that, and she did resume laying - but this problem is new.

 

[Bodhisan]

This is weird - one of my hens seems to be pooping as she lays an egg. I thought that wasn’t physically possible. But it’s consistent over the last few weeks. The hens have a laying house separate from their roost area, so I’ve never had poops in the nest or the house before. I suppose she could be intentionally pooping in the nest - but that seems also odd. Has anyone experienced this? Could she have a physical issue? The egg is usually sitting on top of it, but the poop is always on the egg.

Perfectly describes one of my production blues. It's happened with her off and on since I've had her, which is going on four years. Poop is under the egg, so, yeah, she's probably pooping a bit before the egg plops out. I have a 2" plastic putty knife that I have by the nesting box to scoop out the do-do. It's gross, isn't it?

 

[rosemarythyme]

I have a 2" plastic putty knife that I have by the nesting box to scoop out the do-do. It's gross, isn't it?

Putty knife works great for that, I keep one in the coop for general poop scraping but it might've cleaned off an egg or two as well.

 

[GreenHaven]

Putty knife works great for that, I keep one in the coop for general poop scraping but it might've cleaned off an egg or two as well.

An indispensable chicken tool! I use it on the roost bars. Hadn’t thought of using one on the eggs. Good idea.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Some birds do have an issue where they don't quite shut off the poop chute while laying, so they'll "lay" some poop on the egg. If you know for sure that the nests are clean beforehand, and no one's sleeping in them, then that could be what's happening.

It may resolve itself over time or it may not. Eggs are still fine to eat, just have to scrape off or wash off the poop before using.

This is one possibility, I've experienced it. It was one specific hen.

The poop and an egg come out of the same place, the vent, but travel through two different internal plumbing systems. To keep the egg clean, a small bit of the egg-side plumbing sticks out maybe 1/2" or so to close off the poop side as the egg is laid. For the vast majority of the hens this works great but like everything else to do with living animals occasionally something does not work as it should.

I don't know for sure that this is your problem but it was with one of my hens.

 

[GreenHaven]

That’s a great idea. The layer coop is a distance so it would be odd, but could be! I’ll check tonight.

This is weird - one of my hens seems to be pooping as she lays an egg. I thought that wasn’t physically possible. But it’s consistent over the last few weeks. The hens have a laying house separate from their roost area, so I’ve never had poops in the nest or the house before. I suppose she could be intentionally pooping in the nest - but that seems also odd. Has anyone experienced this? Could she have a physical issue? The egg is usually sitting on top of it, but the poop is always on the egg.

Update on this - it seems to have gone away on its own. Maybe, after the long winter break, her plumbing just needed some time to get back to working order.