When I went out to collect eggs today, I found a very strange (and a bit disturbing) mass in with the eggs. Or maybe I should say massES, as there were smaller pieces as well as the one large mass. Since 'large' can be a subjective term, I measured the largest piece, and it's about 2" long. That's before I poked, prodded, and eventually, dissected it...
I don't know which chicken laid this, though from the eggs that I've already collected today, I know which chickens didn't lay it. For a bit of background, I have 15 chickens presently. Most are two years old, but we took in four rescues last year that we don't have a clue of how old they are, just that they are at least two, and could be much older. They're various breeds with a few mutts, and together they lay brown, white, cream, blue, and greenish-blue eggs. For quite a few weeks now, we've been getting at least one rubber egg a day, sometimes two. We have upgraded their feed and do provide oyster shell. I mention it only because I don't know if it could be related. There was a broken, rubber egg (extremely thin shelled, not all membrane) in the same nest box with this mass, as well as one or two other eggs. We use wood chips as bedding, I think it's pine -- I know it's not cedar.
So, after a while, I suppose both concern and curiosity got the better of me and I began to poke at this thing. It unravelled a bit, and then I decided to give it one good slice across the center of the largest portion of the mass, to see what kind of material this thing was made of...
Below is the last photo, after I cut it open. See how it looks much like fatty tissue? The clear pockets are more... gelatinous(?) than the surrounding material, I think. Overall, the texture of he whole thing reminds me quite a bit of balled up rubber cement, maybe not quite dried yet.
I'm hoping someone has an idea of what this might be. My only guesses would be either a foreign object getting into the oviduct and being expelled this way, or maybe some sort of odd tumor? I don't know if I should be worried for one of my girls or not. If so, I'll need to try and narrow down who spat this sucker out! Hmm, I did have a hen who had a prolapsed vent a few weeks back... could it be related to that? It resolved itself, thankfully, and I haven't seen it happen again since, though it's tough to tell... I can't follow her around checking her butt all day, heh.
Any ideas or advice is greatly appreciated!
I don't know which chicken laid this, though from the eggs that I've already collected today, I know which chickens didn't lay it. For a bit of background, I have 15 chickens presently. Most are two years old, but we took in four rescues last year that we don't have a clue of how old they are, just that they are at least two, and could be much older. They're various breeds with a few mutts, and together they lay brown, white, cream, blue, and greenish-blue eggs. For quite a few weeks now, we've been getting at least one rubber egg a day, sometimes two. We have upgraded their feed and do provide oyster shell. I mention it only because I don't know if it could be related. There was a broken, rubber egg (extremely thin shelled, not all membrane) in the same nest box with this mass, as well as one or two other eggs. We use wood chips as bedding, I think it's pine -- I know it's not cedar.
So, after a while, I suppose both concern and curiosity got the better of me and I began to poke at this thing. It unravelled a bit, and then I decided to give it one good slice across the center of the largest portion of the mass, to see what kind of material this thing was made of...
Below is the last photo, after I cut it open. See how it looks much like fatty tissue? The clear pockets are more... gelatinous(?) than the surrounding material, I think. Overall, the texture of he whole thing reminds me quite a bit of balled up rubber cement, maybe not quite dried yet.
I'm hoping someone has an idea of what this might be. My only guesses would be either a foreign object getting into the oviduct and being expelled this way, or maybe some sort of odd tumor? I don't know if I should be worried for one of my girls or not. If so, I'll need to try and narrow down who spat this sucker out! Hmm, I did have a hen who had a prolapsed vent a few weeks back... could it be related to that? It resolved itself, thankfully, and I haven't seen it happen again since, though it's tough to tell... I can't follow her around checking her butt all day, heh.
Any ideas or advice is greatly appreciated!
. I wrapped it and put it in the fridge in a plastic container. Also we have no Roo!!! It is about the same color as your photo, but one whole piece with no shell. I think it came from the chicken that has been eating her eggs for about 6 months now. Makes you wonder about the chicken food we buy, and where the food accually comes from
